"My motivation," then-Cavaliers forward LeBron James told SI in the summer of 2016, "is this ghost I'm chasing. The ghost played in Chicago."
Since that summer, James has inched closer and closer to matching Hall of Fame guard Michael Jordan's legacy. He passed Jordan's all-time point total in March 2019, and passed every NBA player in history's point total on Feb. 7. In ’20, James steered the Lakers to an NBA title, his fourth.
Now, with Los Angeles in excellent shape up 3–1 in its Western Conference semifinal series against the Warriors, the whispers are beginning again: Is James better than Jordan?