Really depends on what the end game is ? (And I apologize if this is long winded)
See the rings right now don’t really matter at all in my opinion because the man has lost 5 NBA finals (and he has a few rings— it’s not like Jerry West with 1) Granted I could say Magic Johnson’s 5 rings in 9 finals is pretty close to Jordan and he lost 4. On one hand I rather win 6 but I can see the case for wanting to compete for 9.
But to me it doesn’t matter if LeBron wins 6 rings in 11 tries. That could only put him on that Magic level in that case (in terms of being a winner, not greatest ever)
In my opinion what separates Jordan in terms of legacy is not so much 6/6 in the finals — it’s all the greats of his era that he prevented from winning titles and nobody ever brings that up.
He prevented at some point from winning it all:
Ewing
Miller
Shaq (got his when Jordan was retired)
Penny
Zo (got 1 at the end of his career)
Tim Hardaway
That’s just guys in the east. What about actually in the finals ?
Magic (from winning his 6th)
Drexler (snuck his in when MJ was playing baseball and could debate if Olajuwon would have ever gotten one if MJ didn’t ?? I’ll give Hakeem the benefit of the doubt)
Barkley
Kevin Johnson
Kemp
Payton
Malone
Stockton
Just think how different those legacies would be if some of those guys had just 1 ring to put on their finger (Ewing/Miller/Malone/Stockton/Barkley)
Like MJ completely altered legacies. Whereas LeBron has sometimes underwhelmed when he was suppose to rise (09,10,11)
He couldn’t prevent guys like Garnett, Allen, Pierce from getting 1.. Needed a super team to take out his competition eventually..
He helped Kidd and Nowitzki enhance their legacies. Now he did prevent Westbrook, Harden and at the time Durant from getting one but they were awfully green at that point— did prevent Duncan from getting a 6th And we all know the stuff with the Warriors ..
My point in all of this is that if LeBron’s end game is to be the greatest ever it’s not about the rings at this point (tho it will help) he’s simply gonna have to carve that path out a different way from Jordan cause he’s already almost lost as many as Jordan won..
Where LeBron could carve out his path is what he did with Cavs and to do the same in New York with the Knicks...
If LeBron lead the New York Knicks to just 1 nba title he would be viewed as the greatest ever... You take the Cavs and Knicks to a championship (coupled with all the other accomplishments on the resume) and he surpasses Jordan...
Winning just another ring or 2 with the Rockets or Lakers or Sixers is great and all— but it’s jusy another ring... None would be as impressive as winning 1 with the Knicks...
So if it’s not the Cavs... He should try to recruit and do whatever it takes to make the NY Knicks the favorites... Would be legendary...