Lebron James is one of the best basketball players to ever play the game of basketball and he is not even 28 years old yet. He has been a regular season MVP. He has been to two NBA finals. And, he just might put a NBA championship ring on his finger this year after leaving Cleveland and joining forces with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami.

His decision to leave Cleveland (Ohio is his home state) wasn’t without trepidation. His decision brought on criticism from his former owner ….from fans all across the nation….and from ex-ball players who thought he was cheating his way to a championship ring.

While learning how to play with two other stars James went out and performed at a MVP level. 26 pts a game…..almost 8 rebounds a game….and over 7 assist a game.

And while we want as a basketball community to see Michael Jordan in Lebron James, what we have is a better….more modern…more athletic….version of Ervin “Magic” Johnson.

We want to see Lebron dominate in scoring like the great MJ. We want to see Lebron scream at the referee’s and teammates like MJ. But there is just one little problem…..we are not going to see MJ again! Not in our lifetime! Kobe Bryant and Dwayne Wade are as close as they come to MJ and they aren’t really that close.

This is not an excuse for Lebron but merely an opportunity for people who are really basketball buffs to compare Lebron accordingly. It is very easy to blanket today’s players against MJ and make a concrete and undeniable point. But when you compare Lebron ….and even Kobe Bryant to other NBA greats we get a much clearer picture. Lebron compares favorably to Magic, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor. You can actually debate that he is better than these NBA greats. But one thing is for certain…..once he starts to get the hardware (rings) he will solidify this position as one of the greats without question.

Clint Williams is a high school basketball coach and resident sports blogger for Afroblew.com.