LeBron James and Dwyane Wade Say They Were More Criticized Than the Los Angeles Lakers


The rapidly sinking ship that is otherwise known as the 2012-’13 Los Angeles Lakers has been torn to shreds by fans and media — last night on “Inside the NBA”, Charles Barkley complained about TNT forcing him to go watch “those bums” in person next week. According to LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, however, that’s nothing compared to what they and the rest of the Miami Heat went through immediately following “The Decision”. Per the Miami Herald: “James and Wade had to chuckle Thursday when asked if the current scrutiny the Lakers are experiencing compares to what the Heat went through in 2010. Not even close, said the Heat’s stars. ‘No one will ever be able to compare what we went through,’ James said. ‘Even though they’re not winning and they’re losing a lot of games, it’s still nowhere near what we went through. Yeah, right. That level of magnitude was nowhere near where ours was two years ago. Nothing. Nothing compares to it.’ […] ‘It’s the Lakers,’ Wade said. ‘They’re America’s team. I keep saying it. They’re the standard of what the NBA has been for years, Boston and the Lakers. But the Lakers are in L.A., the big market. So, from that standpoint, you understand it. You get it.’ Still, Wade and James seem to take some satisfaction in believing what the Heat survived in 2010 was more difficult. On the surface, the prideful chest pounding seems a little silly, but James in particular has said overcoming the negative attention in 2010 was one of the biggest accomplishments of his career. […] ‘Because of everything that happened in 2010 with offseason signings, it was, automatically, just a lot of negative things that was said about us,’ Wade said. ‘[Los Angeles] didn’t go through that at the beginning. They didn’t go through anything negative about bringing those guys together, so ours started off bad and it stayed bad for a while, and then we got better.’ […] Wade suggested that some of the Lakers’ players were not fully prepared for the scrutiny. ‘I know [Kobe Bryant] understands it,’ Wade said. ‘That’s the nature of the beast out in L.A. I don’t know if every player that comes through there understands what you’re getting yourself into when you walk through those Lakers doors.'”