Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade doesn't hold any ill will toward LeBron James, and he hopes Heat fans won't either on Christmas Day when Miami hosts the Cleveland Cavaliers. Wade pointed to the accomplishments James helped the franchise achieve, saying he hoped fans would remember the team's four straight trips to the NBA finals when James takes the court in a Cavaliers jersey.
James surprised many Heat fans with his decision to re-sign with Cleveland this summer as a free agent. Now James is returning to AmericanAirlines Arena for the first time since leaving Miami in July, and it's uncertain how fans will react.
"It's going to be a mixture," Wade said, via ESPN. "How I think he should be received is a little different. The man helped take us to place we've only been once before he got here. So I think he should be received very well for that at the start of the game. And then, when the game [starts], then do what you've got to do."
The Heat plan to show a video highlight reel of James's time in Miami, where he helped the franchise win two titles, ahead of tipoff.
While they're no longer teammates, Wade insists his friendship with James is stronger than ever.
"At the end of the day, this is a sport. And I would personally never let a sport come between the relationships I develop," Wade said of James. "That's just not the person I am. So LeBron's decision to go home didn't affect our relationship at (any) point. We might even talk more now than we did the first time when he wasn't my teammate. It's just because we're used to leaning on each other a little bit."
The two teams meet Christmas Day at 5:00 p.m. ET.
