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With two NBA titles now under his belt, and a handful of MVP awards lining his trophy case, Miami Heat superstar, LeBron James, has finally begun to make good on the endless comparisons that have been drawn between him and Michael Jordan since the beginning of LeBron's career. The criticisms had been dogging him for years. He wasn't clutch enough. He couldn't lead a team. He would never win a title. Constantly in MJ's shadow, the pressure that had been mounting on LBJ had nearly reached the point of becoming insurmountable.
But even after getting over the championship hump, LeBron has only invited himself to further comparisons to His Airness. Now, the question becomes how many titles he'll win; how many MVP trophies he'll take home; and whether he'll be able to overtake Jordan as the greatest to ever do it on the hardwood. Is that task even possible though? Maybe, maybe not. But to give you an idea of what it'll take, these are the 10 Things LeBron Needs to Do to Actually Become Better than Jordan. What do you think? Will the King ever truly be King? Let us know in the comment section below.
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Create his own signature moment.
Certain athletes have moments that you can recall with just one or two words. Michael Jordan is one of them. The Shot. The Flu Game. The Move. Jordan's career has been defined by these signature snapshots, and they've only added to the mythical aura that has made him the king of the hardwood. With LeBron, we've yet to find one, truly definitive moment in his career that can be looked at as a landmark moment. His 48-point special against the Detroit Pistons in 2007 was remarkable, but is negated by the fact that he never won a championship with Cleveland. Same goes for hisgame-winning shot against Orlando in 2009.
Yes, titles can speak for themselves, but when future generations look back on LeBron James, they're going to need more than a dusty Larry O'Brien trophy to remember what made LBJ so transcendent. Will we remember LeBron for his devastating block against Tiago Splitter in Game 2 of the 2013 NBA Finals? Maybe. How about his game-sealing bucket in the final seconds of Game 7 that same series? Closer, but you've still got some ground to make up, LeBron.
Become a more vocal leader.
With the Jordan Bulls there was never any doubt as to who was in charge (word to Steve Kerr's jaw). Yes, Scottie Pippen was an accomplished player and competitor in his own right but, at the end of the day, the team belonged to Michael, and he made sure that everyone knew it. For better or for worse, Jordan was one of the most ferocious leaders in the history of the sport, so famously competitive and demanding that tales about team plane rides, practices, and press conferences have become legend. Jordan wasn't afraid to hold his teammates accountable for their performance on the court, and he made sure that they all knew it.
Meanwhile, LeBron has yet to exhibit that same willingness to step into a leadership role. Granted, Dwyane Wade was the established voice of the Heat before LeBron came to town, but even when he was the undisputed alpha dog on the Cavs, he always seemed to accept his leadership role simply by default. LBJ needs to realize that, when it comes to his legacy, leading by example simply isn't enough. It's time for him to speak up.
Win a championship in Cleveland.
God hates Cleveland. We all know it's true. So if LeBron were somehow able to bring a title to a city that hasn't seen one in 60-plus years, then his case against Jordan would improve considerably. Jordan brought prestige to a Bulls franchise that had previously been bereft of any championships or superstars, but it's also important to remember that Chicago fans had been able to lean on the Bears and Blackhawks when things got tough. With the Browns, Indians, and Cavs having been equally hapless for years, Cleveland fans have been absolutely starved for success. If LeBron were to return home, where he started his career, and finish his business with the Forest City, that title alone could speak volumes over any of Jordan's.
Be even more successful off the court.
Air Jordan and basketball are like Based God and positivity, Florida and ratchetness, and everything else good in the world that comes in pairs: they just make sense together. LeBron will never be able to establish that synonymous connection in the sneaker world the way MJ did, but that doesn't mean that LBJ still can't outshine Jordan in some way off of the hardwood. In the backhalf of his career, and into retirement, it's going to be up to LeBron to figure out where he'll find his Jumpman. In music? Movies? Or maybe he'll just be able to successfully own/manage an NBA franchise instead of running them into the ground for years...
Fully develop his clutch gene.
When the game is on the line, Michael Jordan has always been the guy that you'd want to give the ball to and lead your team to victory. The dude has more clutch moments than most people could ever dream of and, in large part, that has to do with the fact that he was absolutely insistent about taking the last shot at the end of the game. Kobe has followed his lead on this characteristic, but LeBron still has yet to fully establish himself as that sort of threat to his critics.
Yes, LBJ has a few game-winners of his own, but he's never exhibited that killer instinct that MJ showed to his fans on a regular basis. In order to silence the haters who want to talk about his competitiveness and drive, LeBron needs to keep on showing everyone that he doesn't wilt under pressure. We still haven't gotten that bad taste out of mouths that the 2011 NBA Finals left.
Play another sport.
Michael Jordan's ill-fated flirtation with professional baseball was one of the most head-scratching moves in sports history, but it also provides LBJ with an opportunity to do Jordan one better. LeBron's own musings on playing in the NFL have been well-documented, but before he hangs it up for good, the King will need to show and prove on that talk in order to cement his legacy over His Airness.
C'mon, if Tony Gonzalez can still put up numbers at 37 years old, then who's to say that LeBron couldn't do it at the tail-end of his NBA career? If LBJ called it quits at 35 (not unreasonable considering that he came out of high school), that'd give him two solid years to show that he's more than just a one-sport athlete. LeBron doesn't have to dominate, he just needs to put up some respectable numbers, and avoid embarrasing himself. Stick him at tight end, and bring him in for red-zone packages. Do you really think that any cornerback in the league is going to be able to handle a beast like LeBron in the end zone?
Average eight assists and eight rebounds per game for his career.
At this point, surpassing Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list seems a little unrealistic for LeBron. Do you know how many scoring titles Jordan won during his career? 10. Do you know how many LeBron has picked up? One. The numbers just don't lie in that category, but that doesn't mean that LBJ can't prove himself as the better all-around player. His career averages of seven assists and seven rebounds per game already exceed Jordan's, but it's time for him to put a bit more distance between himself and MJ. If LBJ were to put up an eight and eight, he'd prove that his presence on the court went beyond buckets in a way that Jordan's never could.
Surpass Jordan's MVP count.
With four MVP trophies under his belt, LeBron is well on his way to overtaking Michael Jordan (5) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6) for the most Most Valuable trophies of all time. Like Michael, though, it is possible that LeBron could miss out on the award one of these years, simply because voters are bored of handing it off to him every season. After all, Kevin Durant won't play second fiddle for his whole career. Outdoing MJ in terms of individual accolades is key to assuring his status as the better baller, and like MJ owned the '90s, LeBron too has to dominate his era. As Wade's skills begin to decline, LBJ will have an even larger role in the Heat offense this season. Now is the perfect time to pick up that fifth Maurice Podoloff trophy.
Win the Defensive Player of the Year Award.
It's a little bit surprising that the Defensive Player of the Year award hasn't been awarded to LeBron yet, given that he has the versatility to cover every position on the court. But the fact remains that it's still conspicuosly absent from his trophy case. You know who isn't missing it, though? Michael Jordan, of course. During the 1987-88 season, Jordan averaged career highs in steals (3.2) and blocks (1.6) to establish himself as a lockdown defender in the league and he took home the hardware to prove it. Along with that, he also earned a NBA All-Defensive First Team nod—the first of nine in his career. LeBron isn't too far behind on that number, having already picked up five such distinctions of his own and, with the ability to guard anyone from point guard to center, it doesn't seem like the DPOY award should be too far behind either.
If LeBron continues to grind it out off-the-ball, and picks up a few more highlight-material blocks like the one above, don't be surprised to see him checking this one off the To-Do list soon.
Match or better MJ's championship total.
Let's be honest, this condition is basically what the entire "LeBron vs. Jordan" debate will come down to. Ask Kobe Bryant. No matter how clutch Kobe has appeared throughout his career, how many points he's put up, or how many times he's put the Lakers on his back, his candidacy for G.O.A.T has come down to one thing: rings. Two championships is great, but LeBron is going to have to seriously step his game up if he hopes to overtake Jordan in the eyes of the discerning public. One more is definitely in play with the Miami Heat, but with LeBron's impending free agency, Wade's advancing age, and other stars like Chris Paul or Kevin Durant ready to step in at a moment's notice, many will be wondering whether another three championships after that is at all realistic. Will LBJ be able to prove the doubters wrong?