LeBron, Heat Still a Ways Away From Lakers Record

In the ongoing contemplation of whether LeBron James someday will be judged to be as good as (or –gasp! — even better than) Michael Jordan, the Jordan proponents point to the six NBA titles he won with the Chicago Bulls. James has won one with the Miami Heat.

Luvabulls veteran Erika is going global.

So the thinking there is of team accomplishment rather than merely individual achievement and ability. If you are going to use that measuring stick, then the James side just might be able to point to a winning streak that ranks third in NBA history and possibly could end up No. 1.

The Heat won its 21st consecutive contest Friday (March 15) — so much for any need to beware of the Ides of March — with a 107-94 victory vs. the Milwaukee Bucks. Only the 2007-08 Houston Rockets (22 in a row) and the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (33) have longer winning streaks.

Heat president Pat Riley was a reserve guard on that Lakers team coached by Bill Sharman.

“It is certainly a possibility that the Heat could break our 33-game winning streak,” Sharman told Fox Sports Florida. “The record has held for 41 years, and all of us that participated in it are very proud to have been part of that season. However, Pat Riley has put together an amazing team, and I have to admit this one makes me a little nervous.”

The way James and his teammates have been playing should make the rest of the league — and the Jordan proponents — more than a little nervous.

Speaking of winning and the Bulls (something that has been rare recentky), Chicago defeated host Golden State on Friday 113-95. The victory followed a 121-79 loss to the lowly Sacramento Kings. So, if there was an outcry — by some panic-stricken, short-sighted types — after the loss to the Kings for the return of Derrick Rose, is there less reason to root for his return this season? Or more, now that the Bulls have shown they can play reasonably well without him, Kirk Hinrich, Rip Hamilton and Taj Gibson?

The reality is that as long as James and teammates are playing at such a high level — with no reason to think that they wouldn’t perform similarly in the postseason — Rose should return when he is 100 percent physically and mentally. And if that isn’t until next season, so be it. The Bulls will continue to pack the United Center regardless. The only difference might be how far the Bulls advance in the playoffs.

But even a healthy, rested Rose is going to have problems getting past a team of historic proportions in the Heat and a player of even more historic proportons in LeBron James.

The Luvabulls have been missing from this site for a while because the Bulls have been out of town. Thankfully, the video department at elliottharris.com does have some unused video of the dancers from a game the Bulls won before taking their show on the road to make way for the Big Ten Conference tournament:

Speaking of the Luvabulls, Erika — a veteran on the squad — hss been featured on the NBA Philippines site. You can access that by clicking here.

Here is where we go for non-gratuitous video (it always helps when the editorial staff at elliottharris.com gets to define what is gratuitous):]

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