LeBron James didn’t need The Decision to create a bunch of non-fans, though it certainly drove the number.

Plenty of observers preferred that he not succeed at the highest level, and long before “taking my talents to South Beach” was uttered into an ESPN camera.

People like me.

My problems with him were basic, and encompassed two concepts.

1. Most of the game was too easy for him. No one should be 6-foot-8 and built like a bulldozer yet have such refined motor skills. It didn’t seem fair. It didn’t seem like something he had earned or learned. Like being a 7-footer and not bothering to learn the drop step.

2. In the rest of the game, the “not easy” parts, he fairly routinely failed. He was unwilling to take the big shot at the end of games. He clanked free throws in crunch time. He made bad decisions at the end of games. Those were inexcusable shortcomings, in my mind, for a guy who aspired to have a “global” brand. And the big one: His failure to do what he normally does when it mattered most — the playoffs. He seemed to quit against Boston in 2010. He melted down against Dallas last year. Plus, he could not be bothered to work on his free-throw shooting or develop a low-post game.

Thus, he seemed unable to take his God-given gifts to a level that required something more than what he came out of the box with. That was a problem for me, as a sports observer.

However, given what he has done so far in these playoffs, I am ready for and can accept the idea of LeBron James as an NBA champion.

He has been killing the opposition since Game 6 of the Boston series. The Heat faced elimination in that game, and opinion-makers were about to come down on him and the Heat like a ton of bricks.

That was the game where he went into “stone-faced assassin” mode — and had 45 points on 19-of-26 shooting, 15 rebounds and 5 assists. He didn’t smile. He didn’t grimace. He just kept pouring in points. The Celtics were not going to slow him, the crowd was not going to get to him, and he didn’t even care if Dwayne Wade or Chris Bosh showed up. It was a level of resolve we had not seen against a quality opponent in a win-or-go-home situation.

He has kept it up since. Going back to Game 6 of the Boston series, LeBron is averaging 31.0 points per game (he had never scored 25 in the Finals; now he’s done it four straight times), 10.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists. He is shooting 51.4 percent in those six games.

And averaging just shy of 44 minutes per game.

His performance in Game 4 of the Finals, in which he cramped up yet still hit a huge three-pointer at the end … well, that showed the sort of moxie and gumption we had not seen from him, completing the “you have to give the man credit” package.

My most basic problems with him — not taking his game to another level, as the greats do — have gone away.

I may find The Decision distasteful. I may rue the cynical machinations behind three elite free agents joining the same team.

But I cannot and will not say LeBron James does not deserve to be a champion. He has done all he needs to do.

It is hard to imagine I will change my mind — even if Miami somehow fails to win the championship.