Basketball - Lebron James Wins All Star

The majority of high schoolers who came into the NBA were slow like molasses to develop. The only exception forever will be LeBron James, who if he improves can become the greatest thing since Michael Jordan. But how close can he come to matching His Airness?

Through his first several years LeBron has done a great job emulating Jordan. The points are there, the dunks are there, and James does it by himself like MJ did in the start of his career. The problem is that those were arguably Jordan's worst years (aside from his stint with the Wizards).

The reason it's considered that is when compared to the times when his team went to the Finals Jordan's first years led to little success for the Bulls. LeBron James has undeniably made the Cavs better. But eventually he is going to have to have postseason success. In the Eastern Conference where the #7 and 8 seeds are below .500 anything less than home-court advantage is simply unacceptable. Jordan was perhaps the only the Shooting Guard to single-handedly make his team competent. Pippen, Rodman and others were great, but MJ was the only one who put the ball into the basket.

Over the course of his NBA career Michael Jordan hit 30 game-winning shots including several NBA Finals games. James led the League in 4th quarter scoring last year, so we know that he can deliver when the game is winding down. However when it winds down a little more to the point where there are just a few possessions left, LeBron has frequently folded.

Realistically he will just never reach Jordan. Including All-star MVP's, Finals MVP's and Regular Season MVP's MJ stacked over a dozen of those awards. Include 6 rings and the highest PPG ever and Jordan is far and away superior to everyone. Besides, Jordan wasn't shy to enter the Slam Dunk Contest and wasn't facing slums like DeShawn Stevenson either. How far James goes in his stardom will begin when he agrees to do it.

Winning the All-Star MVP Sunday night was a start.