And it's still way too early to say he has to win it all this year. Just looking at the modern "passing of the torch"...

Magic came into the league with Kareem on his team, Jordan came in at the end of the Bird-Magic reign and then got Pippen. Kobe got started with Shaq and Phil Jackson.

LeBron has had Mike Brown, his best teammate has been Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and had to go against the tough Detroit team, Tim Duncan, and the Three Basketeers.

If nothing else, when Duncan, Garnett, Ray Allen and Rasheed Wallace retire....and LeBron is say 26, 27 years old....who is going to challenge him? The Hornets? Blazers? The LeBron legacy still has a lot to be written...

Mo Williams is almost all-star caliber. Almost. And other than that, they still have a bunch of average players. Don't get me wrong, I think they're a decidedly better team this year than last, but last years was no good. Every player in our PF/C rotation can be a major liability on the court. Boobie and Delonte, as much as I love them, are just role players. Wally and Sasha are as inconsistent as it gets.

Aside from Mo Williams, it's the institution of a "LeBron off the ball" offense that has made the biggest difference.

Absolutely no one in the history of the NBA has ever won an NBA title with the caliber of supporting cast LeBron has this year or has had any other year. That's the best way I can put it.

I would say he's on one of the 15-16 of the stronger teams in the NBA, but that's about as far as I would go. There are a lot of good teams out there with a ton of average/good players who don't have a LeBron James or a Kobe Bryant and that's why they're not viewed as too good. I think they're still on the brink of the 8th seed without LeBron.

I think you have to give him a very strong playoff team before you go putting all the responsbility of winning it all on his shoulders. I don't imagine this group, sans LeBron, beating any of the following in the East:

Pistons

Celtics

Magic

Hawks

76ers

Raptors

Nets

Or possibly even:

Heat

Pacers

Wizards (despite their 1-9 start)

He's definately got a capable team around him this year. Not overwhelming, though. I think without LeBron they'd hover right around .500.