ESPNTheMag.Com Presents: All-World Power Rankings

Who, if anyone, is most deserving of the "next Jordan" title?

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Next conversation to have: who's the next Jay Z?

WHO MIGHT ACTUALLY DESERVE TO BE CALLED "THE NEXT JORDAN?" LEBRON SEEMS A SAFE BET, NO?

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Couple of things happening recently got us on this thought train: first off, in two weekends, Julia Roberts returns to movies with Duplicity. You know how many actresses have been called "the next Julia Roberts?" Everyone from Reese Witherspoon to Katherine Heigl, with a bunch more in between. Then, to bring it back to sports, look at the three leading MVP contenders in the NBA (we'd argue, at least): Kobe, D-Wade, and Bron Bron. All have been likened to Jordan at some point. Final concept that keeps MJ on the brain: the Bobcats could actually make the playoffs (and play the Cavs?!? Ha!) So…is anyone really deserving of the title "the next Jordan?" No. You'd be better off being called "the first (whatever your name is)." Pressure's too great, as this list will explain a lil' more.

TOP 5
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	1 (14)	LEBRON JAMES	Kinda self-explanatory, but we'll explain regardless. You can say Kobe is a better player, and honestly, he might be. LeBron is younger, tremendously marketable, and already basically willed a team to the NBA Finals. Ask Wayne Gretzky: it's OK to lose your first time in the championship. Also, did we mention he's bigger than DeMarcus Ware? He's almost impossible to single cover.
	2 (410)	DWYANE WADE	Ignoring Darko for a second (peanut gallery: "Easy to do!"), he's the first '03 Draftee to win a championship. We love Shaq, and without Shaq that '06 Finals is tighter, but Wade basically owned the Mavericks that June. It was, ahem, Jordan-esque. You been keeping track of what he's been doing lately? It is absolutely the definition of "fil-fee."
	3 (21)	KOBE BRYANT	Too low? Probably the best player in the world, right? His recovery marketing-wise from the Colorado incident is nothing short of amazing. (We had a discussion about that with a rando guy at the gym last night, oddly.) Still, think 2008 NBA Finals: does Jordan let what happened to the Lakers happen to the Bulls? We don't think so.
	4 (127)	VINCE CARTER	As a straight dunker, yes. Maybe even better: witness this. As an overall player? "ROFL WAFFLE!" (ROFL Copter?)
	5 (899)	JERRY STACKHOUSE	We're getting into people who have no right to be compared to MJ, sure. We will say 'dis: in their first-ever meeting, Stack outscored MJ. (MJ fleeced him in their second meeting.) We don't know how you personally feel about Stack; our view is thus: he's nowhere near Jordan, but the dude's pretty underrated and generally makes his teams better. Ideas? Let us know.

HONORABLE MENTION
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	18 (144)	PENNY HARDAWAY	Marketable (Lil' Penny!) Been in movies (Blue Chips!) Made the Finals early in his career (granted, got routed by the Rockets!) Look, he's no MJ, but if he had been healthy the whole way, do you at least compare him to say, Chuck Person?
	28 (701)	ALLEN IVERSON	Naw. Not really. He is a bulldog, though, and so was MJ in his own right. But hey: do you remember this?

RISING AND FALLING
MOVEMENT		WHAT
		D-ROSE (Can't ignore the Bulls comparison, right?)
		HAROLD MINER (Ugh. UGH!)

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