LeBron James is a good basketball player. LeBron James may even be a great basketball player. But that is all he is.

He is not Michael Jordan. He is not the greatest basketball player to ever play the game. He’s not even the most important player on his team.

A year ago, I liked LeBron. Everyone did. He was a popular, hometown player who took his hometown team and transformed them into the top dog of the Eastern Conference.

Then that summer, he did just about everything wrong. Now look, I understand that every player in professional sports should have the opportunity to test free agency and get his money’s worth. The key is doing it with class.

For someone who always stresses that he doesn’t think he is “better then everyone else,” he sure acts like it some times. “The Decision” was the most embarrassing thing to happen to professional sports since Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction during the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII.

For someone who just wants to be “one of the guys,” he sure doesn’t act like it. “One of the guys” doesn’t host an hour-long show showing highlights of him then declaring that he’s taking his talents to South Beach (That phrase has now taken a life of its own, becoming applicable for just about any situation).

Once LeBron got to Miami, he backed up his talk with superb regular-season statistics. He averaged 26.7 points a game in the regular season, and also led the team in assists and steals. But, ask any NBA fan and they’ll tell you that the NBA regular season is more pointless than Friday classes.

LeBron’s disappearing act in the NBA Finals will not soon be forgotten. When it was crunch time, he shrunk away from the spotlight, essentially becoming as effective as the 10 other role players/second stringers on the Heat roster.

In a pivotal Game 4, LeBron had eight points. Eight points, and more turnovers (four) than field goals made (three). He looked shy. He didn’t want the ball. He stood in the corner and played hot potato when he got the basketball.

He would have open looks and would decide to dish it Juwan Howard. Raise your hand if you even knew Juwan Howard even played for the Heat, or was still even in the NBA.

All year he worked towards making the Miami Heat his team, and when his team needed him to step up, LeBron did the opposite. Through the first five games in the NBA Finals, he had 11 points in the fourth quarter.

To put that in perspective, in two games (Games 3 and 4), the Boston Bruins scored 12 goals, and in five fourth quarters, LeBron had 11 points. The NHL Stanley Cup champions finished with 23 goals and LeBron scored a total of 18 points in the deciding period.

In the fourth quarter of games, when the two teams were within five points of each other, LeBron had no points. None. Dirk Nowitzki had 52.

LeBron is going to be great. He will probably win a ring or two, and dominate the regular season for years to come. He’ll never be Jordan. He wouldn’t make my list of top 10 NBA players. He’s a great player, but he’ll never be the greatest.