i think lebron SHOULD be the best. there's a lot of wated energy in his game. he dribbles way too much. i hate to agree with chareles barkley, cuz he's almost always wrong,but i think they use him badly. they still might win the whole thing though so what do i know?

Lebron is awesome, he has improved every year.  He's got to be in the conversation for best 24 year old ever.  I think he's a tad better than Jordan at that age, but it's tough to compare him to someone like Kareem.  It's hard to imagine anyone having any criticism's of Lebron's game at this point.  He tremendously improved his defense and shooting this year, he's equal to any passer in the game, he's a great teammate.  What more could he do?
As for best ever, it's hard to say.  He has the potential to be the best ever, but if he's in the conversation when he retires, isn't that enough?  Was Michael better than Magic or Bird?  Does it matter?

[dang]it. i promised myself i would stop using underrated, overrated yadda yadda. you're right, moiso. does'nt matter. who really cares. if pierce was the best player in the world.it would be good for him but sorry, who cares. all about who wins the titles.

Since LeBron's rookie year I've believed he was going to be the best ever (barring injury, substance addiction, or other extenuating circumstances) whether I liked it or not, so I'd better at least try to appreciate what he does.

To put it roughly, LeBron plays like a Jordan-type in a Karl Malone-type body.  He has the slashing skills and athleticism of an All-Star 2 or 3, the strength and rebounding ability of a strong 4, and the court vision and passing of an above-average 1.  He still has significant weaknesses: his outside game is inconsistent (though improving), he hasn't shown much of a post game, and he needs to bring his FT% up 5-10%, but despite this he's still averaging 28.5 pts, 7.5 rebs, 7 asts, 1.8 stls and 1.3 blks in a career-low # of minutes, while shooting nearly 50% from the field and drawing a ton of fouls on the other squad. As others have pointed out he's shown a commitment to defense recently, and has shown signs of being a beast at that end too.  And while he can't truly be in the conversation without at least a championship or two, he's made the finals and almost took us out with a very flawed supporting cast.

Bottom line is, when you play a team with LeBron on it he must become the central point of your game plan - most teams will concede a ton of open shots for his teammates just for the sake of getting the ball out of his hands.  And the more his teams improve, the worse that strategy becomes and the more likely he is to take over.  That's one of the reasons why I desperately want a title this year - I'm no fan of LeBron's, but I have a sneaking suspicion that once he gets into the winning circle, there aren't going to be many championships to go around for awhile.