LeBron James: Does He Move into Conversation of 10 Greatest Players with a Ring?

In a Game 4 loss where LeBron James scored only eight points, not only did he score in single digits for the first time in 433 games while also letting his team down in the most pivotal game of the season, he also tainted his legacy with the weak performance.

Last night's 96-93 loss was a debacle for the Heat, as they once again blew chances to take complete control of the series. They led by nine early on in the fourth quarter only to allow Dallas to stage a comeback. By the final minutes of the game, the Mavericks had already nearly finished their run and had taken command of the game.

Even with James having the worst game of his career, the Heat still had a chance to win the game in the final seconds. Instead, they missed free throws, took bad shots and turned the ball over.

Dwyane Wade finished with 31 points, and Chris Bosh finished with 24, but the story of the night was just how inept James was on offense and defense. He allowed his matchups in Shawn Marion and Jason Terry to have quality offensive nights, while he basically took a back seat to Wade and Bosh.

In the second half, however, the Heat spent most of their time feeding the ball to Wade again. Bosh and James became statues, and Miami lost because of it.

Any other night that Wade and Bosh finish with a combined 55 points, the Heat most likely win by double digits, but not on a night where LeBron James decides not to show up and instead costs his team the game by having one of the worst offensive nights of his career. In the fourth quarter, you barely noticed that he was in the same game as Dwyane Wade and the rest of the Heat, and the team was outscored by seven because of it.

Heading into the Finals, James was looking like the player that we expected him to be. He was playing phenomenally on both sides, making clutch shots and displaying signs of leadership, and the Heat finished 10-2 in the semifinals and conference finals against two teams that had beaten them in the regular season a combined six times. LeBron was dialed in and consistently tore apart the Heat's two opponents.

It was needed because Chris Bosh was a no-show for the semis, while Dwyane Wade couldn't find a rhythm in the conference finals. James was taking on some of the league's highest-quality defenders and was making them either looking their age or exposing their flaws. His athleticism was unmatched by any other player in those series, and it would sometimes intimidate his opponents.

Nobody's scared of LeBron in these NBA Finals, and it's painfully obvious. He's averaging less than 20 points per game in the Finals and hasn't had a quality showing since he scored 24 points in the Heat's Game 1 win.

In the past three games, it has been Wade that has led the way for Miami with James taking the back seat the same way Wade did for James in the conference finals. The only problem is that was the Chicago Bulls, and this is a well-balanced Dallas Mavericks team that doesn't just go away.

The other big problem is that this is the grandest stage in the league and LeBron James has mostly been a no-show. This is a series where the Heat need James' athleticism to wear out the aging stars of the Mavericks' starting lineup, as well as his overall complete game where he can score from anywhere on the court. Instead, LeBron has been wilting under pressure and is potentially costing his team a championship.

The main reason why LeBron took his talents to South Beach was to win a ring and nothing more. He did not care about being the No. 1 player on his team, and he did not care about what the public would think of him if he left Cleveland for Miami or any other team. He has been instrumental in leading the Heat to this stage, but now is not the time to be taking back seats to anyone. The NBA Finals should be a time for James to prove himself as one of the best, not how good of a sidekick he is.

Dwyane Wade has been the best player on the team in the Finals, and it hasn't even been close. The Mavericks have had no answer for Wade on defense, as they use several different defenders, as well as defensive sets, to contain him. Dwyane's uncanny ability to create his own shot is what makes him the best player in the series, as James struggles to find any openings against his defenders and forces the load on Wade.

We expected Wade to take over at this stage because of his Finals history and his history playing against the Dallas Mavericks, but we didn't realize just how much of a part he would play compared to James. He has been running the show and has been the offensive finisher, while LeBron becomes the team's top defender. LeBron has done an excellent job at containing Jason Terry, and it has allowed the Heat to focus more of their attention on Dirk Nowitzki.

Even with good defense, the Finals MVP goes to Dwyane Wade if the series pans out the way it is and with a Heat victory. He has been the clear-cut leader thus far and will continue to do so until James decides to step up. Miami needs James more than ever, and he's not securing any place on any top 10 players in league history list until he begins to display a sense of urgency and a killer instinct that only the top players possess.

LeBron may not win Finals MVP, but it doesn't mean the Heat can't use some of his contributions. With the hardware home and the ring on his finger, LeBron might have a championship in the near future, but it's going to be Wade that will show who the best player is on the biggest stage. James' career status would change, but he would most importantly have the title that has eluded him for so long to add to his lengthy list of accolades.

James has already had an impressive enough career to be recognized as one of the top players in league history. His play in the Finals thus far would tell you otherwise. If LeBron wants to prove his critics and every other negative influence in his life wrong, he'll go out and help his team win a title rather than scoring eight points in the team's biggest game of the season. The best players in league history would not have a performance like that at this stage, and we know LeBron is better than what he was in Game 4.

He's going to need more than one ring before we even begin talking about a possible spot in the top 10 among names like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. He's also going to need to contribute more than eight points in a game if the Heat want to compete with the Mavericks for the next three games. He's the league's most athletic and dangerous player, and he needs to start playing like who the player that he has grown into.

If James wants to salvage this series, he'll go out in Games 5 and 6 and absolutely dominate. He desperately needs to send a message for not only his team, but also for himself. He's won two MVP awards and has been on many All-NBA first teams over his eight-year career. This is the series where he puts all of that on the line and shows why he earned all those accolades rather than proving just how great of a player Wade is on the NBA's biggest stage.

Great players find ways to score. If LeBron is who we think he is, he'll dominate over the next two games.