Wade convinced James to join him in Miami that summer and they won four straight Eastern Conference titles together, and two NBA championships. Now that it’s time to compete against him, Wade didn’t shy away from the assignment.
“I love both. I’ve always said it: Kobe (Bryant) and LeBron have always been my favorite guys to play against,” Wade said. “It’s just something about those games for me that’s always been a little special. I won’t be one of those cliché athletes to say it’s just another game. It’s never just another game for me to play against those guys. I just enjoy it more. Simple as that.
“I enjoy playing against LeBron more than anybody else just because of the things I know he’s going to bring to the game. Great people bring greatness out of you. He’s always done that for me and vice versa.”
Wade and James were both in the 2003 draft class, but Wade is a few years older and when they became teammates in 2010 he had already won a championship. So Wade was something of a mentor, but he said the knowledge flowed in both directions.
“You cannot be around someone who is great and not learn something from him. If you don’t, something is wrong with you. The one thing I always said about LeBron is I thought he was an unbelievable teammate. I thought as a leader and someone who gets as much attention as he gets, he does an unbelievable job of making his teammates feel like they’re him in a sense.
“They all walk with that same swagger and confidence. He takes them along the ride with him. I definitely learned some stuff from his leadership and the way he prepares. Not many people can prepare the way he prepares because your body is not built like he is. He’s great for a reason.”
With no personal ties to James, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg was less emotional about Friday’s game. “We look at it as the next opportunity to go out and see if we can improve as a basketball team,” he said. “After the last one there’s a lot of improvements we have to make.”
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