how does flat out bad make it to the EC finals and have a 3-2 lead?
Because the whole conference sucks and LeBron is good enough to carry an entire team on his back.
Look at the teams in the EC playoffs. Orlando, one man deep, at center, not a good team. Toronto, one man deep, young, inconsistent, not a good team, a vastly improved team, but not good yet. New Jersey, a little deeper, they almost have a starting five. But they're horribly coached and VC isn't clutch, not a good team.
Chicago, very young, not a horrible team, but just very young and very, very inconsistent. Not a good team, yet.
Detroit, a fading good team. No more Big Ben, average coaching at best.
So when none of the teams are very good, it shouldn't be a surprise that a bad team gets to the Conference Finals.
Hell, it's not as if that Sixer team with Iverson was a good team. They were a mediocre team with a great player having a great year. AI carried them as far as he could. The same will happen to LB until they get him some talent around him.