LeBron James Can Secure a Place as All-Time Great with 2011 NBA Finals Win

LeBron James is already considered a sure entry into the Hall of Fame and possibly the best player of his generation, right up there with Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade.  But is he an all-time great when viewed in the scope of the entire history of the NBA?

Scottie Pippen recently made headlines when we proclaimed that James is the greatest "player" in the history of the game, separating him from former teammate Michael Jordan in terms of his all-around playmaking ability and his dominance on the defensive end of the floor.

This article isn't going to address the Jordan vs. James debate, but rather, will focus on what LeBron James is doing right now to secure his place as an all-time NBA great.

One of the interesting subplots of the 2010-11 NBA season was the scrutiny placed on the Miami Heat following the free-agent frenzy of last summer.  Specifically, it was interesting to watch how the general public, even people who didn't follow basketball very closely, became antagonistic towards James and his superstar teammates.

This is important because it seems to have lessened people's overall impression of LeBron James, both as a person and as a basketball player.  Somehow, the idea has become popular that with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh as his teammates, James is no longer the player he was while in Cleveland.

What he is doing in the playoffs this year—and really, the way he played all season—indicates that those sentiments are not grounded in reality.

James has never averaged fewer than 20 PPG, five RPG and five APG, and this season was no different.  Last year with Cleveland, he averaged almost 30 PPG, to go along with over seven RPG and over eight APG.  This season, the averages are down slightly, but accounting for the presence of Wade and Bosh would indicate that he hasn't lost a step at all.

No one will argue that he isn't one of the best, if not the best, in the NBA today.  But the one thing critics have always held over his head is that he neither good in crunch time nor an NBA champion.

In these playoffs, he has elevated his game in almost every possible way that could be important to his team.  His turnovers are down by almost one a game despite playing increased minutes, and his free-throw and three-point shooting percentages are up.  In fact, he only averaged 33 percent on threes during the regular season, but during the playoff he is up over 40 percent!

Anyone watching the past two series against Boston and Chicago has seen him repeatedly hit big shots and make key defensive plays when it mattered, leading the Heat to come-from-behind victories on multiple occasions.  He has been the MVP of the postseason, and is now only three wins away from cementing his legacy as not only a great playoff performer but also one of the best players the NBA has ever seen.

And he's only 26.