Clearing the Heir on MJ and LeBron

It's not going to be easy for LeBron James to finish his job of being the next Michael Jordan when MJ himself says he never would have done what James did. You idolize a guy, grow up trying to be him, tell everyone about it, and then when it's your turn to be him, he calls you a big sissy.

Be clear here: That's exactly what Jordan is saying about James. He does it without using either that word or the one with the same meaning he surely would prefer, used in locker rooms but not here.

Asked about James' decision to orchestrate a team of three stars, getting together with buddies Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to play on Wade's team in Miami, Jordan said this:

"There's no way I would've ever called up Larry, called up Magic and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team. ... I was trying to beat those guys.''



Share It's funny when you see the psyche of these superstars. The truth is that when Jordan said this about LeBron, he explained perfectly in just a couple of sentences why James will never be Jordan: "This clearly takes him out of the conversation," Charles Barkley said.

True. But I seem to remember that when the Bulls didn't have enough rebounding around Jordan, they went out and bought the game's best rebounder, Dennis Rodman. At one point in Jordan's career, his Bulls couldn't beat Detroit, and Rodman.

Presumably, Jordan was trying to beat Rodman.

And it's also a little hard to believe that he had absolutely nothing to do, no phone calls, no approval, with getting Rodman on the Bulls. Wasn't that a way of orchestrating a title?

These championship teams are not just grown organically. Before free agency in sports, cities were basically stuck with the same losing teams over and over and over.

But back to the psyche of a superstar, Jordan is saying that James is missing it.

Look, when Jordan was king, he referred to his teammates as his supporting cast. It always seemed a little uncomfortable, as if he were Snow White or Gladys Knight and his teammates were dwarfs and pips. Looking back, it's amazing that he actually knew their names at all.

Jordan thinks that James is willing to be Sleepy, Dopey or Doc.

And it's so true.

At the same time, it's clear that Jordan thinks the NBA is about which superstar is the best. It was about Michael vs. Magic or Magic vs. Larry or Michael vs. Larry. Whatever, the other guys were just playing bit parts.

When James realized he couldn't win in Cleveland, he tried to figure out where he could win. He decided he was willing to actually be the supporting cast for Wade. Jordan, who spoke to NBC after a celebrity golf tournament Sunday, never would have done that.

The supporting cast came to him, to play with him, for him. Not the other way around.

Unfortunately for James, his supporting cast seems to be a bunch of bumbling advisers who are directing his path riding his coattails. When James announced where he was going to play, he said "South Beach,'' not the Heat. You have to suspect that those advisers directed him to where they could have the most wild fun.

James and Bosh could have gone to Chicago, where James would still have been The Man, and probably have won titles.

In fact, the Bulls might have been a better fit for him than the Heat.

But that's based on the idea that James wants to be The Man, that he believes deep down that a team can win a title with him as The Man.

"There would have been something honorable about staying in Cleveland and trying to win it as The Man," Barkley told Miami radio station 790, The Ticket. "LeBron, if he would've stayed in Cleveland, and if he could've got a championship there, it would have been over the top for his legacy. Just one (title) in Cleveland.

"No matter how many he wins in Miami, it clearly is Dwyane Wade's team.''

See, it's all a question of mentality. What's funny is the way James' defenders are trying to portray this, using the same word -- honorable -- that Barkley used. Their idea is that James gave up self for team, willing to share the spotlight. Why? Because winning means everything to him. Those are all honorable things, right?

Ha! The man who did the I-love-me announcement on ESPN was not doing it as part of a selfless act.

People don't like what James did mostly because it was the players taking charge. If an owner had pieced together these three players like this, he would have been hailed as a genius. When players do it, for some reason that bothers people.

I don't see it that way at all. Kevin Garnett, once known as a guy who can't win, orchestrated his way onto a team with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, and now is a champion. But Garnett was never in the discussion of being Jordan.

James is. Well, he was. If he wants to play for Wade in Miami, that's fine. But even if James wins a title now, it will only prove a negative about him.

Remember Jordan hugging his first trophy, crying? If James wins it, it will be about jewelry and hardware, while his advisers go party up big in South Beach.

Email me at gregcouch09@aol.com