CHICAGO -- Dwyane Wade isn't ready to put Miami Heat teammate LeBron James in Michael Jordan's category.

Not yet anyway.

"I don't know if (James) has the ability to surpass (Jordan) or not," Wade told ESPNChicago.com on Thursday during a promotional event for his Wade's World Foundation. "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.

"I think everyone knows that (James) is a phenomenal, phenomenal player. He's one that we haven't seen, with the makeup of a 6-8 guy who runs as fast as any point guard, jumps as high as any center, and has the ability that he has to do so many things. But Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time, that's who everyone shoots for. So it's going to be hard to surpass that."

Wade, a Chicago native who told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel last week that James was "on that level" as it pertained to Jordan, played an instrumental role in James signing with the Heat two summers ago.

James capped a remarkable year earlier this month with an Olympic gold medal for Team USA. Before that, he won his third league MVP, his first NBA championship and an NBA Finals MVP.