Is LeBron James as good as Michael Jordan? Is the Cavs star better or will he be by the end of his career? For years, NBA fans have debated whether or not LeBron James was the next Michael Jordan and often the argument comes back to stats, playoff games and ultimately, championship rings.

Does LeBron want to surpass Jordan?

Prior to the game 5 matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics, LeBron was asked about the comparisons between himself and Michael Jordan. It turns out that LeBron has personal goals in order to keep himself motivated and isn't necessarily trying to catch up to anyone.

According to LeBron, his achievements have nothing to do with a goal of overtaking Michael Jordan and becoming the greatest in the NBA. For him, it's all about achieving his own goals and pushing himself to be better.

"It's just a personal goal of mine," he said, per Dave McMenamin. "It has nothing to do with passing the rings, passing the points, passing MVPs. It's just my personal goal to keep me motivated—that's all."

"At the end of the day, it's so funny that the conversation is always talked about in the NBA about who's the greatest you know, but it's never talked about in the NFL who is the best quarterback. It's just like Marino, Elway, Manning, Brady... all great quarterbacks. you know and it should be the same for us," LeBron said.

So who really is the greatest?

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported on Thursday that LeBron James is incredibly close to passing another Michael Jordan record and that has reinvigorated the ongoing discussion about who is better or who will be better when all is said and done. Right now, LeBron only needs to score 28 points to pass Jordan's record as the NBA's leading all-time scorer in the playoffs.

Jordan currently holds that record with 5,987 points. However, with LeBron looking to end the Eastern Conference Finals series with the Boston Celtics tonight, there's a really good chance that he could take that record tonight.

Does that mean that LeBron could be moving closer to overtaking MJ as the best player to ever enter the NBA?

Scottie Pippen also had something to say about the debate. According to Pippen, LeBron hasn't even surpassed Kobe Bryant yet, let alone Michael Jordan. He went on to explain that it's not even because Jordan and Bryant have more rings either. Pippen was quick to point out that LeBron doesn't even play the same position as the players that he's constantly being compared to, saying that Kobe and Michael were both guards and scorers while LeBron is a passer and a playmaker.

With that argument in mind, LeBron's position to overtake Michael Jordan's all-time playoff points record is pretty impressive. Do you believe that LeBron James is on track to take Jordan's place as the best player ever to play in the NBA?

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