Lebron certainly has a funner game to watch than Kobe. Kobe's also six years older, often plays hurt, and has had to adjust his game. If you needed to pick a player for one series... you'd be foolish to take Lebron over Kobe. And Kobe's intent was never to leave the Lakers -- he used his opting out as leverage. He said it scared him how well of a fit he would've been for the Clippers.
What moves should they have made? When they picked up Jamison they became the clear cut favorites to win the East, remember? At the time everybody thought Mo Williams was a great pickup. His surrounding cast wasn't as bad as everybody makes it out to be. They might still make the playoffs this year without Lebron.
By the way, the dislike isn't for Lebron as a player. It's the arrogance to have a "Chosen 1" tattoo on your back and refer to yourself in third person as King James, to jump and flex and stare and pose after every basket you make, to approach ESPN about having a one hour special to announce where you're signing... when you've never come close to a championship*... and then to cop out and take the easy road to winning one. You're so great? Embrace playing against the best players the league has to offer... don't join them.
*And yeah, when he went to the Finals, that wasn't close. It was a slaughter because all the good teams were in the West.
And it looks even worse when you see a guy who some would prefer to have over Lebron sign a huge extension with Oklahoma City and announce it quietly over Twitter.