Jordan’s accomplishments motivating James

Staff report

INDEPENDENCE

Now that LeBron James has won a championship for the ages, he’s set a loftier goal:

Catching Michael Jordan.

Long flattered to be mentioned in the same company with Jordan and other NBA legends, James has been hesitant to publicly acknowledge that he wants to be remembered as the greatest in league history.

It’s time now.

“It’s a personal goal,” James told The Associated Press on Monday. “I just never brought it up. It’s my own personal goal to be able to be greater than great. I think that should be everybody’s personal goal.”

James became a three-time champion when he helped end Cleveland’s 52-year title drought with a historic comeback from a 3-1 deficit to Golden State in last season’s finals.

On Monday, James discussed a variety of topics during a 10-minute interview with the AP after he spoke at the Cavs’ media day.

James has revered Jordan since he was a kid. Like every other young basketball player in America, he wanted to be like Mike.

He modeled himself after No. 23 on the court and followed some of Air Jordan’s moves off it as a businessman and sneaker-wearing, multi-million dollar corporation.

James has often rejected the obvious comparisons between him and Jordan, but shortly after winning it all this summer with the Cavs, he told Sports Illustrated that “my motivation is this ghost I’m chasing. The ghost played in Chicago.”

Jordan’s spirit has consumed James and continually fueled him. His desire to match the Bulls legend, who won six championships, shouldn’t be viewed as anything unusual. He feels everyone should yearn to reach their potential — and beyond.

We should all aim higher.

“If you work for any company or you work for any designer or anywhere, you’re like, ‘Oh, I aspire to be that guy because he’s done it right.’ He’s the greatest and that’s who you look at,” he said. “So that’s always been my personal goal, to use the motivation he gave me as a kid and I’ll use it as motivation now as well that I want to get to where he is.

“That’s never changed. People kind of wanted to turn it into a conversation, but that’s my personal goal and that’s where I land at.”

James joked that he needs “two more months” to recover before starting the new season.

He said the retirements of Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett — a trio of the hoops icons — has made him consider his legacy and basketball mortality.

At 31, he sees the end of his career for the first time.

“Yeah,” he said. “My class is next.”