LeBron James: What Happens If LeBron Wins 6 Championships with the Miami Heat?

Let's take a minute and play the "what if" game.

The question at hand is this,"What if LeBron pulls through on his promise of bringing multiple, let's say six, NBA championships to South Beach?"

Will that amount of championships redeem him from making the decision to "take his talents to South Beach?"  Will LeBron then be remembered as having a career that puts him in the same category as Michael Jordan?  Could six championships catapult him into the "greatest ever" conversation?

I'm here to answer all of those questions for you.

In the next few slides, I'll answer the questions surrounding what happens if LeBron and the Miami Heat dominate the NBA for the next six or seven years.

Enjoy.

Can Winning Multiple Championships with the Heat "Redeem" LeBron's Image?

It's a scientific fact that for every LeBron James fan, there are about four or five LeBron haters.

Ever since taking his talents to South Beach, the public perception hasn't been too favorable for the "Chosen One." LeBron's off the court actions have been defined with words like, egotistical, self-centered, arrogance and a lack of class, while his action on the court are often described by an inability to show up when him team needs him. The one word I'm sure he hates to hear is "choker."

People are quick to forget that LeBron's "The Decision " show raised $480,000 for Ohio's Boys and Girls Clubs, and even in spite of that the majority of NBA fans love to hate on the move he made that fateful night in July 2010.

Whenever LeBron takes his talents on the road, opposing fans love to boo him and let him know that he's not welcome in their team's arenas.  Unfortunately that's unlikely to ever change for LeBron, no matter how many championships he ends up winning in South Beach.

In all reality the more championships LeBron wins the more people are going to hate on him, unless he somehow miraculously is welcomed back to Cleveland and he wins eight championships there.  Since there's a 10.0%percent chance that'll actually happen, it's fair to say that as LeBron's number of rings increases, so will the number of his haters.

If raising $480,000 for underprivileged youth in Ohio can't improve his image, than winning an absurd amount of NBA Championships certainly won't either.    

Will Winning More Rings Than Kobe Finally Make LeBron the Better Player?

The debate between whether LeBron or Kobe is the better of the two players will rage on until the end of time, and for the time being, the one main argument that LeBron haters use is the fact that LeBron has zero rings as compared to Kobe's five.

While that point is a valid one, it doesn't incorporate the statistical comparison of the two players, and when you look at both players' career numbers, LeBron has the edge. 

LeBron (9 years) - 27.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 7.0 apg, PER of 27.10

Kobe (16 years) - 25.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 5.4 apg, PER of 23.58

Statistically speaking LeBron is the "better" player, so what happens if LeBron wins as many, or more rings than Kobe?  In my opinion, if LeBron can manage to out-produce Kobe in the jewelry department, than he is hands down the better player.

If LeBron gets it done in South Beach, his detractors will argue that Kobe's still the better player since he couldn't get it done in Cleveland, like Kobe did in Los Angeles.  The reality of the LeBron vs. Kobe debate is that even if LeBron wins five or six rings, people will argue that they aren't as valuable as Kobe's because LeBron had to team up with Bosh and Wade to get them.

Say LeBron wins six rings in South Beach, he'll have done so with the help of Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, as compared to Kobe's first three rings coming with the help of Shaquille O'Neal and his second two rings coming with the help of Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom.

You make the call on whether or not Kobe or LeBron will go down as having the better supporting cast, which will ultimately be the difference maker in the debate of whether or not Kobe or LeBron is the better player, because statistically speaking LeBron clearly is.     

Will Winning Multiple Rings Be Tainted by Taking His Talents to South Beach?

If LeBron had stayed in Cleveland and won multiple championships there's no doubt that he'd be held on the same level as players like Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, having come in and saved his hometown team.

Now will the fact that LeBron left Cleveland to try and win his rings change the value associated with those rings?  The short answer to that question is, yes.  There's no doubting that if LeBron wins championships with the Miami Heat, they won't be considered as valuable as if he had stayed in Cleveland.

The main reason for that is because most people feel like LeBron James left Cleveland because he simply couldn't win championships by himself.  But the reality of multiple championship-winning players is that they mainly do so with the help of at least one other top-tier player beside them.

Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippen, Kobe Bryant had Shaq and Pau Gasol, Paul Pierce had Garnett and Allen, Hakeem Olajuwon had Clyde Drexler, Tim Duncan had Tony Parker, Magic Johnson had Kareem, Larry Bird had Kevin McHale and the list goes on.

The point is, while LeBron has Wade and Bosh or whatever way you want to look at the Big Three, most repeat or multiple NBA Champions don't do so by themselves, they do it by playing with other elite players beside them.  The fact of the matter is that it shouldn't matter where LeBron gets his rings, but the reality is that it will.

If LeBron manages to win multiple championships in South Beach, haters will always point to the fact that LeBron "didn't do it by himself," and while that argument is somewhat irrelevant, it will always still be the foundation of LeBron haters worldwide.     

Will Multiple NBA Titles for the Heat Mean More for LeBron or Wade's Career?

There's one thing that Dwyane Wade has that LeBron doesn't, and that's an NBA Championship.

In 2006, Dwyane Wade, with the help of Shaquille O'Neal, grabbed his first NBA Championship ring, which means that if LeBron and Wade both win championships in South Beach, Wade will always have one more than LeBron.

So if LeBron wins five championships in South Beach, that means Wade will have six, which brings us to the question of whether or not Miami Heat Championships means more for the legacy of LeBron James or Dwyane Wade.

While there's no real "right" answer to that question, in my opinion the answer to that question ultimately comes down to which player has the statistical advantage in per game production over the span of their careers, and currently that nod goes to LeBron James.

LeBron (9 years) - 27.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 7.0 apg, 1.7 stlpg, PER of 27.10

D.Wade (9 years) - 25.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 6.3 apg, 1.8 stlpg, PER of 25.61

If both players continue to perform at the same level, LeBron will have the nod when it comes to statistical production, while Wade will have the nod when it comes to amount of rings.

While multiple championships will ultimately benefit both the legacies of LeBron and Wade, I think it will benefit LeBron's legacy just a little bit more, based on the amount of hype that surrounded him coming into the NBA and his ability to produce at a slightly higher level.  

Is How LeBron Wins the Rings More Important Than the Number of Rings He Gets?

No matter how many rings LeBron wins, whether it's one or six, they won't ultimately matter unless he's the most dominant player on the court for the NBA Finals series when those rings are won.

If LeBron wins six rings with the Miami Heat, and Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade outplay him, those rings won't be nearly as valuable to his legacy as they will be if he is the most dominant and complete player on the court for the Miami Heat.

One of the biggest detractors of LeBron's career thus far has been his inability to show up late in games, when his teams have needed him the most.  First it was in the 2009-10 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Boston Celtics, then it was the 2010-11 NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks and now everyone is waiting to see when LeBron's next vanishing act will take place.

For arguments sake, let's say the Heat win the 2011-12 NBA Finals, which gives LeBron his first coveted ring.

If he does so by showing up and outperforming everyone on the court, that ring will be the first on his way to establishing a dominant legacy filled with multiple championships.

If LeBron wins a championship but fails to contribute to the team late in games, his first ring won't mean nearly as much.

The point here is that no matter how many rings LeBron wins, the way he wins them will ultimately be more important to the kind of legacy he establishes in the NBA.  

Will Winning Multiple Championships Put LeBron in the Same Category as Jordan?

This one might be a bit early to be talking about, but so is most of this article, so I'll continue.

Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest professional basketball player of all time, has six NBA Championships, which isn't even the most in the NBA history.  That spot goes to Bill Russell with 11 NBA Championships.

It is feasible that if LeBron starts winning championships this year, he could equal or surpass Jordan's total in the next seven or eight years.  If LeBron is able to surpass Jordan's ring total, will that elevate LeBron into a legitimate contender for the "greatest of all time" conversation?

When you look at each players' career statistical production it's pretty clear that if LeBron is able to get five or six rings, he has to also enter into the realm of being compared to M.J.

LeBron (9 years) - 27.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 7.0 apg, PER of 27.10

Jordan (15 years) - 30.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 5.3 apg, PER of 27.92

When you compare both players statistically speaking, it's evident that both players are on a similar "level," especially when it comes to PER.  LeBron and Jordan are the only two players in NBA history with a career PER over 26.50, which is a pretty elite place to be.

A lot of people will say that LeBron leaving Cleveland and creating the "Big Three" will keep him out of the "greatest of all time" conversation, but when you look at his production objectively compared to Jordan's, there's no doubting that LeBron is close to being on MJ's level.

If LeBron can manage to win six rings, or even pull ahead of Jordan with seven, the debate of who the greatest basketball player of all time is will get a lot more heated.