Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
May 14, 2009, Washington Post

Greatness That Might Stand the Test of Time

This season's National Basketball Association playoffs have me wondering: Is LeBron James the greatest basketball player ever?

I am not the only one wondering about the Cleveland Cavaliers' fabulous forward. Jerry West said in a recent interview, "I look at Cleveland and say to myself, 'How many games would they win without LeBron James?' " West concluded that James has "a chance to be arguably the greatest player ever to play the game."

In case you don't know, West was a great player for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1960s and '70s. In fact, he was so good that the NBA logo shows an outline of him dribbling a ball. He also was the general manager of several Lakers teams that won the championship. So West knows basketball.

Certainly, James has been terrific throughout the playoffs, scoring 36 points a game. But he is more than just his stats. James is special because of all he does for his team.

If the Cavaliers need a basket, he gets it. (Perhaps no basket has been bigger than the three-point shot he made at the buzzer to give his team a 96-95 win over the Orlando Magic last Friday.) If they are struggling to bring the ball upcourt, they throw it to LeBron. If they are getting beaten to rebounds, James goes inside and grabs the ball. If they need to get someone involved in the offense, he passes the ball to that player. In short, James does everything.

I know that lots of folks say Michael Jordan was the greatest ever, but after watching James for the past few years, I am not so sure. James is a couple of inches taller and a lot stronger than Jordan. It's true that when Jordan was 24, the age that James is now, Jordan averaged more points per game than James. But James is a better rebounder and passer.

Jordan, of course, won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. But he did not win those titles by himself. Basketball is a team game, and Jordan had some terrific teammates. For example, in the Bulls' first championship season (1991), forward Scottie Pippen averaged more than 21 points per game during the playoffs while grabbing almost 9 rebounds and dealing out almost 6 assists.

Jordan's Chicago teammates were so good that when he took time off to play baseball, the Bulls won 55 games without him. That was only two fewer than they had won the year before with Jordan. James's teammates are not nearly as good as Jordan's.

Maybe this will not be the year LeBron James wins his first NBA championship. His Cavaliers are trailing 3-1 in games to the rugged Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Magic would win the series with a victory in tonight's game.

So be sure you watch James. You might be watching the greatest player ever to play the game.

Fred Bowen writes KidsPost's sports opinion column and is an author of sports novels for kids.

© 2009 The Washington Post Company