National Basketball Association

Is LeBron underappreciated? Katie says no -- what say you?

Published Jun. 1, 2015 2:44 a.m. ET

foxsports

At the height of Michael Jordan’s greatness, it became one of those hot-button questions that just seemed to get people riled up:

Is Jordan underrated?

Was he just so far beyond any other player, were his accomplishments so difficult to put into a proper context that it was just too close to impossible to properly appreciate just how great he was?

The debate still exists in corners of the Internet to this day. Like here. And here. And here.

Fast forward a couple of decades and the basketball world has found itself asking the same question again. Only this time, it’s about LeBron James.

Wall Street Journal columnist and FOX Sports 1 personality Jason Gay gives some of his reasons why James just might be underappreciated in the video above.

For those who think the question outlandish, consider the MVP debate of this past season. 2014-15 was the season of Stephen Curry of the Warriors and James Harden of the Rockets. For a time, the Thunder's Russell Westbrook and his seemingly nightly triple-doubles entered the discussion (his team did not make the playoffs), as did Pelicans big man Anthony Davis (his team squeaked in as the West’s 8-seed, edging out Westbrook’s Thunder).

But how often was James a focal point in any MVP debate this season? It should be noted, in two of Jordan’s title-winning seasons he wasn’t NBA MVP, either. Phoenix's Charles Barkley won the award in 1993, Utah's Karl Malone won it in 1997. Jordan beat each of them in the NBA Finals that season; James can do the same to Curry over the next two-plus weeks.

● James is about to become the ninth player in NBA history to play in five consecutive NBA Finals -- but the first who did not play for the Boston Celtics in the 1950s and ’60s.

● In the just-completed Eastern Conference finals, James finished three assists shy of becoming the first player to average 30 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a playoff series.

● He is 88 points away from reaching 25,000 for his career, a mark which he could have reached this season with just a few more games played (or a few less fourth quarters sat out in blowouts). Instead, he will likely reach the milestone early next season, still nearly a full year younger than anyone in NBA history.

● The Cavs won 33 games last season and were bad enough to win the lottery and earn the first pick in the NBA Draft. They improved on that total by 20 wins this season, a season in which they traded away said top pick, Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins (to the T-wolves), and played much of this postseason without the superstar they received in said trade, injured Kevin Love.

● For all of Jordan’s title-winning greatness, if the Cavs can beat the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, James will win his third NBA title at age 30, the same age His Airness was when he won his third ring.

● This is James’ sixth NBA Finals. Jordan made his sixth Finals at age 35. Yeah, yeah . . . we know Jordan won all six, but this is about the perception of James’ place in basketball right now.

Again, in a season in which he made his sixth NBA Finals, James finished third in MVP voting, closer to fourth than he was to second in total ballot points.

There was no Twitter in Jordan’s day; here is what others have to say about James:

@DavidJimShow26 I don't know if you feel the same way, but do you feel like LeBron James is the most under appreciated super star ever?
— The Beast 980 (@TheBeast980) May 28, 2015