Michael Jordan Still the King as LeBron James Drops the Crown

With all of the talk after Game 1 that LeBron James had surpassed Michael Jordan as the greatest player of all-time (non-Bill Russell division), how fitting that the world only had to wait one more game to realize just how foolish those claims were. 

Not only is LeBron currently not better than Jordan was, but after what we saw last night I'm more convinced than ever that he never will be.

In last night's win, the Dallas Mavericks overcame a 15 point deficit to stun the Heat in one of the greatest comebacks in NBA finals history. 

15 points, now where have we seen a similar comeback before? 

In the Finals no less? 

Funny you should ask (ok, I asked), as the last time a 15 point lead was blown in the finals was all the way back in 1992 when the Portland Trailblazers had a 15 point lead twice over some team from Illinois that had a decent shooting guard from North Carolina.

Yep, in a scenario that couldn't have been written up by Hollywood any better, maybe the two biggest collapses in finals history both involved the two guys that have been at the heart of the "who was better" debate for the better part of the last two days. 

And yes, it's very telling that in one case one player was able to will his team to a great comeback while the other was a key part of his team's epic choke job.

To be fair, it has to be included that when the Bulls came back in 1992, it was largely Scottie Pippen and the bench that started the comeback in the fourth quarter.  But as anyone who was watching the NBA back then knows, Jordan was the leader of that team with a presence that demanded the utmost effort and even greatness from his teammates. 

Those Bulls were a reflection of Jordan and were basically made in his image on the court. And when it came to winning time at the end of the game, Jordan was right there in the middle leading the charge and securing the win and the title for the Bulls.

As for last night, it was almost the total opposite. LeBron kept jacking up bad shot after bad shot and basically stopped playing defense in the fourth quarter. And as the game got closer and closer, LeBron refused to make sure that his teammates, who were outplaying him last night, got the ball in key moments. Instead of letting teammates share in the glory, to James it was all about him.

And he couldn't get it done.

Also, there is the celebration controversy from last night's game. Whereas the Bulls took on the winning, cutthroat attitude of Jordan, these Heat, much like the Cavs did during LeBron's time in Cleveland, have taken on the all about me attitude of James. 

Jordan would have never celebrated a 15 point lead like it was a title, but there was LeBron and the Heat acting like they had already won something with plenty of time on the clock.

Much like his Cleveland teams, when it comes to flash and having a good time there is nobody better in the league than wherever LeBron is playing.  And unfortunately, he's starting to drag Dwyane Wade into the same mindset. 

Wade used to be more like Jordan, and if Wade had gotten the ball last night my guess is the game would have turned out different. But hey, Wade isn't the king, right?

Sure, the stats may be close and LeBron has the game and talent to be the best ever. But he will never have Jordan's heart, desire or his willingness to do whatever it takes on the court to win. 

And LeBron isn't anywhere close to the leader that Jordan was when it comes to getting teammates to act like you do and raise there games to the demands of a truly great leader and winner.

LeBron is a great, great player and seems like a lot of fun to play with. Jordan was a jerk, but Jordan got the most out of his guys and didn't let up until he had crushed his opponents. 

And that's why he will always be better than LeBron.

You can follow Eric on Twitter @ericpaulwright.