National Basketball Association

LeBron James admits he is now chasing 'the ghost that played in Chicago'

Published Nov. 15, 2016 3:13 p.m. ET

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Aaron Torres

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last six months (or just reaaaaaaaaaaallllly dislike basketball) you’re probably aware that the Cleveland Cavaliers are NBA champions. The title was the third of the great LeBron James’ career, and carried extra meaning for a city and region that hadn’t celebrated a professional championship in over five decades.

So yeah, it was special. And if it wasn’t obvious during the Finals that the series meant a tiny bit more to LeBron than the other rings, it became apparent once Game 7 went final and LeBron bawled his eyes out in the postgame celebration. It also raises the question: With three titles, and the whole "bring a championship to Cleveland" monkey off LeBron’s back, what is there really left for ‘The King’ to accomplish?

Well, LeBron answered that Tuesday in another brilliant piece by Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins. What’s next for LeBron is simple: Going after MJ.

Here is what LeBron told SI:

“My motivation,” James says, “is this ghost I’m chasing. The ghost played in Chicago.”

From there James continued, expanding with some additional details.

“What I’ve gone through is totally different than what he went through. What he did was unbelievable, and I watched it unfold. I looked up to him so much. I think it’s cool to put myself in position to be one of those great players, but if I can ever put myself in position to be the greatest player, that would be something extraordinary.”

Unfortunately for us as readers, there never was a follow-up question about why LeBron feels his career is different, and whether he thinks his path has been easier, tougher or somewhere in-between Jordan’s. It’s safe to assume that in some capacity he’s saying that Jordan never quite felt the burden of fighting for a city and region quite like LeBron did (let alone playing in the same city and region he was born in), and never dealt with some of the criticism (courtesy of social media and the 24-hour news cycle) that MJ did, either.

Still, the quote is incredible in this context: Never before have we really heard LeBron put himself in the same sentence as Jordan. At least not quite like he did here. With three titles and four MVP’s there really aren’t that many other foes to vanquish, except, as LeBron points out, the ghosts of NBA past.

Of course, then again, for all the talk of basketball’s historical ghosts, there just might be one other challenge in the immediate present: The Golden State Warriors.

While LeBron doesn’t speak about them specifically for the piece, Jenkins does note that LeBron has been at the gym every day at 6 a.m. getting ready for the season — earlier in the calendar year than he ever has before.

As it turns out, before LeBron chases down that ghost of basketball’s past, he might have to take out one from the sport’s present, as well.

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