NOW, WE are about to find out a lot more about LeBron James.

Greatness, at least greatness to the level that James aspires, cannot be bestowed. It cannot be granted through the words of enamored fans, pundits and advertisers.

It cannot be guaranteed by potential and deeds that have been speculated about, but not yet performed.

Greatness, the kind that Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird achieved, must be earned through actual accomplishments, not words or glitzy commercials.

James faces such a task, after last night's 116-114 overtime loss in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final. His Cleveland Cavaliers are now down, 3-1, in the best-of-seven series to the Orlando Magic, even though he scored 44 points last night, including hitting two free throws to send the game into overtime.

It is now time for James to take a huge step toward validation, or he faces serious questions about his much-hyped legend.

At only 24, he does not face his Waterloo, but it is a watershed moment for his career.

That's how quickly things can change in the NBA playoffs.

On Friday, after hitting that amazing, buzzer-beating three-pointer to give Cleveland an improbable victory in Game 2, James was immediately elevated to a status given to only a select few in NBA history.

No doubt, James' fadeaway bomb with 1 second left was a great shot, but in Cleveland, it was immediately deemed as redemption for "The Shot" - the last-second jump shot Jordan made to beat the Cavaliers, 101-100, in Game 5 of an opening-round playoff series in 1989.

The huge difference is that Jordan's jumper over Craig Ehlo clinched a series.

After Cleveland lost, 99-89, to the Magic in Orlando on Sunday, James' shot is just one of dozens of buzzer-beaters in NBA playoff history. It will hold little significance unless the Cavaliers can rally to win a series in which they were outplayed in the first three games.

The challenge for James now is to pull his team out of the abyss, and it will be fascinating to see whether he can do it.

James and Cleveland had looked invincible through the first two rounds of the Eastern Conference playoffs, easily blowing by the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks in the minimum eight games.

But in Game 1 against Orlando, the Cavaliers blew a 15-point halftime lead and lost for just the third time at home this season. James had 49 points, six assists, eight rebounds and three blocked shots, but the loss immediately put Cleveland back on its heels.

Considering the emotional magnitude of James' game-winner in Game 2, it would figure that the King & Co. would take a considerable advantage of momentum into Orlando for Game 3 Sunday night.

But it was the Magic that responded.

Again, James was incredible, scoring 41, with nine assists and seven rebounds, but at the end of the night, it was Orlando with the 2-1 series lead.

Where the Cavs stand at this point is irrelevant, because the task for James is to find a way to win this series, no matter the circumstances.

That's the only thing that matters, because that's what Michael or Magic or Larry would do. Rarely would any of those three all-timers have let his team come up short of the NBA Finals, after starting the playoffs on the kind of roll Cleveland did.

Larry, Magic and Michael all had the uncanny knack not only to elevate their level of individual play as the stakes got higher, but to make sure their teammates elevated their play as well.

That's what we're waiting to see from James in this series.

The temptation is to say the same thing holds true for Kobe Bryant, with the Lakers tied, 2-2, with Denver going into tonight's Game 5 of the Western final.

But while Bryant might find it annoying when detractors say he never has won a title without Shaquille O'Neal, the bottom line is he has three NBA championship rings.

Michael never won a title without Scottie Pippen. Magic never won one without Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Larry never won without Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.

In All-Star Maurice Williams, former All-Star Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Delonte West and Anderson Varejao, James has the supporting cast to win an NBA championship.

Cleveland won a league-best 66 games during the regular season. It was not a fluke.

It's on LeBron James to lift the Cavaliers past the Orlando Magic and into the NBA Finals.

That's the minimum he must do for him to be mentioned in the same company as Magic, Larry and Michael.

If he doesn't, stop the conversation, for now, at Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone and John Stockton. *

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