LeBron's legacy will depend on titles, not statistics

	LeBron and the Cavs won a playoff series last season. But when will they win the title? David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images
	POLL How many NBA titles will LeBron James win in his career? 1 Between 2-4 At least 5 None  View Results

LeBron James has the talent. He has the TV commercials. He even has the nickname, "King James."

But he doesn't yet own any championship bling.

For his fans, though, winning an NBA title seems like a foregone conclusion. LeBron will not end up like Charles Barkley or Karl Malone, dominant players who came up short in the postseason. The championship question for the Cavs phenom is not if, but when.

Or maybe the question isn't when, but how many. If LeBron, whose Cavs open their season Wednesday night against the Wizards, is indeed going to be this generation's Michael Jordan, then he'll need to put together a dynasty in Cleveland to rival that of Jordan's Bulls.

But is that even realistic? Filling Jordan's shoes on an individual basis is difficult enough. Matching his team success of six NBA titles is impossible, right?

"LeBron's unbelievable," Grizzlies forward Mike Miller says. "What he's done for that organization and franchise is great. But it's so hard to become a dynasty and do what the Bulls did. Three-peat twice? That's tough to do. If they do it, my hat's off to them. But in this day and age it's tough to repeat, let alone put together something like that."

James certainly has put together a Jordan-like start to his NBA career. In his first three seasons, the 6-8 forward has averaged 26.5 points, 6.6 rebounds and 6.6 assists. Those numbers compare favorably with His Airness' first three seasons (31.7, 5.7 and 5.0).

And in terms of postseason success, LeBron already has surpassed Jordan in one area: he led the Cavs to the second round in just his third year. It took Jordan four seasons to win a playoff series. Add in the fact that LeBron has done it all by age 21, while Jordan had the benefit of a little college seasoning at North Carolina, and it's fair to at least make the comparison.

But as impressive as James' career has been so far, few around the NBA are ready to believe the Cavs' King is on the verge of a Jordan-like dynasty. Like Miller, most doubt the league will ever see another team dominate like Chicago's 1990s juggernaut.

Two or three titles over the period of six or seven years? Maybe. But not three straight, two separate times, back-to-back. With parity becoming more prevalent in the league, perhaps our perception of dynasty needs to be tweaked.