Phil Jackson: LeBron needs to take over series like Jordan did

As impressive and heroic as LeBron James has been in taking seven teams to the NBA Finals over the last 10 years, it remains nearly impossible for James to escape the shadow of His Airness.

Now it's Phil Jackson evoking Michael Jordan's name in reference to LeBron.

Speaking at an event with Shaquille O'Neal on Monday, Jackson discussed Jordan's heroics in the 1993 Eastern Conference finals, when his Chicago Bulls rallied from a 2-0 series deficit to eliminate the New York Knicks.

As Jackson recalled, Jordan was fueled by a newspaper article about his mid-series casino trip.

"It did something to Michael Jordan," Jackson said, as reported by the New York Daily News. "You learned something about pulling the cape of Superman. It's not a good idea. He was a man possessed after that. I think it's going to take something for LeBron to step into that. Put his cape on and say, 'I'm going to have to take over a lot of this series, doing the things beyond my level or my normal capacity.' He's been a team player up until this point but I think he's going to have to step beyond that."

What Jackson and so many others still fail to realize, it seems, is that the challenge in front of James' Cavaliers is unlike anything the NBA has ever seen. Beating the 73-win Warriors even once takes more than just King James at his absolute best. The Cavs now have to beat them four times in five games.

James is averaging 21 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, three steals, and a block through the series' first two games, but he's struggled shooting the ball to the tune of a 46.1 effective field goal percentage.

As for the belief that James needs to be more aggressive and selfish on the offensive end, he owns a series-high usage rate of 30.8 percent thus far after posting a historic usage rate of 40-plus percent while carrying the injury-riddled Cavs in last year's finals.