Why do people compare Carmello to Lebron?

I think Lebron is the best player in the league now but I find it silly to compare him to someone other than Kobe or D-Wade. While Carmello plays in a tougher conference, he has guys like billups, jr smith, kenyon martin, Nene. For the most part until last year Lebron never had a 2nd option. Also Carmello is not as athletic as Lebron and his handles are not as great and his defense is just above average; He has never been consistent in the playoffs and only got far when Billups came to town.