LeBron James deserves recognition worthy of a player like Bill Russell, and that is impressive territory to reside in. Russell saw this coming even when LeBron was just a young pup in this league.

“How old is he? Twenty-one? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player that good who is this young except for maybe me,” Russell said to ESPN in 2006. “He reminds me of Magic Johnson because he’s so big and he handles the ball so much, he is so hard to guard. He has all the talent and when he gets the experience who knows where he’ll go.”

Since that time, James has won four MVPs and made it to seven NBA Finals. He’s been to six straight Finals in the last six years, and that is something only ever achieved by members of Russell’s Boston Celtics. This is an accomplishment no one can dismiss, and that is why the Cleveland Cavaliers were so happy to welcome James back home even after his abrupt departure for the Miami Heat. He is the greatest player of this current era until someone else puts together a six-year run like that.

LeBron has earned this type of praise for a lot of reasons. The first is the maturation of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love this past season. James understood after last year’s loss to the Golden State Warriors that he would need his teammates to succeed, and he has taken it upon himself to show them the way. Critics would say that LeBron will never match Russell when it comes to championships, and that is legitimate. But they routinely fail to bring up how much easier the path to a title was at that point. James’ achievements are even more amazing when you consider the grind of the postseason today, and the haters should at least admit that he is facing tougher competition.

The Oklahoma City Thunder or Warriors will offer a significant obstacle for LeBron to get his third championship, and the Cavaliers might not win their first title as a franchise this postseason. However, LeBron has given them a fighting chance, and the basketball world now knows they haven’t seen consistent greatness like this since Michael Jordan or Russell.