Lebron James - 23 or 6? - Robert Littal Presents The Infamous BlackSportsOnline

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When Lebron James came into the league, he was immediately thrown nearly unrealistic expectations, and given the title "King." He was to be the heir to the new generation of the NBA, leading the league to never-seen before heights and carrying the league on his shoulders and evolve into what many still believe to this day...the best player to ever play the game. They were saying this in high school. They would've said it in college. Lebron went number one in the 2003 NBA Draft, and went on to surpass all expectations given to him in his first year, showing that King James truly does have the potential to be the best player to ever play this game.

But how did it all start? Where did Lebron get his motivation and drive from, that he became such a magnificent force? Lebron considers getting facets of his game from many players, from Julius Erving to George Gervin to Magic Johnson. But one player he notes, as every other young player growing up will tell you, he credits Michael Jordan.

Lebron went with the two-three citing Jordan as his hero. As a freshman, James actually wore #32, but changed to #23 his sophomore year, and the rest is...well it's not history. it's current. We have seen James transcend himself into the spotlight as the most marketable player in the NBA. He is among in the constant debate of whether or not he is the best player in the NBA. At age 24, it's definitely scary to see how high his game will go as he matures.

But the question is... is Lebron living in Michael Jordan's shadow? And is it time to change that?

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When Lebron came into the league, he came in as nearly the second coming of the great twenty-three. There have been so many before him that were deemed the next Jordan. From Anfernee Hardaway to Grant Hill to Vince Carter to Kobe Bryant. It became so ridiculous, even Harold Minor was considered the "Baby Jordan." The stories of these players have been drawn out, and Bryant probably has come the closest, until Lebron.

But James had a special dynamic in that he actually came into the league dawning the special number... 23.

Lebron has taken the league by storm, and practically has it in the palms of his hand. But anybody who has watched him the past six seasons can tell that Lebron's game and Jordan's game are two completely different versions of dominance. And I believe that nobody has a problem with that. Not Jordan; Not Lebron.

So is it time for Lebron to remove himself from the Jordan legacy, and re-invent and from a marketing aspect, re-brand Lebron James?

It might.

During the 2004 Olympic games, Lebron wore jersey #9. In 2008, he wore #6. As a high school football player, he wrote #9... or to make it more interesting, he wore six upside down.

This year, Lebron's shoe, the Six has gotten much more marketing than previous shoes, arguable. One thing for sure, the marketing for these shoes have been much more creative and on a whole new level of marketing, from the aesthetic "Chalk" commercial featuring the shoe and Lil Wayne or the webisode "After Six" featuring the shoe and Pussycat Doll, Nicole Scherzinger. Lebron is re-inventing the game.

Slowly, though not many people have noticed... Lebron is re-inventing himself.

To honor his gold medal from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Lebron now wears a practice jersey with the number 6 on it.

It has been noted also, that when Lebron does autograph things for family and friends, he does so with the number six, and not the number twenty-three.

"It's interesting to think about. I feel like 6 is my number, too," James said, when asked about the difference in numbers. "If the NBA retired 23 because of Michael like baseball did with Jackie Robinson, I would definitely switch it. Maybe I would someday, we'll see."

There's increasing discussion among Lebron's camp that he will indeed change it sooner than later, but only time will tell. Should he change his number, notable players with the jersey number six are Bill Russell and Julius Erving.

Players are allowed to request number changes by the first week of March, which means the deadline would be coming up if James wanted to do it for next season. Players also would had to have worn the number for at least four seasons for the same team. Two years ago, when Kobe Bryant changed his jersey number from #8 to #24, Kobe went from fifth in jersey sales to number one.

It's all speculation, of course. But could he? Possibly. Will he? Only he knows.

But Lebron has made a name for himself both with six and with twenty-three.

When Lebron came into the league, people didn't think he could earn the right to wear the prized number, 23. But surely, he has earned it, and done it in unbelievable fashion. The number suits him as well. But he had a high list of expectations...and he has completed phase 1 - in responding to the hype with so much more. It was to create a name for himself in this league. He has. He has imprinted his name all over the NBA.

Phase 2 is to make his name an NBA legacy. Does he do that as twenty-three? Or as six?

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