I hate to write a reaction piece, but I was listening to Bill Simmon’s Sportsguy Podcast with Ric Bucher yesterday and was intrigued by the re-emergence of the thought that LeBron James might be the most physically gifted player in the history of the league, but his passion for basketball falls short of eventually making him the best player in the history of the NBA.

LeBron, by all accounts, should be the deemed the best player in the history of basketball by the end of his career. However, he has repeatedly failed to win a championship and does not seem to be too bitter by the missteps.

To recap, James led the Cavs to the finals in 2007 and his team failed to overcome the Magic last season. He can hardly be blamed for the team’s loss to the Spurs in 2007, but one can ask why he didn’t at least drag his team to one win in the series. Some may recant this nitpicking by reminding me that LeBron was only 23 at the time. I say that is a bull argument. He was in his fourth NBA season and I believe that a player should develop some sort of a killer edge by then.

Yes, the Spurs absolutely overmatched the Cavs in the series. They had the talented trio, the experience, and the attitude to win. The Cavs still had Eric Snow on the roster, were starting Sasha Pavloic and Larry Hughes in the backcourt, and the Big Z had already proved he is nothing more than a lame limb when it comes to crunch time. Still, LeBron could take anyone the Spurs to the basket.

He had the ability and failed to act on it. My memory beckons back to the 2001 NBA Finals when the Philadelphia 76ers were the D-League team out of the Eastern Conference sent to lose to the Los Angeles Lakers. You know what happened? The Lakers won in 5 games, but Allen Iverson made sure to pour in 48 points and take the first game. This was easily one of the top 10 individual performances in NBA Finals history.

Sure Iverson was 26 years old, not 23, but it was his fifth season and he had that edge to him. He had to win and he tormented the Lakers, scoring 30 points in the second quarter and refusing to go out without a fight.

LeBron had a much better cast last season, but his team still went down in six games to the Orlando Magic. The Magic were far greater as a team than simply as a sum of their parts, utilizing match up issues to win 59 games, take out a tough Boston team, and ultimately reaching the NBA Finals before Kobe refused to lose.

James had a secondary scorer in Mo Williams, outside shooting in Delonte West and Daniel Gibson, scrappy rebounding and defense with Anderson Varejao, enough tall carcasses in the post to give talented centers trouble. He has a better cast this season and the Boston Celtics seem to have a chance after stealing game two at the Quickens Loans Arena.

Yes, this is still early in the series, but Cleveland and more LeBron have to prove they can handle the mental fortitude of a gritty Celtics team. I think I need LeBron to prove that he can be a little more irksome in this series to believe that the 2-time NBA MVP to put him in my Top 5 list.

He has been complimented and vexed with comparisons to Magic Johnson, a supremely talented freak of nature without the nasty nature to dominate. He has had his future as the best player in the league in the future challenged in columns. He has been slowly attracting a group of doubters and suddenly I am one of them. I need to see something this season. He is only 25, but he is an established NBA veteran with seven seasons under his belt. I do not care if he has an injury. The time for him to prove he is the toughest mental and skill player is now, lest Cavaliers tickets prove nothing more than teases this postseason and next season- if he stays.