by Makoy

Created on: July 20, 2010

LeBron James decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers for a greener pasture with the Miami Heat didn't put him in a good spot in comparison against Michael Jordan. Hailed as the "King", seeking help in teaming up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh certainly hurts his reputation and his quest to become one of the best players there is or live up to the hype and expectations that he could surpass Jordan's greatness.

In the first 7 seasons of their careers, both Jordan and James struggled and never won a title. Jordan entered the NBA in 1984, turned the Chicago Bulls into playoffs contenders, but struggled against Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons before finally making it to the NBA Finals in 1991 and won it for the first time. James had a similar path as Jordan when he entered the NBA in 2003. He turned the Cavaliers into a solid title contending team and made it to the NBA Finals in 2007 before being swept by the much experienced San Antonio Spurs.

Michael Jordan had stiff competition in Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, and Isiah Thomas to name a few while LeBron James have Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, and Kevin Durant as few of his serious competition. While Jordan decided to stay with the Bulls and aimed to beat his competition, James decided to increase his chances of winning a title (or multiple titles) by teaming up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Michael Jordan's opinion about LeBron's decision to join Wade and Bosh in Miami isn't a positive one on LeBron's point. Jordan, being the competitive person that he is, said that joining Larry Bird and Magic Johnson during his time have never crossed his mind just for the sake of winning a title. "There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry, called up Magic and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team,'" Jordan said. "But that's ... things are different. I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today. In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys." he added in making it lighter and not so heavy on LeBron.

What separated Jordan from James is the attitude. Jordan's competitive attitude and drive is simply way off the charts compared to James and he never backs down from competition no matter how stiff it is. James might need to mature a lot yet, after all, he's still 25, but sad to say, the decisions that he's doing right now is something that he could never take back in the future. He might regret what he's done today especially when he comes to a point where he could look back, think, and say that he should have done it his way and didn't seek the help of Wade, Bosh, or any other marquee player.

LeBron James might have the better statistics than Michael Jordan but it's the reputation (and some pride) that counts. When things got tough for their teams, Jordan decided to stay with the Bulls which resulted to 6 titles in the 90's while James decided to take the easy way out. James is a 2-time NBA MVP, and 2 straight that is, and it's not quite good to see an MVP leave his former team just for the sake of a much better chance of winning a title.

There is now way for James to remain as a "King" with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. A "King" is never a sidekick to anyone nor playing with somebody of his level. No matter how many titles will he win in Miami, there is one fact that can't be denied and that is that the Miami Heat is Dwyane Wade's team.

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