next jordan???

My friend Justin and I constantly have the debate of whether Lebron James will be better than Michael Jordan. I say no, he says yes. I realize that it is early in Lebron's career, but I look at what Jordan has already done and find it hard to believe that another play can come along so quick and dethrone Jordan and the best.

Over the course of his career, Jordan was an all-star 14 times, winning the MVP three times. He won six championships, the rookie of the year award, and 10 NBA All-first teams. Not to mention his nine-time all-NBA defensive first team and the defensive player of the year in 1988.

Jordan averaged 30.1 points, 5.3 assists, and 6.2 rebounds per game over his career.

Granted, if you look at what Lebron has done already, it is very possible to infer that his number may indeed be better than Jordan's. Lebron has already won 2 all-star MVP awards, including this years. I think that if James wants to be considered in the same sentence as Jordan, he must leave cleveland. Even with the new addition of Ben Wallace, six championships are not in Lebron's future with Cleveland.

Furthermore, I think that even if Lebron surpasses Jordan's numbers, he will have to do more to be known as the best of all time. Jordan dominated the game for so many years. I think that since the game has changed, and there are more dominating players now a days, James is going to have to make a huge statement to swing the opinion of most NBA fans.

There is no doubt in my mind that James will end his career as one of the greatest of all time. Yet while it is still early and impossible to predict the future, I think Lebron will have to greatly go above and beyond Jordan's achievements if he wants to be considered the best to have ever played the game.