LeBron: A Great Athlete or the Greatest NBA Player?

(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

I know, I know. Another article about LeBron. But having survived the recent trauma of the uber-hype about LeBron vs. Kobe and the millions of advertising dollars spent, I had to step back and look at things from a more realistic perspective.

There are many examples of great athletes, both in individual and in team sports.

Tiger may be considered one of the greatest athletes and a winner, but he is a one-man team and only has to lead himself.

Bo Jackson was a great athlete in football and baseball, but he never won a championship in either sport.

Joe Montana and Johnny Unitas weren't the greatest athletes to play QB in the NFL, but both were winners and leaders. On the other hand, Michael Vick may have been the best athlete to ever play QB in the NFL but...well, enough said about him.

Michael Jordan was one of the greatest athletes to play in the NBA and he learned to lead and became a winner and a champion. Then there was Pete Maravich who was a phenomenal craftsman but never won The Ring.

Now we come to LeBron James. He is a great, physical player, maybe one of the best to ever play the game so far, but he is missing one key ingredient: LEADERSHIP!

There is a huge difference in wanting to win and making other people around you winners. This comes from maturity, experience, desire...and DNA.

LeBron hasn't shown that he has those traits yet and maybe he never will. Until he can LEAD a team to The Ring, he will always just be a great athlete, just not a champion.

Hard as that is for his many worshipers to swallow, it is the truth. And if you still don't believe me, ask some of those winners (who are also LEADERS) mentioned above.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?