King James No More?

This is ridiculous. This needs to stop. We need to start thinking rationally.

LeBron James, the LeBron James who has won back-to-back MVP titles, is under some intense fire of late after his lack luster performance in game 5 of the Easter Conference Semis. Never mind the fact that LeBron leads his team in every meaningful statistic this post-season, or the fact that on Tuesday night, Shaq was the only Cav to score more than the King.

While LeBron’s poor performance was as obvious as Stan Van Gundy’s resemblance to Ron Jeremy, LeBron should not need to score over 35 points for his team to win the game.

This is the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. Instead of people across the league having this sudden realization that LeBron may be leaving Cleveland, they should be realizing that the Cavaliers are nothing more than a superstar surrounded by mediocrity, at best. Where were Mo Williams or Antwan Jamison Tuesday, or this entire post season for that matter? Jamison has average 16.3 a game and Williams has produced a pedestrian 13.6. Shaq is averaging less than 12. All three are under their regular season numbers. I thought these guys were suppose to be a key piece to the Cleveland puzzle. Remember the Amare Stoudemire possible trade earlier in the year. Only 4 guys have put up more points this postseason then Stoudemire, and one of them is obviously LeBron. How did the Cav’s not get this guy? If I’m a Cav’s fan, that’s where my anger and frustration rest. He was exactly the type of guy they needed. A big player that could take some attention off LeBron. By not trading for Stoudemire the Cav’s front office was basically making that statement that:

1. LeBron was good enough to win it all without any real help and

2. Happy enough in Cleveland that he would stay even if he received no further help

3. Antwan Jamison is comparable to Stoudemire

As LeBron struggles in this series, looking across the league, Kobe and the Lakers are proving to be Championship bound again. You can be sure that LeBron-Kobe debate/saga is on the horizon yet again. I’m not going to try to argue that, but all I can say is this: If Kobe has a rough night shooting, and he recognizes it early on, he’s surrounded by talented players that can make the open shot when Kobe draws a double or triple team. This is why the Lakers are a complete team looking like the current favorites to win yet again. LeBron does not have this luxury. If LeBron draws a double team and kicks it to an open Williams, Jamison, Shaq, or anyone else the guy needs to hold his breath and hope they make the shot. And who can forget the coaching excellence that is Mike Brown. How is this teams best play “give it to LeBron and get out of the way”? Really? Is that all he can come up with? Maybe Cleveland could have replaced Brown with Teddy, the Roller-skating Cockatoo and then used the new money to pay for Stoudemire.

I’m not trying to say that LeBron should not be under any criticism for his performance on Tuesday night. He’s the leader and as the leader, he is responsible for a team’s victory and failure. Let’s just not forget that LeBron is essentially the only reason for any success the Cav’s have had over the last 5 years or so. There’s still another game tonight and I can only hope that he begins a terrible series of events for Boston area fans (1^st they blow the 3-0 lead in hockey and hopefully the series, 2^nd they somehow botch this 3-2 lead, 3^rd they continue to bring up the rear of AL East, not counting the Orioles of course, but who actually counts The Orioles?).

-AW