Chris Townsend

Hello – my name is Matt Kolsky, and I am a producer for the Chris Townsend Show, the late night show on the Sports Byline Radio Network. I'm just writing to—

No, wait… Sorry, that's my standard opening line for emailing show guests, not talking to you, the blog visitor. Although I suppose the opening stanza still works pretty well – I am, in fact, Matt Kolsky. I am, somewhat, a producer for the show.

Those of you who listen regularly may know me as Matt the Intern… or maybe just as "that awesome guy who is occasionally in studio and often makes incredibly insightful points on the air." I go by both.

In any event, I wanted to make my debut on this blog before my NBA commentary tonight on the show (tune in every Thursday evening for that, until we decide to bump me to a different night). And since I will so shortly be talking NBA on the show, I thought I'd give you a little pre-talk flavor of the written variety.

Today's subject: LeBron James. You may know him as LeBreezy, or King James. He goes by all three, and also a handful of other pet names. My favorite new moniker for James is point linebacker, which I read today in Chris Ballard's physical breakdown of the NBA's prodigious king and clear first-half MVP in my Sports Illustrated. And YES, in case you were wondering, the pre-Super Bowl issue of SI features a close-eyed LeBron on the cover next to a headline reading The Power of LeBron.

Another thing Ballard tossed at me in that article – and I deliberately use the word "toss" to make a point about how Cavalierly (no pun intended… alright, pun intended) he said it – was that finally, in free agent acquisition Mo Williams, LeBron has "the diminutive Pippen to James's Jordan."

As a native of Chicago who was 9 for the Bulls' first championship and 17 for the last, you might be able to guess where I stand on this particular issue. Specifically – LeBron is no Michael; the King is no Air (and you better damn well believe that Mo Williams is no Scottie Pippen, but that's a conversation for another time.) But perhaps my reasoning will not be as predictable.

In truth, I believe (and have said for years, just ask the poor bastards who I call friends and babble to about sports constantly) that LeBron will finish his career as hands-down the greatest basketball player to walk this earth. Pains me to say it, but I've been pretty convinced of that since midway through his rookie year and he certainly hasn't done anything to change my mind.

With this year being his finest yet, and his team tied with Boston and Los Angeles for fewest losses, the temptation to elevate LeBron beyond his actual stature is tempting. There is no doubt he is one of the two best players in the game today (though Dwyane Wade is closer at three than most would think) and he is probably the most well-rounded offensive player we've ever seen, especially at the tender young age of 24.

Even if you line up their career stats through the first six years of their careers, LeBron outshines Michael in a lot of places – rebounding, assists and 3-point shooting, to name a few. You could make an argument that by today's lower-scoring standards, LeBron's 28 points per game isn't so far off of the 32-33 Jordan was averaging in his fifth and sixth seasons.

But there are several important differences, some of which show up in the stats – take MJ's free throw percentage, which never dipped below 80% until his final season with the Bulls; or his lockdown defense, as seen in his remarkable steals numbers and nine All-Defensive First Team awards – and some of which don't, and are harder to define.

In my own, slightly twisted version of the words that I know were spoken by somebody important at some point in time: I can't tell you exactly what LeBron will look like when he's better than Jordan, but I will know it when I see it.

This is something that I realized as I watched LeBron overshoot his way to a 99-88 loss in Orlando that was nowhere near as close as the final score: for all his heroics and highlights, LeBron's history is not one of delivering in every big situation.

Want examples? Take tonight's loss, which had Statement Game written all over it and saw James shoot a Ricky Davis-like 10-27 (not to mention 0-for-2 from long range and 3-for-6 from the stripe). Or the season's opening night, when LeBron was good but not great with a chance to show and prove at the house of the defending champs. Or the recent showdown with Kobe Bryant in LA, where LeBron's Cavs took a one-point lead into halftime only to get roasted in the second and lose by nearly 20.

I am fully aware that much of what I'm talking about is mystique. Jordan has a deeply ingrained legend for most basketball fans, and it's all about winning – hitting big shots in big games. Of course, we sometimes forget that it wasn't until his seventh season that Jordan actually won a Championship, but that almost doesn't matter. It's more that we feel like he hit every big shot.

We don't feel that way about LeBron yet. And I don't mean the royal we, I mean we (all of us) as basketball fans – if you say you simply expect LeBron's big shots to go in every time, you're probably a Cleveland native.

Kobe you can say that about – not to the level of Michael, but I think most people would agree they are surprised if a Kobe Bryant game-winner rims out. LeBron, not so much. Not yet.

He'll get there, though. And when he does, he'll be the greatest of all time, there's no question in my mind about that.

But let's not hold any coronation ceremonies just yet, okay?