Miami Heat: Only Thing Standing Between LeBron James & His First Ring Is Himself

All LeBron James has done this year is prove that he is, hands down, the most dominant and the most complete player in the NBA today.

Throughout the Heat's first 18 games, LeBron has averaged 29.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.8 steals and 0.8 blocks per game, with a league-leading PER of 33.05.

In addition to that incredible production, LeBron is shooting a career high from the field with a 54.7 field goal percentage and shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc.

LeBron is playing at the most efficient level in his nine-year career, which has helped the Heat earn the Eastern Conference's best overall record at 15-6.

Say what you want about LeBron's ability to show up in the clutch, but there is absolutely no doubting his dominant play this season is the main reason why the Heat are considered the best team in the Eastern Conference.

While LeBron is having one of the best years of his NBA career, there is still one thing that he's missing.  One thing that has eluded him his an entire career thus far.   That one thing is an NBA Championship ring.

LeBron's inability to win a championship in Cleveland could be chalked up to the lack of talent the Cavaliers had, and his failure last year in the NBA Finals could blamed on a lack of team chemistry in the Heatles' first year.

The only excuse LeBron has this year, if he doesn't hoist the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy come June, is the man looking back at him when he looks in the mirror.

There isn't another player in the NBA like LeBron James.

He's a freakish athlete, measuring 6'8'', 260 pounds, while still being able to run the floor with the speed, agility and awareness of a 185-pound point guard, and he's hands down the most complete player in the league, averaging the highest points/rebounds/assists combo.

With LeBron's rare combination of size, intelligence and efficiency, there aren't many players in the NBA that can compete on his level, and there aren't many players that can stop him from winning the first NBA title of his career—aside from himself.

The biggest weakness that exists within LeBron's game isn't something tangible, it's the mentality, rooted in a lack of confidence, that persists in the way he approaches the final minutes of games. What's kept LeBron from winning his first ring is just that, a lack of confidence in himself and his ability to finish and close out games in the clutch.

It's not that LeBron is incapable of hitting big shots, sinking late-game free throws and being the closer the Heat need him to be.

The problem is that while LeBron undoubtedly has the skill, ability and physicality to take over late in games, he lacks the confidence that it takes to do so, and that will ultimately be the only thing that ever keeps him from winning an NBA championship.

LeBron seems to be establishing confidence in himself this year more than other, as evidenced by the fact he controlled the ball on the Heat's final two possessions against the Bulls in this past Sunday's epic showdown.

While LeBron missed his two final jump shots and clanked two clutch free throws, the fact he held the ball and at least took those shots, instead of standing in the corner like he's done the past few years of his career, shows progression in his belief himself as the leader of the Miami Heat.

The Miami Heat don't necessarily need LeBron to be the leader in South Beach, with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade being more than capable of playing that role. But LeBron undoubtedly needs to be the guy in Miami, because when LeBron feels he is the focal point of the team he plays in a more dominant, consistent and confident way.

That is why he led the Heat to an 7-1 record without Wade in the lineup, averaging 29.4 PPG and 7.8 APG, with an impressive field goal percentage of 52.7.

The kind of intensity and confidence that existed within LeBron's game while Wade was out is something LeBron must integrate into the way he plays night in and night out.

If LeBron can manage to do that, there's no one that can keep him from winning his first ring in 2012.

Once LeBron realizes there's no one in the NBA that can keep him from the 2012 NBA title other than himself, LeBron will truly become unstoppable, which will be an absolutely frightening reality for the 29 other teams in the NBA.