I wanted to make this about the NBA playoffs and the resultant excitement. I wanted to bemuse about the matchups between evenly matched foes like Kobe-Nash or Redd-Detroit Defense or Grizzlies-playoff history. Nevertheless it became about the anointment of a man some would call the Boy King. I shudder to think of what men are if our "boys" look like LeBron James. Last night the best player in the NBA took the court with another heap of detractors grumbling of his shaky play in Washington. But humility does not begrudge. The Man is biblical finesse and an eloquent gamesman. Kobe gets dragged into the muss of scuffles with subpar defenders like Raja Bell (reputation notwithstanding, he's a Bruce Bowen to me: a small forward who fouls and reaches so perniciously that even the best players get annoyed at how much he breaks the rules). LeBron would not dare make any aspect of the almighty game less than pure.

I'm addressing this article mainly to L.A. fans and people who have not yet followed the empirical trail that concludes LeBron as the superior force in the league today. Mr. SK, my friend the filmmaker, I hope you read this closely and with a good cinematic eye because the story has all but unraveled before you YET you still fail to believe. It is more improbable for me to believe that anyone can deny this kind of ascendancy and not coalesce to the consensus that this guy is the best ...period. Past or present. I'm standing by it. I'm going to list the criteria for what I consider greatness and allow others to judge my fairness and objectivity. Obviously, I entered this argument as LeBron admirer and while there is hardly new ground to tread in affirming his power, I find pleasure in putting forth the argument.

 1. Benign Until It Matters - Michael Jordan drew the ire of some opponents, usually the scrappy defenders who would be the Raja Bell characters of the time (Kendall Gill, Ron Harper) but strangely he endeared his most contentious counterparts. Coaches who faced Jordan would often remind their star players not to get into the "fun" of playing with a hardwood assassin. Despite these warnings, Magic, Barkley, Ewing, Malone and others would jaw with MJ but with no ill will toward him. His playful guise and trip to the golf course gave him the relationship he needed to have with every amicable ring-less player. Ring-less is the operative term here. LeBron inspires the same kind of admiration from Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Gilbert Arenas and other players he will whittle away at for championship after championship. Like Jordan's before him, LeBron's foes are just as much a part of his spectacle and greatness as he is. That makes him transcend the moments with 3.5 on the clock to be in his own world. Kobe Bryant is in the fray, not because of talent level but because of mortal pride. His enemies will always do anything to arrest his progress and he will have to live knowing what it feels like to swim upstream while LBJ glides through air.

2. Game Allows Only What the Court Tells - "Tarot cards/you could see the pharaoh Nas..." We've seen him flustered in stretches of his rookie year and against defensive juggernauts like the Detroit Pistons. I can't help but think of how the Motor City bad boys once foiled Jordan...for a time. But LBJ has a faster PC  when it comes to upgrading from one version of his game to the next. Michael Jordan was in the position the Kobe finds himself in now: needing to score because of the dearth of talent on his roster, no margin of error. Because the Cavaliers have been built to help LeBron grow by surrounding him with complementary pieces, LeBron may experiment with more ways to dismantle a defense. The adjustments he has made to stay ahead of the Wizards are indicative of his need to win. He understands that the Cavs have a defensive deficiency just short of Fallujah in springtime and makes it his mission to outscore the Wizards. Whenever they go up, he replies with a basket. Remember the DEEP threes he made in D.C.? Don't for one second think that he was not dropping those in response to Arenas losing his mind at the home bucket. If you can't D him, join him. Dominique's matchups were much like that, involving an intense game of HORSE for the pro's who could make any shot.

3. The Three-Year Stipulation - In three years, and after another two matchups with Detroit, Lebron James will make the NBA Finals. Michael Jordan needed three years to best Isiah, Magic battled with Bird for a few years, Shaq had to wait for Jordan to be done with. All of these players, with the exception of Magic in his rookie year, needed some time to improve their playoff performance and muster impenetrable will. In three years, he will have undoubtedly nabbed an MVP or three and become the youngest to dribble left twice and dunk reverse on a layup in Charlotte.

 4. Because I deserve it - I deserve to be a fan of someone this great because the Knicks precluded me from admiring Michael Jordan. I could not be a fan of him because children are more bound by loyalty than by admiration and greatness. I was loyal to a Knickerbocker team that played second-fiddle when it was at its peak. In my adult years, after watching the heartbreak of the 2001 Blazers-Lakers series, the Kobe-Shaq phenomenon, I want another GOOD thing to root for. The Detroit Pistons play team ball and all the great things I also like...but it's not the same. There's nothing that captures the feeling of knowing someone will do something to amaze you and then having it happen in the same moment. LeBron does this with every task.

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