It's in the newspapers, it's on sports radio, it's in the blogosphere ...

And I guess I find it a little surprising.

As I wrote a few days ago, I am totally convinced that, down two points with time running down, by passing out of a crowded lane and into the waiting hands of a wide open three-point shooter, LeBron James made a very solid basketball play. The proof: it resulted in an excellent chance for his underdog Cavaliers to beat the mighty Pistons in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

It was a good decision for his team, and in my book, that's what matters.

It may not have been a good decision for James's image, though. In so many ways, fans and critics who still remember the ferocity of Michael Jordan (and, to a lesser extend, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade) have advanced the notion that James might be something that is not OK for athletes to be: meek. For the time being, every time James steps on the court, some will be looking for him to disprove his alleged meekness. And, thanks to his big shoe contract, and his reputation as the savior of a city and a franchise, those critics will not be satisfied by a ferocious game or two. They want the angry LeBron James night in and night out.

Can he deliver that? Does he even want to?

I believe James is still, like many, or maybe most, people his age, finding himself. Throughout that process he's bound to have good days and bad days. He's not consistently anything -- his own marketing promotes him as multiple personalities (PG-13 for a word or two). At 22, that's no crime.

UPDATE: Basketball coach and blogger Steve Finamore weighs in:

We teach kids to share the ball. We teach them to be unselfish. Play the right way, team-ball, five guys together, making things happen as a unit. You know, the way Utah, San Antonio and Detroit play; the way the University of Florida have won back-to-back NCAA titles, the way the old Celtics played; and the way the Bulls, Lakers, and Knicks of the 70's played the game.

UPDATE: SI.com's Kelly Dwyer is all over this too.

I still don't think it the ideal move, but I also can't get too upset by it. And I certainly don't think it indicative of any fault in LeBron's makeup. He was just doing what seemed right. And, in the end, he gave his team its best chance to win, on the road, against a team that has made the conference finals five years in a row. Do you want to see him try to send it into overtime? Definitely. Was James somehow at fault for not attempting to? Absolutely not.

UPDATE: Adam Hoff of WhatIfSports smelled this controversy a mile away.

UPDATE: Wow. ESPN's John Hollinger (Insider) examines the likelihood of a jillion different factors: James making that play in the lane, Cleveland winning in overtime, Marshall hitting the shot, Detroit fouling, Cleveland getting an offensive rebound, and more. He concludes that, by a wide margin, James made the best decision.