It is appropriate that the first NBA finals rematch since Michael Jordan’s Bulls beat the Utah Jazz in 1997 and 1998 will feature LeBron James’s Miami Heat.
Michael Jordan is the impossible standard James has been held to since about the time ESPN began focusing on him in 2002, when he was 17.
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The parallels, if not particularly instructive, are at least illustrative: Michael Jordan sealed his second three-peat with the Bulls in 1998, LeBron James can win his first with Miami in 2014; Jordan’s Bulls overcame an ageing Western powerhouse led by John Stockton, Karl Malone and a coaching great in Jerry Sloan, James’s Heat must overcome an ageing Western powerhouse led by Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and a coaching great in Gregg Popovich.
This series is about whether James will measure up.
With all respect to the San Antonio Spurs, we have Greatest of All Time implications here.
From the moment of “The Decision” and that Miami introductory celebration in 2010 when James vowed, “not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven ...” titles, this was the kind of achievement he was planning.
Since Bill Russell’s impossible 1960s Celtics, the only star players to achieve a three-peat are Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
It is neither logical nor fair that these are the modern benchmarks for measuring the best of the best in basketball.
Because he did not play at a time when the internet and all its baggage could dog him, the image of Jordan – the relentless competitor and consummate showman – is nearly fixed in the memory.
James has had it a bit tougher. From his first finals loss in 2007, to The Decision and to his second finals loss, his early career missteps and failures were greeted with glee in some places.
There appeared to be an indignation, among some, to see someone come along so soon after Jordan had left the game with his greatest-of-all-time status seemingly cemented forever, who had the talent to possibly challenge that.
There was a reluctance, among some, to embrace James. A desire to see the chosen one – whose narrative of high school super stardom contrasted so sharply with Jordan, the boy who was cut from the Laney High School team – fall flat. Again, neither fair nor logical.
But here we are. James has the 2012 and 2013 championships on his CV, but a third? A third puts him in the club with Michael and Kobe.
So the question that will colour these 2014 NBA finals, the question that has coloured LeBron James’s career and will continue to colour it until “not five, not six, not seven ...” is reality is: Will LeBron James measure up?
jraymond@thenational.ae
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