LeBron James has been the best player in the league for quite some time but several weren’t willing to acknowledge his surreal talent because he had not yet won an NBA title. Whether that was fair or not, the narrative may change now that he has finally reached the mountaintop and was also named the 2012 NBA Finals MVP.

The interesting aspect of James’ ascension as well as his crowning as a champion is that it has put Michael Jordan’s first title — that he won 21 years ago — into perspective.

Many will say that it is blasphemous to even put both players in the same sentence given that James is only celebrating his first championship, but that’s exactly the point; comparing their situations leading up to their first title.
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Michael Jordan is not only the league’s greatest player but one could easily make the case that he is also the NBA’s greatest performer. Few players have been able to consistently raise the level of their play in conjunction with the stakes. Indeed, for all the clamoring about LeBron James being the next great thing, his showing in the 2011 NBA Finals made us realize that not everyone is ready and willing to accept the pressure that comes with battling for a title.

Jordan on the other hand shined brightest in the biggest of games and turned himself into an almost mythical figure. In this day and age, any comparison to Michael Jordan is seen almost as a form of basketball blasphemy; an attack on the jewels of the king’s crown.

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The Portland Trail Blazers were defeated in Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals by the Los Angeles Lakers who eventually went on to win the NBA title. Portland had come close to defeating Los Angeles but ultimately faltered down the stretch in what has become known as one of the greatest collapses in NBA playoff history. Portland saw their fourth quarter 15-point lead vanish in the matter of minutes as they kept missing one shot after another on their way to elimination.

Consequently, the Trail Blazers decided to add some big men to the roster for two reasons:

• Defend Shaquille O’Neal
• Force the Diesel to play defense

And thus Dale Davis and Shawn Kemp joined the team.

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When talks of the greatest NBA teams of all time come around, we often hear about the 1967 Philadelphia 76ers, the 1972 Los Angeles Lakers, the1983 Philadelphia 76ers, the 1986 Boston Celtics and the 1987 Los Angeles Lakers to name a few because those teams dominated the regular season and playoffs from start to finish. But for whatever reason, one of the greatest teams ever often gets lost in the shuffle because of the era in which they played.

Indeed, the 1996 Chicago Bulls boasted the best ever regular season record (72-10) and also flexed their muscles during the postseason, going 15-3 in the playoffs on their way to the NBA title.

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On Monday night, I decided to watch Game 6 of the 1985 NBA Finals in which the Los Angeles Lakers were battling the Boston Celtics. The Lakers were victorious and won the title but Kevin McHale was a dominant force during the game at both ends of the floor. The Celtics’ power forward fouled out midway through the fourth quarter with 32 points and 16 rebounds; and yet the numbers fail to capture just how great he was in Boston’s final game of the season.

The former Minnesota star was simply unstoppable on the low block against Los Angeles. More often than not, McHale would catch the ball on the block and unleash an arsenal of low post moves on his defender that not even Hakeem Olajuwon could match. Granted, the Hall of Famer’s post moves have been analyzed and discussed several times over the years and consequently one would think there is not much left to say about them. And yet, nothing could be further from the truth.

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Those who have followed the story of Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls are fully aware of the struggles that they faced with the Detroit Pistons in the late 1980s. Indeed, for three consecutive seasons, the Bulls’ season ended in a defeat at the hands of the Pistons. The Bad Boys they were called, because they did anything and everything humanly possible on the basketball court to get an edge.

The Bad Boys of Detroit would push, grab, clutch, hit, pull, shove and stare down opponents to inflict physical as well as psychological damage. If an opponent tried to establish position in the post, they would repeatedly elbow him in the back and even at times take shots at his ribs to throw him of his course and also get him thinking about the inflicted punishment as opposed to getting the ball and scoring.

Thus, when Michael Jordan came flying down the lane or tried to go down on the low block, that would be the kind of treatment he would receive. Mind you, MJ’s competitive spirit made it as such that he would accept any challenge placed before him, but early in his career he struggled to bring his teammates along with him for the ride. Consequently, the playoff match ups between the Bulls and Pistons were rarely about talent, but instead a battle of wills. And for the most part, the Pistons always won those types of confrontations.

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The Dallas Mavericks won the 2011 NBA title at the expense of the Miami Heat, but not before Dwyane Wade gave them everything he could and then some to make the task extremely difficult for them. Wade is quite possibly the best shooting guard in the NBA today and consequently every game is an opportunity to go out and prove it. However, there was a time when he was a nobody by NBA standards, but he worked hard to make sure that such a thing would remain only temporary.

In order to understand whom former Marquette star is today, one has to look back at the steps he took several years ago to reach his current platform.

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When the discussion for greatest team of all time comes up, we are often pointed in the direction of some truly historical basketball teams, and rightfully so. Any team that joins the debate must be able to stand the test of time and make you wonder if any other team in this history of the league could ever possibly take them down in a seven-game series.

To be fair though, trying to determine which team is the best of all time is much like trying to determine whom the greatest rapper ever was.  Indeed, one could easily make an argument for Biggie Smalls, Tupac, Jay-Z, Eminem, Nas or Rakim to occupy the top spot. In the end, our very own perceptions are a huge part of how we view the best.

Hence, the exercise of figuring out which team was truly the best ever beyond the shadow of a doubt could prove to be futile. Nonetheless, it still makes for wonderful bar or barbershop debates.

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