LeBron James: Following Michael Jordan’s Legacy Is A ‘Personal Goal’

LeBron James is only 28 points away from passing Michael Jordan for first place in the all-time playoff scoring list, but the Cleveland Cavaliers star says he wants to pursue the NBA legend’s legacy for personal reasons rather than to be called the greatest of all time.

LeBron James on Passing Michael Jordan In All-Time Scoring

“It’s just a personal goal of mine,” James said Thursday before the Cavs’ shoot-around in preparation for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics. “It has nothing to do with passing the rings, passing the points, passing MVPs. It’s just my personal goal to keep me motivated — that’s all.”

Jordan — who is now the main owner and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets — finished his 18-year NBA career, most of which he spent with the Chicago Bulls, with 32,292 regular-season points (fourth all-time) and 5,987 postseason points. James, 32, is seventh in regular-season scoring with 28,787 points.

The 54-year-old all-time leading Bulls scorer also boasts more championships than James (six vs. three) as well as MVPs (five vs. four).

At his summer basketball camp in California last offseason, James said, “My motivation is this ghost I’m chasing. The ghost played in Chicago.”

James — the 2003 No. 1 overall NBA draft pick — also said he doesn’t care much for discussing who is the “greatest of all time” in any sport, explaining that he believes debating who is the best at anything decreases the worth of all legendary athletes.

“You guys are going to have the conversations about who is greatest of all time and things of that nature,” said the King, who in November 2015 joined Oscar Robertson as the only players to make the all-time top 25 list in both scoring in assists. “It doesn’t matter to me. At the end of the day, it’s so funny that the conversation is always talked about in the NBA about who is the greatest but it’s never talked about in the NFL about who is the greatest quarterback. It’s just like: [Dan] Marino, [John] Elway, [Peyton] Manning and [Tom] Brady. All great quarterbacks, you know — and it should be the same for us.

“We go out and just try to be as great as we can be every night. The comparison of always trying to compare people either living or still playing or not playing, I think it’s great for barbershops, but for me I’m just trying to put my mark on the game and leave a legacy behind so I can inspire the next group of kids that want to play the game the right way.”

Cleveland small forward Richard Jefferson revealed Wednesday in an interview with Fox Sports Ohio that James was sick during the Cavaliers’ Game 3 home loss to the Celtics on Sunday. Jefferson explained that teammate Deron Williams’ illness may have spread throughout the team’s locker room.

James scored just 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting in the 111-108 loss.

“I had a tough game, period,” the All-Star told reporters following Game 3. “Me personally, I didn’t have it.”

The Cavs lead the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals series against the Celtics 3-1 after winning Game 4 112-99 at home on Tuesday. James finished with 34 points in that contest. Game 5 is Thursday night in Boston.

CLEVELAND, OH – MAY 21: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers reacts in the second quarter against the Boston Celtics during Game Three of the 2017 NBA Eastern Conference Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on May 21, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio.