LeBron James watched Michael Jordan Finals games throughout playoffs

LeBron James has made a conscious effort to limit distractions during the playoffs over the past two seasons, and the results have spoken for themselves. During the Miami Heat’s championship runs in 2012 and 2013, LeBron turned his cell phone over to his agent and stopped listening to what Twitter followers and sports analysts had to say. Because of that, he was left with a lot of free time.

During an interview with CNN’s Rachel Nichols earlier this week, LeBron spoke about how he killed time without texting or using social media. He said he watched a lot of television series like “24,” but he also did some studying. Not surprisingly, he studied Michael Jordan.

“I watched a lot of old basketball games and Finals games,” LeBron said. “I watched a lot of the old Bulls Finals games.”

In the past, LeBron has expressed a desire to be himself and get away from the comparisons to Jordan. James wants to carve out his own legacy, and he is off to a tremendous start by winning two championships before his 29th birthday. That being said, his comments prove he has a great appreciation for MJ’s game like the rest of us.

LeBron may not want to be compared to Jordan, but that doesn’t mean he can’t learn from him. MJ was one of the most clutch performers of all time during the regular season. In the playoffs, he was even better. The same can be said for LeBron over the past two seasons. It would appear studying the greatest player of all time instead of tweeting is proving to be extremely beneficial.