By DAN GLIOT

Guest Blogger

Ever since Lebron James came into the NBA, the comparisons to Michael Jordan have been endless.  Let’s set the record straight right now:  Lebron will never be as great as Michael Jordan.

Look at his performance in game four against the Orlando Magic.  He led his team with 44 points, but made costly errors throughout the game.  He had eight out of his team’s 14 turnovers with three crucial giveaways in the fourth quarter.  Jordan rarely gave up the ball in crunch time.  James missed three free throws in the final quarter and got lucky when his game-tying free throw with 0.5 seconds left in regulation somehow stayed on the rim and went in.  There were no doubts with MJ in the final minutes.

Jordan made his teammates play up to their highest potential, especially in big games.  I mean, he made Scottie Pippen into an elite player — without MJ, Pippen would never have been voted as one of the top 50 players of the first 50 years of the league…just saying.  Lebron isn’t making any of his teammates into good players let alone elite players.  Mo Williams was an all-star this year only because everyone in front of him drops out and is nonexistent at the end of games.

MJ had so much confidence in his teammates he gave up a championship winning shot to Steve Kerr to win the 1997 NBA championship.  “King” James always runs an isolation play for himself, and only in triple coverage will he pass it and pray his teammate helps him out.  They rarely do.  You can’t use the “he needs better players” excuse anymore because the Cavs front office has done everything but get Kobe or Dwayne Wade to play with him.

Don’t get me wrong, I think James is the future of the NBA and my favorite player.  The Detroit Pistons want to make a big move in the 2010 free agent market as James and other elite players become eligible.  My advice to them is go after Dwayne Wade instead of Lebron.  Wade makes everyone on the court better and can do more on the court in terms of creating his own shots.  Until James can play under control in the fourth quarter and figure out how to use the rest of his teammates in the playoffs, he is not going to win a championship.

And let’s also hold up on the comparisons to Jordan because Lebron is only in his sixth year in the league – the same year Jordan won his first championship? Debate over.