The NBA Finals is going to be a career-defining test for LeBron James and his legacy

Most experts have picked the Warriors to win (as they did last year). Vegas has the Warriors listed at about -260 favorites for the series. If it took a Herculean effort from James last year, how could he possibly do it again against a better Warriors team?

But what if he does? The question has already been circulating in the sports world.

Wrote ESPN’s Zach Lowe:

“LeBron is probably the second-greatest player ever. He has a chance to finish his career as the all-time leading scorer, and one of the half-dozen greatest passers in history. In the end, maybe he won’t even need a win in this series to state his case as the best to ever do this. Maybe a strong showing in defeat would be enough.

“That would drop LeBron to 3-5 in the Finals. That is three fewer titles than Michael Jordan, with five more losses on the biggest stage. But at some point, the gap in appearances — eight and counting for LeBron, six for Jordan — starts to matter, too.

“But if Cleveland wins? Against this team? The discussion gets real, right now.”

The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski argued that if James can overcome the Warriors again, his four titles would be more impressive than Jordan’s.

“For James to chase down Jordan … he has to go through the most talented roster the sport has seen in decades again and again and again. The years left that James has as a dominant player, perhaps still the best on the planet, will force him to go through these Warriors, with all-time talent, and perhaps an all-time championship dynasty destined for themselves. To get another title off Golden State could be all that James needs to surpass Jordan. Because four titles in this NBA climate is far more impressive.”

Former head coach Jeff Van Gundy, now of ESPN, picked the Warriors to win the series, but admitted on “The Lowe Post” that James makes him think twice.

“I didn’t think [the Cavs] had a chance last year. I thought it would be Warriors in five last year … But I’m never gonna say LeBron James doesn’t have a chance. Because he’s proven time and again, his greatness is not normal greatness — this is aberrational greatness. And he’s capable of doing incredible things.”

These Warriors have put together the best three-year regular-season run the NBA has ever seen. They’re so good that they’ve made the league’s best player and his own cast of All-Star sidekicks an underdog. If James were to pull off another championship against these odds, he’d forever hold a place among the NBA’s greatest, if not the greatest.

To do so, however, he’s going to have to put in one of the most taxing two-way performances the NBA has seen. He’ll have to overcome an occasionally shaky jump shot, snake through multiple long-armed, tough defenders, and find the open man when swarms of Warriors come after him. He’s the fulcrum of the Cavs’ offense, and their chances begin and end with his efficiency. On the other end, his job may switch between defending perhaps the best scorer in the NBA, the greatest shooter in the NBA, or a positionless Swiss Army Knife who’s revolutionized the NBA.

As Lowe notes, perhaps excellence in a loss will be enough to cement James’ legacy as one of the NBA’s greatest. But a win in this series, a second-straight superhuman effort to beat seemingly unbeatable team, would render him untouchable.