LeBron James no longer has to carry the Miami Heat, not with Dwyane Wade looking like his old self of late. James admits that it has been a difficult adjustment, learning to let Wade dominate alongside him again (though they seem to be figuring it out rather quickly). Per the Sun-Sentinel:
He was candidly asked after Saturday’s practice if there was any riff between he and Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade.
James played along.
“Absolutely,” James said. “I hate him.”
“I’ve been starting off the games pretty well,” James said. “The fourth quarter and the second half, the game has presented different challenges and I haven’t had the ball in my hands. It’s something I’ll be more conscious about.”
“That’s my responsibility to make sure LeBron is playing confident, aggressive and in spots where he can be most effective,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I have to figure that out.”
“It will be better,” James said. “It’s all a rhythm thing. For me, I’ve been out of rhythm the last few games. … It’s me, too. [Spoelstra] will put me in positions to be successful but it’s for me to go out and make it happen, too.”
The biggest factor in James’ lack of rhythm is the recent play of Wade, who is averaging 20.8 points, five assists and four rebounds the last five games. After being in and out of the lineup most of the season, Wade is apparently healthy enough to avoid missing games for “maintenance” reasons.
James was asked to carry the load with Wade sidelined, so he is adjusting to once again having his sidekick playing at peak level.
“He’s played so well of late,” James said. “He’s been handling the ball a lot as of late. I’ve kind of gotten out of rhythm. I’ve got to figure it out.”
“It’s a challenge,” James said. “When [Wade] was in and out, I knew exactly what I had to do and exactly how to attack the game. His health has gotten better. It’s going to be better for the team but it’s kind of got me out rhythm as an individual. It’s not like our first year playing together. It’s something that we figured out in Year One. You can’t take it for granted. You still got to try to figure it back out and that’s something I’m going through right now.”
“It’s never going to be ideal,” Wade said. “At some point, someone is always going to feel left out. It’s just the nature of the beast. At the end of the day, we all got good intentions for each other. We’ve always figured it out.”
