LeBron James openly admitted in a recent interview that he is chasing the legacy of Michael Jordan. In other words, LeBron wants to go down as the greatest NBA player of all time. According to one of Jordan’s former teammates, King James can only accomplish that goal if he pushes M.J. out of his mind.
B.J. Armstrong, who won three titles with Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the early 1990s, told ESPN’s Chris Broussard this week that LeBron won’t be the best if he compares himself to those who played before him.
“This is to LeBron James: If you want to be the best, get rid of the comparisons,” Armstrong said. “Get rid of all the comparisons that are out there. That’s what Michael Jordan did. Jordan realized that in order to be the best, you had to get rid of all the comparisons.
“When you compared Jordan to somebody else, it made him more and more upset. That was with guys who played before him, guys he was playing against and guys in the future. He got upset every time [the media] got on TV and started comparing him to other people. When you compared who is the best 2-guard — Jerry West or Michael Jordan — he was upset. When you talked about who was the best player in the NBA, he was upset. When you talked about who had the most championships, he was upset.”
James can’t stop fans and the media from comparing him to Jordan, but Armstrong believes it would be in LeBron’s best interest to stop fueling the fire with comments like the “ghost” one he made recently.
“Chasing a ghost is in make-believe land,” Armstrong added. “That’s far-out, that’s unattainable, that’s something you can’t achieve. This ain’t no ghost. If you want to do it, there’s a blueprint. It’s possible. There’s only one way to get there. It’s not possible for him to do what Jordan did because the circumstances are different, everything is different. What is possible for him is to be bigger than every situation that’s put in front of him, to dominate every situation that’s in front of him.”
LeBron is just 31. He has already cemented himself as a hero by returning to Cleveland and delivering Cavs fans their first NBA title in franchise history. If he wins three more championships and ties Jordan’s six, there’s no telling what basketball purists will have to say.
But for now, Armstrong has a point. LeBron is better off thinking about those who currently stand in his way (and it sounds like he’s doing just that) rather than worrying about a guy whose story has already been written.
