Lebron James stirred an enormous amount of chatter earlier this summer when he decided to move via free agency to the Miami Heat, trampling the souls of millions of Clevelanders.

Subsequently, this has sparked a lot of debate about Lebron’s future status versus the legend, Michael Jordan, to whom he is most often compared.

Parenthetically, isn’t it always about the future with Lebron, from like the first moment he stepped foot onto an NBA court? “Whoa! The future sure is bright with this young player!” And now, seven years into his professional career, LBJ has teamed up with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade to form the South Beach Super Friends and we’re still talking about his future. “Whoa! How many titles will this team win together?!?!”

Interestingly, Michael commented a few weeks back about how it would never have even entered into his imagination to team up with his bitter contemporary rivals Larry Bird, or Magic Johnson in order to attain championship glory. For those unaware, Michael Jordan won six titles, and Lebron James has, at present, won zero.

So. Now. My stab at psychoanalyzing LBJ Versus MJ.

Michael Jordan also had something Lebron never had. A father. In fact, the lore of Michael Jordan very much bloomed with the public’s perception of his tightly-bonded relationship with his tragically slain father. It is the very stories that Michael recounts about his own childhood, listening to his father praise his older brother, and indeed, being beaten on the backyard basketball hoop by that same older brother, that fueled Michael with desire … desire and confidence.

The largest determiner of a young man’s confidence is owing to the presence, or lack thereof, of a father (and of course I mean a positive one). Love and presence of a father builds confidence, if not moreover, a primeval desire to best the old man.

Seeing as you already know where I’m going with this argument, save me the parries about surrogate fathers being found in other males such as coaches. Mentors can never replace a father, they can only build off his teachings, and they’re not the same.

I was that kid growing up, raised by a single mother. Lebron James was, too. I knew many extremely nice guys that took time out to teach me many things. But those men also had families of their own, and the fact that my father wasn’t in the mood to do the job, well, it fills you with doubt. That’s the best way I can describe it to those who aren’t sure what I’m speaking about (fortunately for the sake of my argument, about half the guys in America know exactly what I’m talking about).

Fatherlessness begins as a doubt that starts as a youngster and blossoms into a cavernous yawn in the heart by the time you’re an adult. There’s no cure, either.

Now I’d like to say here, for the record, that I give Lebron James a lot of credit for doing as well as he has mustering up the courage to be “the man” when there wasn’t another around. But it’s an impossible task to ask of anyone, because the chasm of dis-confidence continues to grow each day.

As teenagers, single parent boys feel an early pressure to imitate the unknown enigma of manhood that will sufficiently match their maturing bodies for the outside world. This is a rational move, but wholly fear-based, because there’s no one strong enough around to protect them. Meanwhile, boys intact with their father to guide them daily through the pubertal gauntlet are reassured that they’re not going to be men for a while no matter how hairy their chin gets, and that’s all right because dad’s got the fort covered until they do figure it out.

That’s right. A teenage boy won’t be a man for quite a while (maybe even as much as ten years more of a while), and fathers help boys recognize this fact. “Wow. I’m starting to look a lot like dad now, but there’s still something missing. He’s still got something I don’t. What could that be?”

What could that be, indeed. This crucial time period is where the bedrock of male confidence will eventually sprout. Boys minus this maturation stage, know it, and can’t for the life of them figure out what’s missing. The single-parent teen frets, “Why do other boys fall and seem to take disappointment as a fleeting glance, while I take each setback as a portent to the end of the world?” (note, here escape seems like a viable option for this teen).

A lot of subsequent confusion ensues, and the doubt begins to really get some teeth when the twenties roll around, and that same once single-parented “man” is still struggling with what’s missing, while his counterpart is starting to get the sense that he’s made it, or almost figured it out.

“Wait?!” you protest, “Lebron seems to have done just fine for himself as a man with some supposed child’s confidence.”

Financially, I would argue. But, oh, if manhood were only that easy. Make a few bucks and, BOOM. Significance. Meaning. Hardly.

Lebron skipped college and went straight to the NBA to start “earning.” A very responsible adult thing to do. Michael went to Chapel Hill, NC, during his all important developmental years, and continued his maturation under Dean Smith.

The one factor that separates Lebron from most normal single parent kids (and the rest of humanity as well) is that he has a highly rare athletic gift for his size (even more athletic than Michael Jordan). Ironically, this only works to pressurize Lebron’s deficiency of confidence onto a global stage for all the world to see.

Once more, the deciding factor here is self-confidence.

When challenge and difficulty arise, as it arose for Michael versus an ugly foe in the Detroit Pistons, Michael seethed at the impudence of any that would suggest Joe, Isiah, Rick, and Bill were just too tough for his “Airness.” Michael’s answer is history’s answer to the rest.

This year’s semi-final playoffs, Lebron is hopelessly outgunned versus the Boston Celtics. Lebron’s answer is history’s answer to the rest.