In one night, two teams are going back to the final destination for the chance at back-to-back championships – Cleveland Cavaliers and Pittsburgh Penguins. Cavs had it much easier than hockey side of things with a rout of Boston. LeBron James is headed to his seven straight NBA Finals. The last time LeBron didn’t make a Finals, I was in college and it was my first summer being 21 which had more debauchery than most things in my life. My appreciation for LeBron has grown so much throughout the years, and there’s never been a better time to put him next to Michael Jordan.

Point blank, the Jordan debate fucking sucks. It will always suck. People will poke holes into it unless James breaks every record possible while he plays until he’s 44. I know it’s not Mount Rushmore season, but James should be look at as a ‘Mount Rushmore’ NBA player. It’s him, Jordan, Bill Russell and Magic Johnson although that last spot could be debated until the end of the earth. We should not wonder who is better, rather, how do they belong with each other and not look at it as “I’m the best.”

In a way, James didn’t want to talk about it, but more look at how he admired Jordan growing up as we all did. There’s so many other non-basketball things that makes James higher in that Mount Rushmore than you think like how he handled himself on social media and never got caught up in anything coming out of high school. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a junior and maintained not to be a loose cannon. There are still flaws with James, but we see them so much more than we did with Jordan. If social media was around during MJ’s time, I wonder if he’s the same player and personality. James did all of that plus win.

People will wonder if James needs this championship, and in short, he does not yet if he does win it, holy shit. Let me explain… A James title means that Steph Curry is now 1-2 in NBA Finals and questions will arise about him. It also means Kevin Durant is denied a title again, and he looks like Charles Barkley/Karl Malone of our time. James shuts the door on the rivalry with 2-1 victory, and that will forever be etched in NBA lore.