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I don't get the people so down on LeBron. He's 22 years old and does more with less than anyone else in the league. What other 22 year old player would you possibly want to build a franchise around than LeBron?
Does anyone think that LeBron's "drop-off" maybe have something to do with the fact that he's got a terrible coach and that the front office has surrounded him with a bunch of crap and doesn't do anything to make it better? Jordan was the greatest player ever but he had reliable help - Pippen has been named one of the 50 greatest players ever, he had Ron Harper who was a good defender and could make shots, Paxson and Kerr that could make open threes when teams doubled MJ, had Rodman to rebound and in the prime of his career Horace Grant was a more than serviceable post player.
Look what LeBron has to work with. Larry Hughes is no Scottie Pippen and at $13+ million the biggest steal he has all season is from the Cavs bank account. Drew Gooden? And they resigned him for $23 million over 3 years last summer? Z is ok by the standard of centers in the league and then you've got the flavor of the minute at the other spot (Snow, Pavlovic, Gibson). LeBron hasn't displayed the passing ability that Steve Nash has but LeBron doesn't have Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudamire to pass to either.
The fact that they're in the playoffs period shows what kind of talent LeBron is (and maybe how bad most of the teams in the East are). I think his "drop-off" - which I don't really think is much of one - is because he's tired of being a guy that people expect should be winning championships and matching feats of the greatest player of all time when he's 22 years old and has nothing around him.
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