By Mike Foss, USA TODAY

LeBron James recently won his NBA title and that’s great. But he has a long way to go before reaching Michael Jordan status says Dwyane Wade.

“I don’t know if (James) has the ability to surpass (Jordan) or not,” Wade told ESPN. “That’s yet to be seen. My version as LeBron being on par with Michael is this: They’re both on the golf course. Michael’s on the 18th hole. LeBron is somewhere on like the fourth hole. He’s got a long way to go, but he’s on par to get to the 18th hole.”

James and Jordan both won their first titles at 27. Jordan went on to win five more. Wade believes James could narrow that gap further in Miami.

“If you’re a team that’s lucky enough not to have major injuries along your run, then it can possibly be,” Wade said. “”So right now, we won one and that’s a lot more than a lot of teams have done in the past, but it’s a lot less than (other teams) as well. We just want to continue to get better and hopefully we’re there again in the Finals to try and win another one.”

The Heat and James made a breakthrough this past year, winning an NBA title with James laying claim to his third league MVP award and first NBA Finals MVP. A few weeks ago, James added an Olympic gold medal to his 2012 trophy case.

“I’m not (surprised),” Wade said of James. “Because there’s a certain period in your life and a time (in) an age group where you’re going to continue to get better. And it’s not saying how many more points you can score, it’s just being better as an overall player. And LeBron is at that point; he’s 27 years old.”

… [For more on Dwyane Wade debates LeBron vs. Jordan, click here.]