LeBron James: Superstar Treatment or LeBron Treatment?

First of all, let me congratulate the Celtics on moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals. 

I am a huge Celtics fan, and this is the first time in my life I have been able to experience real "Celtics Basketball".  I have heard the stories of Bird vs. Magic and the good old days of Celtic Pride, but now I get to experience it for real.

Now, the reason for this article...

I love LeBron James.  I think he is, at worst, the second best player in the NBA, behind Kobe Bryant. 

With that said, I think LeBron is "protected" by both the league and the referees. 

LeBron is the type of player that the league loves to market because he has everything that sells: talent, leadership, dedication, and a great story. 

As I said before, I will be the first person to call LeBron the best player in the league, but this has gone on long enough...

During the seven game series against the Celtics, Lebron took 90 free throws! Let me say that again: "LeBron took 90 free throws in seven games."

Does anyone else see something wrong?  I watched every game, and on many occasions, I noticed myself screaming at the T.V., "What foul!?"

Now, I understand that a superstar is going to get the benefit of the doubt over an average player, but seriously.  I would not consider Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen average players, even though Allen played like it. 

There was no reason that those calls should have been made.  There were many "phantom calls" that were made, and it was ridiculous. 

In the series against Utah, Kobe Bryant took 96 free throws. I watched the majority of that series, and there was a huge difference.

Namely, Kobe was actually getting fouled. 

I am not a fan of Kobe at all, but there were actually some hard fouls on him.  If the Celtics looked at LeBron the wrong way it was a personal foul, and it seemed like breathing too close was a flagrant.