ESPN has joined the wailing that LeBron James is given preferential treatment by officials. Truth be told, I thought James deserved four fouls in Game 2, and three in Game 3. He got one in each. It is pretty amazing to think he has played almost 109 minutes in this series and been whistled for three fouls. That being said, the NBA always has been a star's league. Was for Jerry West, was for Bill Russell, was for Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and Michael Jordan. It's now that way for James.
Too, there was a time when James did not get key calls. We all think back to the playoffs two years ago when no foul was called when he attempted a last-second shot in Detroit, and when he was intentionally fouled late in a Finals loss to San Antonio (thought I guess not whistling intentional fouls late has become a trend). If James is getting calls now, so be it.
And … if James had one foul or three fouls the past two games, nothing else would have changed. He still would have been the most dominant player on the court.
A gentleman named Michael Truax did a compilation of the calls and non-calls in Game 2 for YouTube (below) and wrote an analysis for ESPN's TrueHoop here. My favorite insight was on James' step-back jumper from 36 feet at the end of the first half: "LeBron commits a Flagrant-2 against Mario West's ego."
Here's the video.