Tribe Hits Halfway Point in First

The calendar hit the month of July and the baseball season hit the halfway point just days apart.

And the Cleveland Indians are sitting in first place, a half game ahead of the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central.

It speaks to the balance of the American League, something we said would occur before the season started, that the Boston Red Sox have the league’s best record, but their mark is just five games ahead of the Tribe.

The Indians have the fifth best record in the AL, so please, no complaints about the weak Central Division. Terry Francona’s bunch have better records that the Rays, Blue Jays, Angels, and is just 2-1/2 behind the Orioles.

They have been streaky, without a doubt, and there may be another losing streak to come at some point, but the Indians are contenders as things stand today, and really, that’s all you can ask for.

Thanks to Friday night’s doubleheader sweep in which Cleveland scored 29 runs, they rank 4th in the AL in runs per game, scoring 4.83 runs per game. The numbers back up that ranking, as the Tribe ranks 4th in on base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS.

Yes, the Indians do strike out, ranking 3rd in the league, but they are just behind Boston, who has the best record in the AL. But they also have more athleticism than last year, as they are tied for the lead in stolen bases with the Red Sox.

It seems that Francona’s old team is statistically the same as his new team.

On the pitching side, the Indians are a conundrum. They are 12th in the league in team ERA, but have 10 shutouts as a team, which leads the AL. They have the league leader in shutouts in Justin Masterson, who is pitching more like the 2011 version than 2012.

There is no doubt the biggest surprise in the rotation is Corey Kluber, who has gone from not making the team out of spring training to have six wins and a 4.16 ERA.

Scott Kazmir’s last two starts have been outstanding, allowing just one earned run in 14 innings. He does have a 4.83 ERA which means there have been a few outings where he has been rocked.

Zack McAllister was consistent before he hurt his finger, and Ubaldo Jimenez has been okay, but he has had issues completing six innings per start, which puts a lot of strain on the bullpen.

Speaking of the relief corps, they have been up and down as well, but now that Chris Perez and Vinnie Pestano are healthy, maybe this group can regain the form of the past couple of years. They certainly have the arms, with Joe Smith, Cody Allen, Bryan Shaw, and Matt Albers all capable of getting big outs.

The left-handers have been questionable, although Rich Hill has been better lately now that he finally regained his arm slot.

GM Chris Antonetti will have to improve the team at the end of the month when the trade deadline comes, and getting another solid southpaw for the ‘pen could be his most important move.

The other may just be getting another solid starter to provide depth, preferably someone who can soak up quality innings.

After all the complaining (including here) about the Indians’ organization the past few years, this team is right in the thick of it. It’s too bad the fan base haven’t noticed yet.

Cavs Collecting Talent, Still Need Leadership

The Cleveland Cavaliers surprised quite a few people with the first pick in the NBA draft.

After weeks of speculation about Nerlens Noel and Alex Len being GM Chris Grant’s top choice, the Cavs went with F Anthony Bennett from UNLV at number one.

The question mark on Bennett is whether or not he is a tweener, too small to play power forward and not quick enough to guard small forwards. He does have an NBA body, measuring at 6’7″ and 240 pounds. He’s big enough to not get pushed around by older NBA veterans.

On the other hand, looking at him from the offensive end, he could be a match up nightmare for opposing forwards because with his size, he can overpower many small forwards in the league, and if other teams put a power forward on him, he will be too quick for them.

However, he needs work on defense, which he will get from coach Mike Brown. He reportedly also needs help with his aggressiveness on the boards, which again, the coaching staff will work on.

One question that will need to be addressed with Brown is how well he works with young players. He didn’t seem to have a lot of patience with guys like Shannon Brown, but he will need to tolerate rookie mistakes from Bennett, and the team’s second first round pick in Sergey Karasev.

Karasev is 6’7″ and can shoot the basketball, given a score of 10 out of 10 in shooting on NBADraft.net. He is reportedly a good passer and has a good feel for the game, but he needs to get stronger. It was reported that Grant had coveted him for a while, and the rumor was the Cavs were going to trade up to #13 to get him, but he fell to them at #19.

The problem with the Cavaliers right now is still the absence of a veteran to give guidance to all the young players. That is a definite need, someone who can teach Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, and Dion Waiters how to win in the NBA.

Also, Bennett was a good player in college, but we don’t feel he was a dominant one. Last year, Anthony Davis was clearly the best player in the college game. You can’t say that about Bennett, and if you can’t dominate at the college level, what makes anyone think he can be a great pro.

That’s why we advocated dealing the first pick if at all possible.

Right now, Cleveland has one potentially great player in Irving, and a bunch of other young players who might develop into solid NBA players, or they might not.

And they seem to be collecting guards with Irving, Waiters, Karasev, and second round pick Carrick Felix. They still don’t have a big man who can put the ball in the basket on a consistent basis.

Perhaps Tyler Zeller will be that player in his second year, but no one can be sure of that.

We realize they still could make a trade or do a sign and trade before the season started. But right now, it is tough to project this team as the playoff team owner Dan Gilbert said he wanted.

Hate to put a damper this soon on draft night, but if there no more moves for the Cavs, it looks like another long winter for the wine and gold.

Tribe Needs to Look at Ticket Prices

There is no question that the Cleveland Indians alienated their fans for the past several seasons.

After the 2007 season in which they missed the World Series by just one game, they acted like someone was going to tell them it was their turn to win someday, so they could be inactive.

They traded two Cy Young Award winners in C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee, and traded a professional hitter who said he wanted to stay here in Victor Martinez. All three were gone by the time the 2009 season ended.

Later, after a 2011 season is which they were surprisingly in contention until Labor Day, when the Detroit Tigers finally got hot and ran away, they were inert in the off-season following, setting up a 2012 campaign where they were depending on players like Shelley Duncan, Casey Kotchman, and Derek Lowe.

To be fair, they did deal two top pitching prospects for Ubaldo Jimenez at the deadline in ’11, but that move hasn’t worked out the way GM Chris Antonetti wanted. The fact it hasn’t worked out for Colorado is of little consolation.

However, last winter, the ownership seemed to get the message that the fan base was unhappy with the way things were being run. After Travis Hafner’s large deal finally ended, the front office went out and signed Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn to multi-year contracts.

Unfortunately, the people who buy tickets seem to be holding a grudge because the Tribe ranks last in the American League in attendance.

While many fans obviously have a wait and see attitude regarding this team, it is a better team and while they struggled mightily at the beginning of June, they have ripped off eight wins in the last 12 games and currently sit just four games behind the mighty Tigers in the AL Central.

And they are very good at home.

Whether or not the Indians can make the playoffs isn’t the issue because the American League is very strong. Heck, all five teams in the AL East are above the .500 mark.

We said at the beginning of the season that 13 of the 15 teams in the AL had legitimate chances to get to the post-season, and yes, the Tribe was one of those teams.

So where are the fans?

This is a city with blind loyalty to the Browns, a team with two winning seasons since 1999. In that same time period, the Indians have had five such seasons, making the playoffs three times.

We checked the prices for the next home series for the Tribe when they come home from this trip to Baltimore, Chicago, and Kansas City. They take on the Tigers on July 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th.

Seats in the upper deck and the bleachers are being sold for $23.60 apiece for the Friday night game. Meaning it costs almost $100.00 for a family of four to attend.

In order to sit behind home plate, it will cost you $80.00 for a single seat.

If the Indians want families to go to the games, they are making it tough, particularly when the fortunes of the team have soured a lot of baseball fans in Cleveland.

The Tribe did the right thing in lowering the cost of concessions in the off-season, but it doesn’t do much good if they don’t get people to make the trip to Progressive Field.

Perhaps it is time to look at the ticket prices as well. Lower them so people will want to see what the new Indians are all about.

The prices might be lower than many franchises, but apparently they are still too high for the fan base.

Whatever the reason, the front office needs to look at why fans aren’t clicking the turnstiles.

It’s Not LeBron, It’s the Heat

As we wait for Game 7 of the NBA Finals, we had a revelation.

We really don’t care if LeBron James wins a second title with Miami tonight, but the thought of the people in south Florida celebrating a second consecutive title is down right nauseating.

First of all, Miami is a terrible sports city when you come right down to it. And the fact that a bunch of people left game six early speaks directly to that. They don’t share the passion for sports that midwestern cities like Cleveland have. To them, it’s just a thing to do, a place to go.

That’s just the fans. The reason for rooting against the Heat have more to do with the franchise, and the way the team was put together.

It starts with Pat Riley, who is most famous for coaching the “Showtime” Lakers of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy, but we remember that he was a central figure in the era that almost killed basketball, when he was coaching the New York Knicks.

Those Knicks teams forced the league to re-examine the rules about illegal defense, and they played thug basketball, with Riley instructing his squad to foul on pretty much every possession, and daring the referees to call it every time down the floor.

Of course, they didn’t because games would have lasted four hours, so “Riles” got away with one, although the Knicks never won a title.

Riley did finally win another title as coach, with the Heat, but did so forcing out Stan Van Gundy as coach, and taking over a team led by an aging Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade.

And although the league has never acknowledged it, there was tampering involved in putting the current Heat team together with Riley allegedly contacting LeBron James during the season before he became a free agent.

Sure, the players themselves (James, Wade, and Chris Bosh) probably talked about it during their time together in the 2008 Olympics, but many feel Riley was checking on the players during the season.

Then there is Wade, who is right now a broken down version of the great player he once was, but is a guy who for whatever reason gets the benefit of the doubt from officials on a regular basis.

When James was with the Cavs, there was a game the Heat won late because the refs continually sent Wade to the line even though in many cases, he created contact or a Cleveland player was called for a foul when he was getting out-of-the-way.

If Miami wins tonight, Wade will preen around the court like he is the guy responsible for the crown, much like he did after the Eastern Conference title. He should have been reminded that he played one good game in the series.

And then there is Bosh, a player much highly regarded than he should be. He disappears within the game on a regular basis.

Then you have Shane Battier, who may be falling down instinctively right now. Ray Allen, who turned his back on his compadre in Boston to chase another ring, and Eric Spoelstra, who the NBA butt kissing media would have you believe is a great coach.

If the Heat fail tonight, the blame should be placed on Riley, who didn’t put a strong enough team around James, much like Danny Ferry didn’t in Cleveland.

Instead, James will be skewered, and that’s not fair.

And this is coming from someone who still can’t forget the knife he put in the backs of Clevelanders a few years ago.

Two Weeks to Go to Determine Cavs’ Future

After winning the NBA Draft Lottery last month, Cavs’ owner Dan Gilbert once again put all kinds of pressure on himself and his basketball organization by announcing it would be the last time for the wine and gold in that position for a while.

While we believe Gilbert was speaking from his desire to win, these types of statements are growing old. It is time for results for sure, but what happens if the Cavaliers miss the post-season by one or two games in 2013-14? Winning 36-38 games next season would be a great improvement from this year’s 24 victories.

There has been a lot of conversation about trading out of the top spot in the draft, a move we have advocated all along, but with this year’s crop of draftees being devoid of a “difference maker”, it will be tough for GM Chris Grant to come up with a trade partner.

If the wine and gold cannot deal the first pick, then they need to take the best player, whoever they perceive it to be, and not worry about the current make up of the roster.

While you can pick for need when picking later, when you have the first pick, you have to take the best player.

That would seem to narrow it down to three choices: Kansas G Ben McLemore, Indiana G Victor Oladipo, and Maryland C Alex Len.

McLemore is reported to have outstanding athletic ability and can score the basketball. He has three-point range, and can shoot off the dribble, a skill needed to be a complete player. His weaknesses are his feel for the game and his ball handling.

Those are a lot of good skills to like in a player.

Oladipo might be a reach at #1, but it has been reported the Cavs love him, and he would fit in nicely with Mike Brown’s emphasis on defense. He might be the most explosive athlete in the draft. He has a toughness about him and can finish at the rim. However, the rest of his offensive game needs a lot of work.

His jump shot is inconsistent and he doesn’t handle the ball well. He may be a good complement to Kyrie Irving, with Dion Waiters coming off the bench in a combo guard role.

Len is probably the most ready to play big man available this year. At 7’1″ and 255 pounds, he is a legitimate NBA center and his back to the basket game continues to improve. And he’s a decent mid-range shooter, and made 69% of his free throws in college.

As with most big men though, Len needs to get stronger and because of that, he is not a great rebounder at his size.

His NBADraft.net comparable player is someone Cleveland basketball fans should be very familiar with…Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

The Cavs’ biggest need is a small forward, but there doesn’t seem to be a quality one available this year.

Normally we don’t advocate taking a big guy for the sake of taking a big guy, but taking Len makes the most sense unless Grant can make a deal.

The speculation will end two weeks from today.

NBA Finals are Generational Thing

The NBA Finals have turned into old school vs. new school.

In one corner, we have the Miami Heat, the darling of ESPN. They are a highlights editor’s dream, filled with spectacular passes and high-flying dunks. They were put together through the highest profile free agency season ever when LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Dwyane Wade to form basketball’s latest “big three”.

On the other hand, if you are above 40 years old, you have an appreciation for the San Antonio Spurs, led by Tim Duncan, an all time great looking for his fifth title as an important member of his team.

The Spurs were built through the draft, shrewdly picking international players like Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Tiago Splitter, and shrewdly grabbing guys like Kawhi Leonard in the draft and signing role players like Danny Green.

And San Antonio has perhaps the best coach in the professional ranks in Gregg Popovich.

The younger generation think the Spurs are boring, because they play below the rim and have unassuming superstars, who rarely draw attention to themselves.

The Heat have the preening James, the perpetual scowling Wade, and Bosh, who screams like he won the lottery every time he makes a big shot.

The older fans think the Heat is all that is wrong with professional basketball, with their roster of three all-star players, a couple of decent role players and a bunch of stiffs. They’ve become the place where guys nearing the end of their career go to try to pick up a championship ring.

But they think the Spurs play the game the right way. The move the basketball, play solid defense, and just go out and do their jobs. They are business like in their approach, as opposed to the “look at me” Heat.

The Spurs play like the great NBA teams of the past, and we aren’t talking about the Bulls of the 1990’s and the Lakers of the 2000’s. We are talking about the 70’s and 80’s, when teams moved the basketball, and the game wasn’t someone pounding the ball at the top of the key, waiting to break someone off the dribble and drive to the hoop.

Sure, occasionally Parker does that, like he did in Game 1 when he kept his dribble alive, falling down, getting back up, and hitting a leaner off the glass to clinch the win. However, by and large, the Spurs score by executing and making open jump shots. They usually are a very good three-point shooting squad.

They are like the old guys who play the kids at the Y, and keep winning and staying on the court because they understand the game, and use the mental aspect to create mismatches and points.

And on defense, they know how to grab and lean into players just enough to knock them slightly off-balance when they are shooting. They frustrate the heck out of their opponents.

Most of the older basketball fans are rooting for San Antonio, not just because their stars are older, but because they represent the way things used to be. They are hoping for a champion who does things the correct way.

Combo of Walks and Homers Hurting Tribe Pitching

Despite the slugging teams of the 1990’s, including a team that scored 1000 runs in a season (the last team in major league baseball to do so), Jacobs Field/Progressive Field has always been a pitcher’s park.

That speaks to how great those Indians teams that featured Albert Belle, Carlos Baerga, Manny Ramirez, and Jim Thome really were. They placed half of their games in a park that helped pitchers.

Now, the Indians have a problem. Their ballpark helps the pitchers and it is making it look better than it is.

Not that ranking 12th in the American League looks good. Cleveland pitchers rank ahead of only Baltimore, Toronto, and Houston in ERA.

However, on the road it is worse as Tribe hurlers rank ahead of only Seattle in terms of that statistic. That would partially explain why the Indians have lost 10 games in the row away from Progressive Field. They have a 4.72 ERA away from home.

The particular problem that has plagued Cleveland pitchers on the road is the base on balls. They have issued 118 walks on the road, 14 more that the next worst group, the Chicago White Sox.

Opposition hitters are only hitting .253 against the Tribe staff, the 5th best rate in the AL. But they have allowed 35 home runs, the 4th worst mark in the league. If you walk people and give up home runs, you are going to allow a lot of runs.

At home, the Tribe’s ERA is a respectable 4.15, which is 10th in the AL, but only .08 behind the Red Sox staff, which is in the middle of the pack. The walks are a problem at home too, though, allowing the 5th most in the Junior Circuit.

If you have figured out at this point that Cleveland pitchers are allowing too many batters to reach base via the walk, you are correct. Tribe pitchers are 3rd in the league overall, behind just Houston and Boston.

They’ve also allowed the 4th most dingers in the league, behind only Baltimore, Houston, and Toronto.

The home runs are equally spread out among the starters and relievers. The starters have given up 48 bombs, 5th worst in the league, while the relievers have allowed the 3rd highest total.

The bases on balls are the same ways. The starters have walked the 3rd most in the American League, the relievers rank 4th.

The one thing that doesn’t make this combination an unmitigated disaster is the Cleveland pitchers ability to strike people out, ranking behind just Detroit and Boston in that category.

In their recent losing streak, however, it is the starting pitching that is really letting the team down, allowing 2o runs in the first three innings, putting the team in a hole right off the bat.

So, while the starters’ ERA is 4.46, that figure has been accomplished because they have righted the ship after falling behind early and they have given Terry Francona around six innings per start.

In the Yankee series alone, all three starters (Justin Masterson, Scott Kazmir, and Corey Kluber) gave up big innings in the first three frames, but settled in and gave the skipper at least six innings, thus protecting the bullpen.

Earlier in the season, Indians’ pitchers were not walking as many batters, ranking in the middle of the pack, but as of late, that has changed and the extra base runners are lengthening innings, and helping set up three run home runs.

If the Indians are going to get going again, and as we said before the season started that this would be a streaky team, then the pitchers need to throw strikes, and they must pitch better on the road.

Until that happens, the Tribe will continue to struggle.

On Perez and the Cavs Getting the First Pick

Just a couple of observations on the Cleveland sports scene—

Chris Perez and Twitter

The Indians’ closer had a tough series against Seattle, allowing two home runs on Saturday to turn a 4-2 lead into a tie game, which the Tribe won in the bottom of the ninth, and he allowed another bomb on Monday, which gave the Mariners a lead in a contest Cleveland also won.

Apparently, that gave the fans that follow Perez on Twitter to start blasting him. A little Internet muscle for those fans who wouldn’t say those things to his face.

This isn’t about Perez’ performance, which has generally been very good since assuming the closer role in 2010. Although, we will say that a closer who gives up home runs doesn’t last long and CP has given up four (five if we count the blown call vs. Oakland) in 16 innings, not a very good ratio.

To be fair, those are the only runs he has allowed this season.

We don’t follow any professional athletes for this reason. First, they are people just like us, and whatever comments they want to make on the social networking site aren’t more interesting because they are professional athletes.

And second, there is no temptation to make stupid comments to those players after watching a game and being upset with the outcome.

Again, these people wouldn’t say the things they tweet if they met Perez, and just because he’s an outspoken guy doesn’t mean he should be ripped to shreds or booed when he doesn’t succeed.

Actually, he speaks the truth much of the time. Fans should support this team better. They have blind loyalty to a mediocre football organization, but hold the Indians’ lack of success against them.

Whatever his performance on the field is, and regardless what he says about baseball in Cleveland, the things tweeted to Chris Perez were out of line.

Cavs Get the First Pick in the Draft

Wish we could be more excited about this news, but since there isn’t a franchise type player available this year, it’s the same feeling about having the third or fourth overall selection.

Obviously, it is better to have the first pick, because it has the most value. Perhaps another team thinks a player like Ben McLemore or Nerlens Noel is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and would be willing to deal to move up.

However, that’s probably not going to happen, but GM Chris Grant should keep his ears open to listen if anyone comes forward to trade.

The Cavs have publicly stated their intention to not be in the lottery next season, and to make that come true; they need more help than just that available in the draft.

Grant has a lot of draft picks at his disposal to help sweeten the pot. Besides their own picks, they also have first round picks from Miami and Sacramento (maybe) over the next few years.

Plus, they also have salary cap space, which with the new collective bargaining agreement is something precious to teams above the cap, who don’t want to pay a prohibitive salary cap penalty.

Having the first overall pick in a draft is valuable only if there is someone available that other teams covet.

Right now, the Cavs are like a guy trying to create a market for a $1000 bill in a room full of millionaires.

Stats Support Tribe Start

Many times in baseball, statistics do not support a team’s success or lack of it.

For example, last season, the Baltimore Orioles scored just seven more runs than they allowed, but went 93-69 in the standings. The sabermetric people would say the O’s overachieved. They did it by having an astounding 29-9 record in one run games.

This year’s Cleveland Indians are no surprise according to the numbers. Their 19-15 record is legitimate.

The Tribe’s position players are also younger than the league average at 28.4 years of age. The American League average is 29.1. And if you take grizzled veteran Jason Giambi out of the equation, Cleveland would have the fourth youngest position players in the AL, behind just Houston, Kansas City, and Baltimore.

That certainly bodes well for the future.

Even better is that the Tribe’s pitchers are the youngest in the league at 27.6 years old, compared to the AL average of 29 years of age.

The Indians average 5.06 runs per game, the second best average in the Junior Circuit, behind only division rival Detroit. They allow 4.24 runs per contest, a figure that ranks ninth, so there is still room for improvement.

We said prior to the season starting that the Wahoos needed to be in the top half of the league in both categories to be serious contenders. They are close right now, ranking 8th in ERA.

As for the other key offensive numbers, the Indians rank 4th in on base percentage, and lead the American League in slugging percentage and OPS. They are 3rd in batting average, but are fourth from the bottom in drawing walks. That is a number they will need to improve upon, as pitchers down the road may prey on their aggressiveness.

While many fans (including us) were worried about strikeouts, the Indians aren’t even in the top half of the league in striking out, ranking ninth. No Indians ranks in the ten of the league in whiffing.

The Tribe power hasn’t just been home runs (they lead the AL), but they also rank fifth in doubles and third in triples. They’ve been hitting for extra bases a lot.

As for the pitching, it has joined the hitting in feast or famine mode, being tied for the league lead in shutouts with five (with Texas, Tampa Bay, and Seattle). It says a lot about the stuff of the Indians’ pitchers that they lead the AL in allowing the least hits per nine innings. They also rank fifth in the league in strikeouts.

However, there are a couple of areas of concern. Cleveland pitchers are walking more than the average team, ranking sixth in the league in walks allowed. They also are third from the bottom in innings pitched by starters so far this year, ahead of just Houston and Minnesota. Although Terry Francona has kept 13 pitchers on the roster for much of the season, there is a fear of burning out the relief corps, which is a huge strength for this team.

This team doesn’t have any weird anomalies or getting a great deal of luck involved in a pretty good start. Francona’s bunch are playing good solid baseball. They are 8-5 in games decided by one run, another good stat. Good teams win blowout games.

Right now, the Cleveland Indians are no fluke.

Even With 4 MVPs, James Doesn’t Compare With Jordan

We understand that currently, the state of sports is based on the present and the recent past.

Many football fans think the NFL started when the Super Bowl did in the mid 1960’s. A lot of basketball fans think the NBA started when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird came into the league.

Baseball may be the one sport that still embraces its past, but most records today are compared with those of post World War II.

At least that goes back 60 years.

That’s why it is amazing to me that many hoops fans want to anoint LeBron James as the greatest to ever play the game.

For the early time since we remember, Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest player ever. Just look at the raw numbers, the man averaged 50 points per game for a full season. Today, a 50 point game is looked at as extraordinary.

Yes, Bill Russell had more rings, but he also had a better supporting cast, players like Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones, and John Havlicek.

Wilt the Stilt wound up with two rings, both with teams ranked amongst the NBA’s best ever, the 1966-67 76ers and the 1971-72 Lakers.

Then Michael Jordan came along.

Perhaps possessing the greatest will to win ever, Jordan won six NBA titles and the next best player on any of those teams was Scottie Pippen, who in our opinion is considered a great player because he played with Jordan.

There were solid players on those teams, but no other superstar talents.

Meanwhile, Jordan never played with anyone as good as Dwyane Wade, a legitimate superstar player who led the Heat to a title with Shaquille O’Neal. Wade was the best player on that team.

Yes, Jordan won only four MVPs, but the perception at the time was the writers were tired of voting for His Airness every year.

There was no doubt who the best player in the NBA was, and at that time there were players like Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Patrick Ewing, and Hakeem Olajuwon in the league. All of those guys were superstar players.

James is recognized as the best player in the league now, universally. Does today’s talent compare to the guys who competed against Jordan?

Most basketball experts would agree that Kevin Durant is the next best talent, but who’s third? Or the next five best players?

James can’t control who is playing today, but the league doesn’t have the same amount of great players in the game, as there were when Jordan was in his heyday.

While the Heat are the favorites to win this year’s NBA title and make it two straight crowns, they haven’t won it yet. And even if they do, that would give LBJ two rings to MJ’s six.

You don’t need “The Diff” on the scoreboard at Quicken Loans Arena to know that James needs four more titles to tie Jordan as leaders in the “modern era” of the game.

Heck, Kobe Bryant has five rings, although he wasn’t the best player on all five of those Laker squads.

Note: You can’t hold guys who weren’t key players on their teams who have won a similar amount of rings, like Robert Horry or Steve Kerr.

When James gets to four, then start the conversation. Until then, shut up. Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player ever.

That’s not a slight to James, but let’s slow down the temptation to put him on the top of the heap.