LeBron James Needs to Focus on Playing His Game and Ignoring Everything Else

In only ten days from the time I'm writing this, the Miami Heat will begin their second quest at a title run after coming up two games short of winning the championship in the Big Three's first season together last year.

The core built on Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh dealt with early struggles in the season as well as momentary lapses later on in the season, but persevered through and finished 58-24 and a second seed thanks to a number of extended periods of prosperity.

That prosperity includes winning 21 of 22 games at one point and having only one loss in the entire month of December after starting the season 9-8.

The regular season proved nothing to anyone as the Heat struggled against all of their elite opponents with lone quality wins coming against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the San Antonio Spurs, the Boston Celtics late in the season and the Los Angeles Lakers twice.

However, against their greatest competition in the Celtics and Chicago Bulls, the Heat finished a combined 1-7 while going 0 for 3 against the Bulls.

Miami then became a completely different team, as it would be the combined efforts of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade down the stretch that would spark the majority of the Heat's victories. They'd defeat the Philadelphia 76ers in five games and would then go on to defeat the Bulls and Celtics in a combined ten games.

After a season where they were criticized for their late game performances all season long, the Heat were the ones with the clear advantage in the fourth.

The most interesting part about those fourth-quarter finishes? It wasn't Dwyane Wade doing the majority of the work, it was LeBron James.

The same player who had been put under a microscope and criticized all season long for his inability to convert in late-game situations was putting on a clinic in the fourth quarter against two of the league's top defenses, while playing stellar defense against the likes of Paul Pierce and MVP Derrick Rose.

But of course, all good things would have to come to an end. James was non-existent in the NBA Finals, and with the weight put on the shoulders of Wade and Bosh, the Heat would end up losing four games to two.

Wade's 27 points per game and 53% shooting and the Dallas Mavericks winning was completely overshadowed by James' performance.

The player who had averaged 27 points per game up until that point had averaged 17 points per game and endured one of the worst collapses of an elite player that we've ever witnessed.

The Mavericks were throwing a zone defense designed to stop slashers, but there's no excuse for James, since Wade was still as prolific as ever when it came to getting to the rim and finishing or drawing fouls.

By game six, you could tell from LeBron's face that he wanted no part in it. He was passing up every shot, was hesitant on all of his drives, and, for the first time in his NBA career, was playing without confidence.

James thrives on his confidence to propel him to the next level and without it, he's just your average star who just happens to be gifted with out-of-this-world athleticism.

Even though he entered the league as an 18-year-old and joined a franchise that purposely tanked games for him, the 2010-'11 season was by far the most difficult year of James' career. He was getting used to new surroundings again, getting acquainted with his new teammates, adjusting to a new style of play and learning how to play in a system that doesn't revolve around him.

Call it culture shock, because James was out of his element when he started out in Miami.

He went from small-town kid to a big-city grown up overnight and the flashing lights were a little too much for him at first. He went from possessing an entire state's worth of spotlight and being adored by the nation to becoming a villain who had to share the spotlight with two other superstars.

The team was pressured with a hype that we had never seen before (granted they caused some of it), and they thought it would be a cakewalk based on their talent alone.

It turns out that talent doesn't mean anything in the NBA when you don't have the chemistry and the cohesion to go along with it. The Boston Celtics weren't the most talented team in the NBA when they won in 2008, but they were able to win because of how well they played together as a team.

It took a little while for the Heat to recognize this and they had a grasp on it by the end of the season when they were closing out games with James leading the way.

Since the Finals happened, however, we forgot all about James' theatrics in the previous three series and instead focused on the one series where he failed because we always have to find a scapegoat and James just happened to be an easy target this year.

The main problem I took away from the 2010-'11 season, the Miami Heat and LeBron James was how every aspect about the league became over analyzed.

New stats such as how the Heat fared in the final minutes when the ball was in LeBron's hands were specifically designed to showcase how much trouble he was having, when we didn't need stats to find that out. We knew James was playing poorly in those situations, but there was no need to throw in stats and percentages.

Even things as ridiculous as analyzing the preseason celebration or the fact that Wade and James made fun of Dirk Nowitzki's sickness in the Finals is just adding more fuel to the fire. People found ways to make James look like the bad guy, and they accomplished it by pointing out whatever negative aspect they could find about James and abusing it to death.

And why do we look at James as the bad guy?

Not because of his arrogance, because we always knew he was an arrogant guy before he joined Miami. When he was dancing on the sidelines with Cleveland during a blowout victory, we knew he was an arrogant guy then, but nobody persecuted him for it.

Imagine if James decided to start busting a move on the sideline during the Heat's victories against Boston or Chicago, you would never hear the end of it and they'd still be talking about it today.

Either way, James is going to have to realize that the constant criticism isn't going to end until he begins to win games and ultimately wins a championship, and even when he does, there will still be critics chiming in about how he didn't win multiple titles.

When he wins multiple titles, they'll make sure to let him know how he didn't win Finals MVP.

When he wins Finals MVP, there will be people there saying he took the easy way out.

So this whole business about LeBron being the villain or being the nice guy should all just be put to rest. We're talking about a game here.

As much as we like to revolve our lives around the arrogance and egotistical mind of LeBron James, sometimes we have to take a step back, watch the game, and enjoy it for what it is. By criticizing James and only looking at the negativity, you're truly missing out on some of the greatest performances by one of the greatest athletes in league history.

James didn't win a title in his first year with the team? So be it. It wasn't meant to be and we now have to put the weight of the world on his shoulders, rather than giving congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks for an unbelievable post season run where veterans like Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, and Shawn Marion brought home their first title.

As for LeBron and what he should make of this situation? He's just as much at fault for these troubles because of how he conducts himself.

James has never been a fly-under-the-radar guy like his teammate Dwyane Wade and he loves being the center of attention, so all of this criticism can actually be given a legitimate reason. James loves the spotlight of winning and that means he also has to deal with the spotlight of losing.

Rather than go on about what type of person he is, LeBron James just needs to play basketball. Stop over-analyzing every little piece of the game and just go and play the game that you love and are being paid a salary to play, which is the childhood dreams of millions upon millions of 18-year-old's around the world who were just like you at one time.

We understand that you've always been the center of attention and have come to embrace it, but at some point, it's better to just step back and play the game.

Forget the made-up percentages or the 'clutch factor' and just play basketball.

There's no need for stats to determine how effective an individual is at a certain point in the game because if we do it, then players like Robert Horry and Derek Fisher should be receiving a whole lot more attention than they currently receive.

What separates one player from making a shot at one point in the game and playing a less significant part is the fact that they over-analyze everything.

Players like Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant don't care if they miss. They don't care about the repercussions because they stand by the firm belief that they're going to make every shot. If you have a positive outlook on the future and not think about what the media will say about you or how your PR will take a hit, you're going to become a much more fluid player in dire situations.

In the ECF, James was emitting confidence at a level we haven't seen since when he scored 29 of his teams final 30 points against the Detroit Pistons. LeBron was playing like a player who didn't care about what happened afterwards.

He was in his element, comfortable, confident, and having fun playing the game that he was raised on.

James needs to become that same player. Forget the Heat Index on ESPN, the commercials and the media in general, and just simply play the game because that's all it is. Sports is intended for athletes to have competition against others in hopes that they establish their dominance over their opponent while having as much fun as possible doing so.

Professional sports is the same deal, just with elevated competition.

Sometimes you just need to sit back and have fun once in awhile. Enough with the stats and percentages, LeBron James needs to act like the grown-up he became when he joined Miami, stay out of the media spotlight and just play the game in a manner that benefits himself and his teammates at the same time.

This season is crucial for the Miami Heat to win, and LeBron James shouldn't care what happens at the end.