LeBron: Cavs-Heat matchup would be great
“It would be great to play against those guys in the postseason.”
TORONTO— It has been a focus of many since the NBA playoff bracket was settled: LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers against Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.
It only took one game in each semifinal series for it to be raised by one of the leading protagonists.
So before his Cavaliers went into the second game of their conference semifinal series against the Atlanta Hawks, James was asked Wednesday about the Heat’s 1-0 lead against the Toronto Raptors and if he had thought about the potential of going against Wade for the right to advance to the NBA Finals.
“Naturally,” James said, “of course.”
James left the Cavaliers as a free agent to join the Heat in the 2010 offseason, advancing to four NBA Finals in Miami, winning championships in 2012 and ’13. He then rejoined the Cavaliers in the 2014 offseason in free agency. Wade and James have never met in the playoffs, nor have the Heat ever had a playoff series against the Cavaliers.
“That’s been since I came back,” James said of the mulling the possibility of
LeBron James
going against the Heat and Wade in the playoffs. “It would be great to play against those guys in the postseason. But I’ve always, throughout my whole career, I’ve always wanted to go against Wade in a playoff series.
“We’ve always talked about it even before we became teammates in ’10. It’s not been heavy onmy mind, but it’s crossed my mind throughout my whole career.”
Wade said he appreciated James’ sentiment, and acknowledged going head to head with James has been a desire. But he also said after the Heat’ s Wednesday practice at Air Canada Centre that this is neither the time nor the place to be having such a discussion.
“I won’t say, ’bucket list,’ but that’s something we always talked about,” Wade said. “Obviously, you want to play against the best and we respect each other as being two of the best competitors. We never thought we would play together, so we always thought it would be an opportunity, being in the Eastern Conference.
“But right now, that’s not something I’m focusing on. We’ve got a very tough team in front of us. And I’m only focused on Toronto.”
Raptors forward Patrick Patterson said his team took note of James’ comment about a-Heat-Cavaliers conference final.
“It’s been like that since I’ve been here,” he said. “It’s nothing new as far as us not getting the respect that I feel like we deserve collectively as a team or also individually. It’s something we face every single day and something that we’re OK with.”
The Heat roster has undergone a massive makeover since James’ 2014 departure, with only Wade and power forward Udonis Haslem remaining, as well as coach Erik Spoelstra and his staff.
James said he, like many, found himself caught up in the Heat’s 102-96 overtime victory Tuesday night at Air Canada Centre.
“But any time I’m able to watch my guys do work, it’s definitely motivating for sure,” he said.
James long has made a point of keeping tabs on the play of his NBA friends, particularly Wade. He said he found Tuesday as rewarding as when Wade helped put away the Heat’s Game 6 road victory against the Charlotte Hornets in the first round.
“Any time one of my best friends are able to go out there and perform the way he performed, it’s definitely motivating,” he said. “I was looking forward to Game 1 after watching him in Game 6, the way he was able to close that game out.
“They all gritted [Tuesday] night, not only Miami, but Toronto. It was a slugfest watching that game. And theywere able to pull it out, aswell.”