LeBron James: Heat Superstar Is Thriving After Lockout Diminished Haters

Miami Heat star forward LeBron James has seemed like a new player this season. After a year of tentativeness following his move to South Beach, James is playing more like a man on a mission than just somebody who's trying to fit in.

One major factor for that change has been the lack of individual attention he's received since the lockout ended.

Last year, it seemed like every word he said was dissected down to the syllable, but something happened during the work stoppage to change that. Whether it's due to the lockout cleansing everybody's NBA slate, fans starting to feel sorry for him after all of the criticism he took throughout last season or, as crazy as it sounds, Tim Tebow, James hasn't had to deal with nearly as much backlash.

The Tebow theory is the idea that the Denver Broncos quarterback has stolen all of the attention and air time away from James, which has actually allowed him to fly under the radar so far.

Whatever the reason, it's really helped James take his game back to a dominant, basically unstoppable, level. He's averaging 29 points, nine rebounds and eight assists while shooting a career-high 57 percent from the field.

It all comes down to aggressiveness. When James enters a game with the mentality that nobody can stop him and that he's going to attack the bucket at every opportunity, he's the game's best player and it really isn't even that close.

That mindset wasn't present nearly enough last season, as he would more often than not settle for jumpers rather than taking it strong to the hole.

It's certainly a lot easier to play with an open mind when people aren't chirping in your ear at every turn. James always did his best to play it off like the negative spotlight didn't bother him, but his style of play told a completely different story.

Miami is right back near the top of the Eastern Conference and are once again among the select few teams with an actual chance of winning the title. If the Heat are going to accomplish that goal, James needs to maintain his current form until mid-June.

That shouldn't be a problem during the regular season, because if fans are generally indifferent right now, he'd have to do something outlandish to turn them again him.

It will be a completely different story come playoff time, though. The haters will begin coming out of the woodwork, talking about his lack of championship rings and coming up short when in matters most.

It's a lot like what Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning went through during the early portion of his career. Dominant regular seasons followed up by a lack of playoff success leads to people hounding on the point until it gets changed. Manning eventually got his ring, and it all went away.

James is going to have to do the same thing. When the playoffs roll around and people start getting under his skin, he needs to use it as motivation to become more dominating instead of becoming passive and deferring to Dwayne Wade.

Judging by his early-season potency, it has the feel of a special year for James. It's finally time for him to claim the elusive ring and quiet all the doubters who've brought him down in the past.

Watch out, NBA.