Can We Just Stop the 'LeBron James Is the Greatest Ever' Talk for Now, Please?

On Monday night, LeBron James became only the 10th player in NBA history to win consecutive MVP awards, joining an elite group of NBA superstars including Tim Duncan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, and none other than Michael Jordan.

Oh, you know. Only Jordan.

Ever since coming into the league, NBA fans have been comparing James to Jordan. In fact, a Sports Illustrated cover story from his junior year of high school opens with the teaser: “Ohio high school junior LeBron James is so good that he's already being mentioned as the heir to Air Jordan.”

James probably didn’t help things by choosing to wear the No. 23 jersey—was it an homage to His Airness, or was LeBron pronouncing himself as the league’s next Jordan?

Regardless, the comparisons between ‘Bron and Jordan need to stop for now, because they aren’t fair at this point in LeBron’s career. 

The conversation is inherently unfair to LeBron, namely because we’ve seen the full scope of Jordan’s career (baseball and basketball…twice), while we’ve only seen about half of LeBron’s.

That's not to say that LeBron can't surpass Jordan, or that he won't surpass Jordan; it's to say that no one knows yet.

Jordan didn’t win his first NBA championship until his seventh season in the NBA. This is LeBron’s seventh season.

Jordan won his first NBA MVP award in the 1987-88 season; he won his second in the 1990-91 season when he guided the Bulls to his first NBA championship. LeBron just won his second NBA MVP award and has his Cavaliers 11 games away from his first NBA championship.

See the problem here?  

There are two comparisons between the two that are fair game at this point—their first performance in the NBA Finals and their career averages through seven years.  

First performance in the NBA Finals goes to Jordan, as his first appearance occurred in 1991, the year of his second MVP in which he won his first championship. Jordan finished his career 6-0 in the NBA Finals.

LeBron and the Cavs, on the other hand, entered a San Antonio buzzsaw in LeBron's first Finals appearance in 2007 and were swept 4-0.  

The pair cancel each other's advantages out in first-seven-year career stats, as Jordan's advantage in scoring and LeBron's slight advantage in rebounds and assists aren't significant enough to definitively push one player above the other.

LeBron has averaged 27.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 7.0 assists in his first seven years in the League, while Jordan averaged 31.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 5.6 assists in his first seven. 

That's where the comparisons should end for now, and here's why: We're witnessing the best passing big man since Oscar Robertson, if not ever.  Why bother comparing LeBron to other superstars when he's paving his own way through the NBA's history books?

I'll admit to not remembering 1991 as well as I should (granted, I was four years old at the time), but was Jordan already being hyped as going down as the Greatest Of All Time back before his first championship?  

Fast forward to December 1991. Six months after his first title, Jordan was drawing comparisons to Bird, Robertson, and Magic.

If there's one lesson sports should have taught us by now, it's that our perceptions are highly fleeting and often change faster than we'd ever expect.

One minute, a team looks invincible; the next, they're being wiped out by the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals. One minute, we've found the next Allen Iverson; the next, he's eating Vaseline in a webcam.

One day, LeBron has a muscle strain in his right elbow, the Cavaliers lose game two at home to the Celtics, and Cleveland could suddenly be panicking about another earlier-than-expected playoff exit.

Eleven wins later, LeBron could be the first MVP since Tim Duncan to win the MVP and an NBA championship in the same season.

Six years, five championships, and four more MVP awards later, and LeBron very well could go down as the Greatest of All Time.  

Then again, God forbid LeBron suffers a career-threatening injury like Grant Hill. The NBA's latest "next Michael Jordan" could become the next Tracy McGrady, an injury-plagued superstar who can't ever get past the first round of the NBA playoffs.

That's the thing. We just don't know yet.

LeBron should not be in Jordan's conversation until he wins a title; then again, when just comparing the first seven years of each of their careers, the two had remarkably similar progressions and career averages.

So let's chill the jets on the Jordan vs. LeBron comparisons for now. Once LeBron retires, we'll only have all of humanity to debate such an important and contentious issue, and we'll have a full view of both players' career spectrums.

Until then, sit back and enjoy LeBron for what he is: quite possibly the best passing big man the NBA has ever seen.