Let it play out. His career isn’t even over. It’s not like he hasn’t won one already. All valid points when it comes to why we shouldn’t rush to judgement on the career of Lebron James. Career is such a definitive word, let’s use legacy instead. The NBA is driven by super star talent and personality, if it were just talent then Tim Duncan would be everywhere. He’s not. History has shown we have a need for moving along the process of finding the next top talent rather quickly. We’ve had some misses, some ugly Harold Miner misses. It’s safe to say Lebron is head and shoulders above “Baby Jordan” but still, he’s the best player on the planet right now, and we want him to be the best player ever as well.

Think about it, ever since he’s come into the game he’s been heralded as the next best thing. But unlike so many others who were tagged with similar adjectives, James started to pan out, rather quickly. One trip to the Finals in Cleveland and it was still discussion around other guys who failed their first time, who then went on to win. I’ll save you the details of “The Decision” but do remember this was the time so many turned on James. It was when the already fast process of trying to determine James’ place in history, was expedited even more. The irony here is that the process was catalyzed more by his defenders, especially after Miami’s devastating loss to the Mavericks two years ago. The backlash from the negativity was the justification that Lebron really is one if not the best player of all time. Stats were thrown out, youngest to accomplish certain feats as well. It became a battle of size and speed versus intangibles. Yes, intangibles. People began to minimize what Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and even Kobe Bryant did because they lack the combo of size and speed of James. Here’s where I want the ride to stop. But it would only speed up. The Heat defeating the Thunder, the thought of the “Not one… Not two…” possibly coming true,  then the win streak this year. Wow, it was a Lebron backer’s dream come true, there was validation in the air and a championship ring to boot.

Suddenly it was just a matter of when the Heat will return to the Finals and win their second straight championship, not if, not maybe. I was shocked at how many people, rightfully so, have come out and pointed the finger at Lebron James. Yes James, the man in the cape, as the reason this Heat team may be on the verge of going 1-2 in the last three NBA Finals. Forget MJ, Lebron could be the next Peyton Manning. A guy who will be seen as dominant in so many areas of the game, a student of the game, a leader of his teammates, but for whatever reason unable to do all of that at the same time when it matters the most. In the NBA, where we see the stars of stars, the same guys Lebron gets compared to on a nightly basis, lead other stars to glory. We want that out of Lebron and when we see the first three games of the NBA Finals, we get frustrated. The reality is both sides are wrong. Lebron isn’t that same player who we saw fade against Dallas, he’s not the same player who dominated the Thunder, he’s a perfect blend of both. Unfortunately, it was last year’s James pretty much all the way until game 1 of this year’s Finals. For whatever reason, the dominant half has given way to the ugly half, and we are seeing the best look far from it. The Spurs have done everything possible, from Kawhi Leonard in game 3, to systematically forcing Lebron to do something he doesn’t always want to do. Something he said nobody will be able to do. Credit the Spurs for making a liar out of James. You don’t need me to break down the process, guys who have played and won at the highest level do that just fine. But we can talk about what an L here means for the best player right now, and why he may not be afforded a luxury I’m positive other greats would get.

This is why Lebron needs to own this series, because at his best the Heat are unstoppable. The problem is that we haven’t seen him anywhere near it, with the exception of the first game minus of course the scoring. So yes, the easy answer is for Lebron James to score 35 points leading his squad to victory, add double digit assists and rebounds, a couple of blocks and a steal and you have a second ring. The conversation is over, for a couple of months, until the Heat are back in this same position as they are this year, and people forget the good that can come from Lebron “Going Cleveland” on his opponents. But the easy answer is always how things play out. In fact, if the opposite where to happen and the Heat were to lose two out of three Finals, the aforementioned luxury other all timers would get would not happen with James. Here’s why, it’s already happened two years ago and nobody wanted to bring up anyone else on Miami besides James.

When we debate where this man sits all time in the NBA, how many times will we note an imaginary asterisk on this series? None. There will be little mention of how his teammates screwed him, including two guys who have been integral in this team’s success. Chris Bosh is a ghost, and so far the more he tries the worse it gets. Dwayne Wade, injured yes, has come out strong and faded fast. Wade’s gone long stretches of games without even contributing, Bosh tries to contribute and winds up killing his team. The “Big 3″ has become nothing more than the best player on the planet and a bunch of role players. How is Wade not a role player right now? How is Bosh not a role player right now? How is that Lebron James’ fault? It’s his fault because the other guys didn’t have this happen. If the Lakers or Celtics lost in the Finals in the 80′s it wasn’t a matter of whether someone let Magic or Bird down, it’s swept under the rug of “lure”. The Lakers simply were beat by a better team. The Lakers also won a bunch on their own. Michael Jordan never had this question come up, that will always hurt Lebron James. Kobe Bryant already won three straight with Shaq when those two were beaten by the Pistons. Any questions that may have arisen when Bryant lost again where hushed rather quickly with two more rings to his collection. But then again, Kobe never passed, rarely does now. Lebron James said after game three he has “all the confidence in the world in his teammates” the last word referring to Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade. I say James has too much confidence in his teammates. You may not be MJ, you may not be Kobe, but if you want to win in this league as the leader, you’re going to have to give it a shot. Literally.