What will be the legacy of LeBron James? | John Smallwood

Fortunately for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the NBA and its television partner, ABC, decided last week that the Finals would not start until June 1.

That means that while the Cavs won't have as much rest time as the Golden State Warriors, who swept the San Antonio Spurs out of the Western Conference finals on Monday, they can get a week of downtime to focus solely on Golden State – assuming they handle their business.

After blowing a 21-point lead and losing to the Boston Celtics, Cleveland will need at least five games to wrap up the Eastern Conference.

That will happen with wins in Cleveland on Tuesday and in Boston on Thursday. Considering the Celtics will be without all-star guard and leading scorer Isaiah Thomas, this should be an easy do.

Then again, Boston did not have Thomas, who has a hip injury, when it came back to win Game 3.

Cleveland, which was blowing Boston off the court until Sunday, can't afford another brain cramp.

If the Celtics win one more time, Game 6 will be on May 27. If needed, Game 7 would be played on May 29 in Boston.

The winner of that decisive game would have the daunting task of flying cross country to Oakland and then having just one day off before going up against the well-rested Warriors.

Remember in 2001 when the Sixers beat Milwaukee in a Game 7 for the Eastern Conference title and then had to travel immediately to Los Angeles to play a Lakers team that, like Golden State, went 12-0 in the Western playoffs?

The Sixers used whatever emotion they had left to upset the Lakers in Game 1, but then exhaustion and injury set in and Los Angeles won the next four games.

The odds are still heavily in Cleveland's favor to move to the Finals, but facing the Warriors with a week's rest would be quite different from facing them with two days' rest – especially since that would likely also involve a red-eye flight across the country.

This is a huge moment for the legacy of James.

In my opinion, James has already lost to Michael Jordan in the battle for the title of Greatest of All Time.

When players get to this level, how they perform in championship situations becomes the difference maker.

Jordan went 6-0 in the NBA Finals and was most valuable player in the Finals six times. Had he not taken that two-year hiatus to play minor-league baseball, Jordan likely would've won eight consecutive titles instead of having a pair of three straight title runs.

Dating to 2011 with the Miami Heat, James has advanced to six consecutive NBA Finals.

Add the Finals he went to in 2007 during his first stint in Cleveland and James has played for the title seven times, but thus far, he is only 3-4.

At this point, James can't win enough titles to put him ahead of Jordan.

What about a couple of his contemporaries?

If James does not win the 2017 NBA title, can he really be held on the same pedestal as Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan? As individuals, Bryant and Duncan were both as transcendent as James.

Bryant was an 18-time All-Star and made 15 all-NBA teams and 12 all-defensive teams. He finished his career third on the all-time regular-season scoring list and fourth on the playoff scoring list. Bryant went 5-2 in the NBA Finals. For those who want to bring up Shaquille O'Neal as a negative against Bryant, no player has won titles without great teammates. James' title teammates included Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, and Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in Cleveland.

Also, Bryant did go 2-1 in the Finals after parting ways with O'Neal.

Duncan is arguably the best power forward of all-time. He is the only player to be all-NBA and all-defensive team in his first 13 seasons.  Duncan, a three-time Finals MVP, went 5-1 in Finals, including 2-1 in head-to-head matchups with James.

If Cleveland ends Boston's season in five games, it will practically be on even terms with Golden State entering the Finals, but if not, a considerably better-rested Warriors team might be impossible to beat.