Here it is everyone: the Next Big Step. Despite the unprecedented hype that has greeted his career with each move since he was 16, LeBron James has managed to meet expectations at every stage of his thus far brilliant career. No, check that – he’s managed to exceed them.

We thought he’d be one of the greatest high school prodigies ever. Turns out he’s probably the greatest. We thought he’d make an immediate impact as a pro. Turns out he was even better than we thought. We thought he’d eventually become the best player in the league. Turns out he’s pretty much there already, at the ripe old age of 21.

But with each hurdle James clears, new ones appear in the distance. His Cavs hadn’t been to a playoff game before this season, and some argued Le-Bron hadn’t done enough to get them there. He answered that, leading his team to 50 wins. He hadn’t made many game-winning plays, and some argued he wasn’t a clutch player after a couple of key misses early in the season. He answered that, too, making a few game winners down the stretch and setting up several more.

Now, with his Cavs in the playoffs, there’s one more obstacle. LeBron has to prove he can step up his game in the postseason, as the Jordans and Olajuwons of the world have done before him. In his first career playoff game last weekend, he answered the bell. James delivered a scintillating triple-double – 32 points, 11 assists, and 11 rebounds – as his Cavaliers handily beat Washington in Game 1 of their first-round series.

So far, so good, but then Game 2 happened. This may have been the worst game James played all season. Not only did he shatter his season-high with 10 turnovers, but he shot only 7-for-25 from the field as Cleveland fell to the Wizards 89-84. James couldn’t make things easier for his teammates, either, finishing with just two assists. On defense, Caron Butler picked him apart for 21 points.

Thus, we arrive at the first crossroads in King James’s playoff career. With the series tied at a game apiece and moving to the more hostile setting of Washington’s Verizon Center, James still has plenty to prove – and its’ the toughest time of year for him to prove it. After leading the league at 42.5 minutes per game during the season and playing 47 during the Game 1 win, James looked surprisingly leg-weary in the Game 2 defeat. The lack of zip in his step and quickness in his reactions was a major reason the Wizards were able to harass him into so many mistakes, including a key steal late in the game by Butler when James was unusually careless with his dribble.

Of course, James can’t win the games by himself, and right now his teammates are making it too easy for the Wizards to shut him down. In particular, backcourt mates Larry Hughes and Ronald Murray have been horrendous. These are the two players who are supposed to take the heat off James by knocking down jump shots and helping break down defenses with their penetration, but they haven’t scared anybody in the first two games against Washington. Both players are shooting under 30% for the postseason, with the pair going a combined 11-for-42 thus far.

James’s big gun in the post has been shooting blanks, too. Zydrunas Ilgauskas struggled at the end of the season – he hasn’t had a 20-point game in more than a month – and those woes have continued against Washington. He’s shot 7-for-20 and made just six trips to the free-throw line in two games, again doing little to support his star teammate.

With the supporting cast failing to deliver, even more pressure is pushing down on James to step up to the challenge. It’s not like he’s going up against the All-Defense team, either. Washington in general is a gambling, overzealous team that a player as patient and disciplined as James should be able to pick apart. Of his primary defenders, Jared Jeffries is the only one who most would consider above average, and he’s hardly in Bruce Bowen territory. So the matchup is there for the taking.

The question, then, is whether James will take it. As in all his previous endeavors – from his first national TV appearance as a high-schooler to his first season as a pro – he can expect an onslaught of criticism if he falls short. But what’s been so amazing about James’s career thus far is his denial of the critics at every turn, doing the impossible by more than justifying the prodigious hype that has accompanied his arrival. And as the series with the Wizards progresses, I have no doubt King James will deny his critics one more time.

Mr. Hollinger is the author of the 2005-06 Pro Basketball Forecast. He can be reached at jhollinger@nysun.com.