King James must rule with a tighter fist: no one in Cleveland seems to have the guts to say it: the Cavaliers are out of the playoffs, at least in part because of LeBron James

Write this down. Take it to Vegas, take it to some off-shore Internet casino, take it to Knee-breaking Ned, your local bookie: The Cavaliers will make the playoffs next year.

Barring some freakish injury, things cannot get any worse in Cleveland. After a 31-21 start this year, the Cavaliers spiraled out of control, finished 11-19, forked over their playoff spot and left just about everyone involved with the franchise wearing the scarlet "C" (as in choke). General manager Jim Paxson and coach Paul Silas got the tangible brunt of blame--both were fired. New owner Dan Gilbert already has alienated many fans with his knee-jerk reactions. Among the players, center Zydrunas Ilgauskas did nothing to warrant the big-time contract he will seek in the free-agent market this summer, and point guard Jeff McInnis' attitude and lax defense sent his free-agent stock plummeting. Oh, and whatever happened to Jiri Welsch, Lucious Harris and Sasha Pavlovic?

The only Cavaliers employee who has escaped the mudslinging is the savior of Cleveland basketball, the mahatma of the Midwest, LeBron James. That's because he is coming off a terrific season in which he averaged 27.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.2 assists and because his triple double in the Cavs' finale nearly nudged Cleveland into the playoffs. It's also because folks in Cleveland do not want to offend James--he can become a free agent in two years, and no one wants to run the risk of upsetting him.

But someone should. As terrific as James was this season, he is the Cavaliers' franchise player, and when the franchise fails, the leader must accept some blame. Sure, he is 20 years old, and sure, he just finished only his second NBA season. But James bears some responsibility for what happens to his team, for better and worse. The triple double was nice, but how about the six turnovers he committed in a key loss to New Jersey? Or the crushing home loss to the Knicks, in which James shot 2-for-8 with three turnovers as the Cavs blew a 4-point lead in the fourth quarter?

Making the playoffs in the East is not a terribly difficult thing to do--James should have found a way to get it done. As one opposing East assistant coach points out, "LeBron seemed to not trust his teammates more as the year went on, and their offense kind of stopped. It became LeBron on an isolation, again and again, and that wasn't really enough."

Kevin Loughery, who coached the Bulls during Michael Jordan's rookie year, sees a major difference between the young Jordan and the young James. "LeBron James is a great player," Loughery says. "But I don't think Michael Jordan would let his team lose the games that the Cavaliers lost late in the year the way LeBron has. I think, obviously, there are some problems in that locker room, and it could be jealousy around LeBron.

"We had that when Michael was a rookie. He was not easy on his teammates, even in his first year. He would practice hard, he would go all-out all the time, and some guys did not like that. Not all of his teammates liked Michael, but he did not care. They respected him. He would not allow his team to lose games if he could control it. I don't see that in LeBron yet."

Someone in Cleveland needs to say that to James, whether it's the new owner, the new coach, the new general manager or one of the many new players the Cavaliers will add this summer. Don't let James escape blame. Appeal to his competitive instincts. Let the pain of what happened at the end of this season drive him over the summer. Let him stop caring about what his teammates think, the way Jordan did.

Too many people in Cleveland seem to operate in fear of offending James, but the team can't make its decisions based on paranoia over whether James wants to stay with the Cavaliers. James has said he does not want to leave. Besides, the way James' contract is structured, he will be a free agent after 2007, but he will be restricted, meaning the Cavaliers will be able to match any offer and keep him.

James is good enough to lead the Cavaliers to the postseason single-handedly. He will do that next year. But only if someone in Cleveland has the guts to point the finger at him.

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