LeBron James was once among thousands of youngsters striving to “be like Mike,” but the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar never dreamed he would be mentioned in the same breath as Chicago Bulls icon Michael Jordan as one of basketball’s greatest.
James on Thursday eclipsed Jordan as the NBA’s all-time leading playoff scorer as he led the Cavaliers into a third straight NBA Finals — fueling comparisons to six-time NBA champion Jordan.
As pundits parsed the stats showing Jordan achieved his 5,987 playoff points in 179 post-season games, while James reached 5,995 in his 212th post-season contest, James dismissed such conversations as “barbershop” debates.
Photo: AFP
However, when pressed he acknowledged Jordan’s massive influence and the significance of the scoring milestone.
“I think I fell in love with the game because of Mike, just seeing what he was able to accomplish,” James said after scoring 35 points in the Cavaliers’ 135-102 victory over the Boston Celtics that clinched the Eastern Conference title. “When you’re growing up and you’re seeing Michael Jordan, it’s almost like a god. So I didn’t ever believe I could be Mike.”
From trying to emulate Jordan’s fadeaway jump-shot to copying his uniform quirks, James said: “I did pretty much everything M.J. did when I was a kid.”
“I didn’t go bald like Mike, but I’m getting there,” he quipped. “I wanted to be Mike, so for my name to come up in any discussion with Michael Jordan or Kareem [Abdul Jabbar] ... it’s a wow factor.”
To be sure, “Air Jordan” still reigns over “King James.”
Jordan’s six NBA titles are twice as many as James’ three — two of them won with the Miami Heat before he returned to Cleveland with the avowed aim of bringing a championship to his home state of Ohio.
Jordan leads James in Most Valuable Player awards five to four and Jordan is fourth all-time in regular-season scoring with 32,292 points compared with James in seventh on 28,787.
James said at a summer basketball camp last year that he found motivation in “this ghost I’m chasing — the ghost played in Chicago.”
However, he said his goal is not just to match Jordan’s numbers.
“It has nothing to do with passing him in rings, passing him in points, passing him in MVPs. It’s just my personal goal to keep me motivated,” James said. “The conversations about who’s the greatest of all time, things of that nature — it doesn’t matter to me.”
What does matter is the chance to cement his own legacy, one that inspires young players to look beyond scoring as they develop their games.
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