LeBron James, Today's Michael Jordan

In January of 1999, Michael Jordan retired from the Chicago Bulls. In my view, while he did return until 2003 in Washington, the post-Jordan era began in 1999. In the time since then, there have been some really great players who have competed to be "the new Jordan." Certainly Kobe Bryant got well-deserved comparisons, playing a very similar game to Jordan's and winning five championships while becoming a top five scorer of all-time. Shaq spent some time as the most dominant force in basketball, actually being so good that the league changed the rules on centers in the paint to counter his power. Tim Duncan has been "Mr. Consistent" since Jordan left, winning five championships in San Antonio, and serving as the most constant force basketball has seen since MJ. Dwyane Wade has had his moments even, though injuries have kept him from ever being "that guy" for enough years in a row.

This past season, people started comparing Steph Curry to Michael Jordan. That is so ridiculous that it doesn't even deserve a rebuttal. The fact of the matter is, if there is one player in basketball today who deserves to be compared to Michael Jordan, it is LeBron James. It is the most complete player in the world today, who plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers. It is the man going to his sixth straight NBA Finals. It's the guy who is actually the most valuable player in the league, not the guy who won the award. LeBron James is the Michael Jordan of the NBA in 2016. Period. By a mile.

I spent most of LeBron's career saying he is not Michael Jordan. To be fair, I still feel that Jordan is the best basketball player of my lifetime. With that said, if you want to discuss LeBron with Jordan, Magic, Kobe, Duncan, and Shaq in that discussion, I'm happy to have it. He's earned it at this point. Six consecutive finals as the best player on the court is pretty amazing. I just hope his supporting cast holds up this time to get him championship #3, and to give him that epic chapter in the storybook that he really needs- to be the guy to bring a championship to Cleveland sports.