Why You Can't Blame Lebron James for Cleveland's NBA Finals Performance

Its never okay when a team gets swept in a best of seven playoff series. Its downright appalling when that sweep occurs in a championship series. If you make it all the way to the championship round, you should be a good enough team that no one, and I repeat NO ONE, can take you down four games in a row.

Yet, that is exactly what happened to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2007 NBA Finals, when they were completely and totally outclassed by the San Antonio Spurs over the course of four games that were not only difficult to watch; they were difficult to stomach. But now that the Spurs systematic decimation of the Cavs is over, the quesiton must now be asked: Whose fault was this?

While the jury is still out, most of the early blame has been directed towards Cleveland's (and possibly the NBA's) best player, Lebron James. Over the course of the entire series, James looked lost out on the floor. He was overmatched, swarmed by San Antonio's ferocious defense, and basically thrown off of his rhythm.

But to propose that James is the sole reason Cleveland did not win the 2007 NBA championship is ridiculous. What many people fail to remember is that the fourth-year forward is only 22 years old. While his physical stature (6'8", 240 lbs.) would suggest otherwise, Lebron James is just a kid. While he is the best player on Cleveland's roster, the young man simply does not have the experience and mental toughness necessary to carry a team to an NBA championship.

We've seen glimpses of Lebron's future greatness, notably in the form of his legendary 48 point outburst against the Detroit Pistons in Game 5 of this year's Eastern Conference Finals, where he scored 25 straight points and 29 of Cleveland's final 30. If anything, that brilliant performance hurt the Cavaliers more than helped them, because it "Kobe-fied" the team. It put Cleveland's other players in a mindset where they believed that as long as the game was close and they had Lebron, he would carry them to victory.