Stepping back to move forward

I am not the only person who has noticed the shortcomings of LeBron James when the spotlight gets intense. I was fortunate that my time in Chicago coincided with MJ's golden finish after his basketball "sabbatical". I even got to watch him play at the United Center (January 26th, 1997, against the Miami Heat). The Bulls won by 22 points, and went on to win an unparalleled 72 games (out of 82) in the regular season.

For the rest of his career LeBron will be compared to the man I firmly believe is the greatest sportsman in the clutch I have ever seen. Unless LeBron discovers some inner toughness he will lose out on the GOAT stakes.

If LeBron is the reading type, I'd ask him to read this tribute that describes Jordan's last run for the Bulls. Taking command of the tight moments is what defines a leader. Until he does that, Lebron will just be another talented fellow who faded away from the basket during crunch-time.

By the way, late in his career, Jordan taught himself to fadeaway from the basket, too. Except he did it as a scoring option that was virtually unstoppable. Watch and learn, LeBron.