Why LeBron James should stop reverting to whipping up drama, accept responsibility for Lakers mess

James needs to stop with the off-court drama that spiraled out of control before

Here we go, LeBron. It's déjà vu all over again.

In the Los Angeles Lakers' tumultuous and precipitous drop the past couple months, LeBron James has reverted to the same self-denial, insult-your-intelligence, anyone-to-blame-but-him playbook he employed to such ill effect a decade ago when he joined the Miami Heat with those famous words about taking his talents to South Beach.

His current dilemma went from bad to worse over the weekend, with L.A. dropping games to the Clippers and Pelicans, losses to mediocre-at-best teams that conjured the idea of the Lakers flirting with not even making the play-in games.