There are many Lebron James fans out there, many who think he is absolutely without a doubt a living basketball deity, and the best damn baller on the planet. Some of them think he ought to be declared MVPFL, Most Valuable Player for Life. A great many of them went on to campaign online to have him declared MVP for the second straight season in the NBA.

Lebron James is headed for another second round playoff exit.

All the adulation and Nike commercials won’t help him now. After winning his second straight Maurice Podoloff trophy, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a league-topping 61-win season, and dreaming openly about making a return trip to the NBA Finals, James and the Cavaliers are back in painfully familiar territory. This is the third time that the proud and mighty Boston Celtics have sent Cleveland packing in the East Playoffs in the era of His Majesty King James.

You’d think by now James would have learned how to deal with the “aging” Celtics. It was written here first that after their Game 1 victory, the last thing James and the Cavaliers should do is to let the Celtics take Game 2. They did exactly that, losing by 18 against a methodical and efficient Green Machine. Their 120-88 Game 5 loss at home was another gigantically huge FUBAR. That was so bad that even the hometown fans, diehard and dying for a major sports championship in Cleveland, didn’t just boo and hiss James off the floor, they actually threw bottles and other debris. How kingly did we feel then, Your Majesty?

One can only imagine that the so-called king must feel more like the court jester right after another methodical beating at the hands of the Celtics. Game 6 was close enough, with James getting his fifth or sixth or whatever triple-double with 27 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists. He brought Cleveland within 74-78 on his own early in the fourth quarter. But in the last 14 seconds, Rajon Rondo, the best player of this series, just dribbled away the time and ended another futile quest for the king and his men as Boston wrapped up the game at 94-85. “I guess the experience just kicked in,” said Kevin Garnett, who had 22 points and 12 rebounds. Rondo had 21 points and 12 assists for another sterling game.

Garnett and the other 30-somethings on this squad were no longer supposed to be this good, and yet there they are, moving on to the East Finals against a young, hungry and talented Orlando Magic squad. James will be moving to an early summer vacation, if not an altogether new city. Paul Pierce, Rasheed Wallace and Ray Allen were just steadiness and poise and veteran wiles personified. They’re old the way a ’78 Latour is old, the way a vintage Eldorado is old, the way a favorite pair of jeams is old, getting better with age and far from done. James can’t even say what his address will be come October.

While the Celtics are now making a grand move to try to get their 18th franchise title, James will be pondering whether or not he will remain in Ohio. He may have played his last game in a Cavaliers jersey. Certainly this particular playoff exit has done nothing to entice him to remain in his home state. Other cities are making a strong bid for his services, trying to woo him into a bigger and brighter market, something in short that is better suited to his enormous ego and self-promotional whims. “I’ve given myself options to this point,” said the back-to-back MVP.

With the Lebron sweepstakes now officially on, where he goes is of great import not just to him personally, or even to the Cavaliers as a franchise. Lebron James is a global sports superstar, and rightly or wrongly, he is the man that will be the face of the NBA for many years to come. Kobe Bryant is over 30 and might have three good years left; James is only 25 and would be good for at least another decade of NBA superstardom. Going to a bigger city with a bigger market and a more global outlook would be good for both James and the NBA.

David Stern certainly would not mind seeing him go to New York to revitalize the city where the NBA corporate offices are located. The Knicks certainly have been incredibly vocal and shameless in letting the world know how badly they want the king in Madison Square Garden. Joining Kobe in Los Angeles would also be tantalizing, but James might not be ready to play sidekick to Kobe Bryant for another couple of years. Bryant, as he showed with the Shaquille O’Neal mess of several years back, does not play well with others. He might also want to try out the tropical weather in Miami where he can play alongside another great young superstar who already has an NBA title, Dwayne Wade. He might even be a good fit with Derrick Rose and Joachim Noah in Chicago, taking off from where Michael Jordan and company left off. Maybe Mark Cuban isn’t done overspending and will bring James to Texas, giving Dirk Nowitzki some hope of winning an NBA title together with the king.

Leaving his home state however is not exactly a done deal. Cleveland can still give James some $30 million more than any other team; not exactly money James can just walk away from, even with a better chance at taking an NBA title elsewhere. Cleveland however is aware that this is not just about money, since the other stars brought in to help James win a title also have uncertain futures here. O’Neal already has four championship rings, and it has been a while since he was motivated enough to be more than a space-filler on the floor in spite of his flamboyant declarations. Antawn Jamison is another guy who may or may not make it through another year in Cleveland. This team was supposedly built to win the championship right here and right now, and they have come up woefully short, not even putting up a fight in their last two games.

There is no doubt that with all his talent, with all his bravado, and at his young age, James will definitely win an NBA title sooner rather than later. That could come as early as next year, wherever else he might wind up. No one is betting against him winning that precious title before he’s 30. For now however only one thing is clear: there is still no ring for the king.