I don't have a problem with the way James is playing. To me, on this team, Wade is a more creative offensive presence so, if you want to have the ball in your most creative players' hands for big shots, that's Wade, not Lebron. That's no knock on James. It's just the price of chosing to be on a team with a lot of stars.
James is somewhat comparable to Pippen (I'm not just trying to be provocative) in that he is great for his cumulative talents, but Pippen was never going to be the "man" with the ball in his hands because Jordan was a better scorer and creator. That was one of many things Pippen did well, just not as good as Jordan.
Similarly, when it comes to a checklist of talents, you'd check James over Wade on many of them -- physical presence and strength, defensive ability among them -- but in terms of being able to make things happen with a ball in your hand isolated with a defender in space, Wade is simply better. And that feeds into a perception of either Wade being a better player in general (not necessarily the case) or James "backing away" from a challenge (not necessarily the case either.
I'm also not going to slam James' decision-making altogether. That pass he made to Chalmers to tie the game in Game 2 was a heck of a cross-court pass he made look easy. From out of bounds between the circles (if I recall right, maybe it was around the top of the key) to the far, opposite corner is not an easy pass. But it was the right pass and it was right on the money in the clutch.
And Dirk? I don't think he's getting much preferential treatment. He hasn't gotten to the line a whole lot in this series despite being pretty aggressive going to the basket. One somewhat questionable call down the stretch -- the other over-the-back was blatant -- does not preferential treatment make.
