Playing LeBron James any day of the year is enough to make most opponents break out in cold sweats in the middle of the night.

Be one of the unfortunate teams to get a game against King James on his birthday, and you know you’re in for a long night.

James turned a ripe old 27 on Friday, and the Miami Heat star says he always plays with a little extra juice on his birthday.

“My birthday and my mom’s birthday are the two days I feel real, real good about playing basketball,” James said on Friday morning after the team’s shootaround. “I’ve had the luxury of having games on my birthday and my mom’s birthday so we’ll see what happens.”

That could be bad news for the Minnesota Timberwolves. The undefeated Heat play at Target Center in the fifth time in James’ nine seasons that he has played on his birthday.

In four previous birthday games, James has averaged 35.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists. He’s also shot 55 percent from the field and 45 percent from 3-point range.

So what gets into him on those days?

“You know my birthday when I turned 15 or I turned 9, when I was growing up, it wasn’t the best of days on my birthday,” he said. “To see where I am today, and to be able to turn 21 and be in the NBA and turn 22 and now turn 27 and be a part of this league, it’s a testament. It’s also I’m very humbled that I am able to be here and I’m very blessed.”

James’ best birthday performance came in 2009 when he had 48 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in a victory over Atlanta while he was still with the Cleveland Cavaliers. That’s also the only time he’s headed home for his birthday cake with a victory.

James had 38 points and seven assists in a loss to Miami in 2008, 33 points and nine boards against Chicago in 2006 and 22 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in a loss to Indiana as a rookie in 2003.

“It’s amazing how many games he gets on his birthday, I’ll tell you that,” Heat star Dwyane Wade said. “He’s had a lot of games on his birthday. The schedule works that way.”

James is playing some of the best basketball of his career early this season for the Heat, who are coming off a disappointing NBA finals loss to the Dallas Mavericks last season. He’s averaging 32.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists in his first three games, and has developed a low-post game to boot.

“He’s been playing exceptionally well,” Wade said. “He’s in a different mind state right now. I expect him to continue the mind state he’s in.

“You can’t always know what that is going to result to, but he always enjoys certain moments. It’s a special moment when you get an opportunity to play on this day. The biggest thing is to try to come out and lead us to a win.”

James said the best birthday present he ever received was the Hummer SUV his mother bought him when he turned 18.

The Timberwolves had their own birthday treat for James when they shut down guard J.J. Barea for the game with a strained right hamstring. The super-quick Barea hurt the Heat in the NBA finals last season and was a major reason the Mavs were able to pull off the upset.

Asked if he will miss chasing Barea around, James didn’t hesitate: “Absolutely not.”

___

Follow Jon Krawczynski on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/APkrawczynski.

Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

The Miami Heat will look for their third straight win of the season, when they face the Charlotte Bobcats on Dec.28.

The Heat played excellent basketball in their first two games of the season, smashing the Dallas Mavericks in their season opener. The Heat played another tough team in their second game of the season, defeating the Boston Celtics 115-107 on Dec. 27.

Miami did get a little sloppy in the second half against the Celtics, but rookie Norris Cole stepped up in the final moments of the game, giving the Heat their second win of the season.

“He’s [Norris] earned their respect,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters after the game. “Even though it’s been a short period of time, about three weeks, because he’s pure, he’s all about the team. He’s mature and he gets them the ball. You’re always a popular guy when you find people when they’re open.”

Cole certainly looks like another NBA star in the making, and Heat fans can only hope he keeps it up throughout the season.

The Bobcats beat the Milwaukee Bucks by a point in their season opener, and they’ll be in for a serious jump in competition when they face the Heat tonight.

It’s no secret the Heat are the most hated team in the NBA, and LeBron James and company are playing with chips on their shoulders. With a season under their belt, the “big three” understand every team in the league is gunning for them, and they’re determined to make a statement every time they step on the floor.

“We’re not the hunted,” Chris Bosh told reporters. “We’re still the hunters. Absolutely, the way I see it, it’s like a kill or be killed mentality. The enemies are out there and you’ve got to get them before they get you. You know, Chicago, Boston, Orlando, New York. They’re all good teams in our conference. We’ve got to get them before they get us. I like to be ambitious and strike first, put other guys on their heels.”

Miami made their statement loud and clear in the first two games of the season, and I expect another dominant performance against the Bobcats.

David is a Miami Heat fan that has followed the team for 15 years. Follow him on twitter @davidkingwriter and check out his blog.

Sources:

Michael Wallace, “Hunted or not, Heat make early statements”

Dan Burch, “Heat-Bobcats Preview”

Player and game information from ESPN.com

More from the Yahoo! Contributor Network:

Wade expects other NBA teams to copy Miami Heat

Miami Heat Rookie Norris Cole Prepares for 2011/12 Season

Erik Spoelstra Signs Contract Extension with the Heat

Miami Heat Smashes Magic in Preseason Opener

Miami Heat Ruins Mavericks’ Championship Party

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Following the devastating NBA Finals defeat to the Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra had a lot of time during the lockout to re-think Miami’s offensive attack, and drew inspiration from the college football powerhouse Oregon Ducks’ innovative playbook. ESPN has a terrific feature on the new Heat offense (which Pat Riley recently claimed resembles the one his “Showtime” Lakers ran in the 1980′s): “Explosive. Fast. Unpredictable. These are the words that [Chip] Kelly used to describe the principles behind his signature spread offense that he rode to the BCS National Championship Game in 2011 to Spoelstra. They’re also the same ones often used to describe a Heat team led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. At least, that’s what the team is supposed to be. By most accounts, the Heat underachieved both competitively and aesthetically in the Big Three’s debut season. Miami didn’t smash the record books and they played at one of the slowest paces in the NBA in 2010-11. As the one calling the shots, Spoelstra received much of the blame. But rather than deflect the responsibility, the third-year Heat coach went back to the drawing board to find a better model. So he bought a plane ticket to go see Kelly and ask him a simple, yet vexing question: How exactly do you turn a collection of world-class athletes into a merciless scoring machine? Kelly’s answer made all the sense in the world to Spoelstra. To leverage the team’s blinding athleticism, Kelly told him, one must spread the floor, turn up the pace and let it fly. Pace and space are essential. And so the mantra for the new Heat was born. Under the watch of Pat Riley, the steward of the ‘Showtime’ Lakers in the 1980s, Spoelstra set out to design his very own attack built on speed, versatility and athleticism … What happens when the Heat lose three games in a row this winter? What happens when the Chicago Bulls go on a 8-0 run down the stretch of a crucial game? What happens when Spoelstra needs to take advantage of a hole in the opposing defense with sharp X’s-and-O’s? It remains to be seen, but the potential benefits are hard to ignore, and the players seem happy with the tweaks. LeBron says he loves where the Heat’s offense is right now. Wade believes Spoelstra has done ‘a great job.’ And Bosh? He’s gushing about Spoelstra’s new groove for a different reason: You can’t really scout it. This is perhaps the greatest potential benefit of all. Everyone knows where LeBron, Wade and Bosh would be at all times last season because everyone memorized Spoelstra’s playbook. The Heat were predictable and that’s what made them beatable at times too, especially in the playoffs. Armed with a unique roster, Spoelstra is thinking outside the box and the plan seems to be working for now. With his own spin on Showtime in place, Spoelstra is hoping his moment of clarity in Oregon will lead to a moment of triumph for Miami.”

Gotta run!.

What do you guys think about this.

Perhaps it is best the season decided to wait until Dwyane Wade had his cathartic radio conversation with Mike Krzyzewski.

Because this way the issue can be addressed and we can move on.

In summing up the Miami Heat’s less-than-satisfying finish to 2010-11, Wade this past week told the Duke coach, “we wanted to win to spite people.”

During the appearance on SiriusXM Radio, Wade added, “I believe that’s the reason we didn’t win a championship.”

No.

No. No. No. No. No.

While no one is enjoying the lockout, at least coach Erik Spoelstra now has the advantage of arriving to training camp, whenever it opens, aware of such thought process.

For as much of a circus as last season was, with its wall-to-wall media coverage, the Heat did not lose the NBA Finals to the Dallas Mavericks because of “spite.”

They lost because LeBron James turned into Henry James (the forward from the ’90s, not the novelist) over the final four games against the Mavericks.

They lost because they never truly found answers at point guard or center.

They lost because Brian Cardinal landed a hip check on Wade in Game 5.

They lost because they mocked Dirk’s flu but couldn’t stop Nowitzki on a pair of decisive drives to the basket.

But they didn’t lose because of any “Heat Index” or Dan Gilbert screed or any of the other supposed narratives regarding enmity, lack of respect, mockery.

Recall that at the beginning of the season the Heat insisted they embraced the attention, ready to prove the naysayers wrong. Then came a few losing streaks along the way and a healthy dose of external I-told-you-sos.

But they also moved past that, as they surgically moved past the Boston Celtics and the Chicago Bulls in the playoffs. Not out of spite, but out of superiority. Or at least we thought they moved past that.

In 2006, when the Heat took the Finals from the Mavericks, fingers were pointed at Avery Johnson for getting outcoached by Pat Riley. Johnson certainly did seem to put way too much focus on Shaquille O’Neal instead of Wade. But no matter the perception, the Mavericks lost that series because of what transpired on the court, perhaps because Dirk simply wasn’t ready or beaten down enough yet.

Similarly, an argument could be made that Rick Carlisle outperformed Spoelstra last June. With rotation adjustments, play calls, matchups. The move to Mario Chalmers as the Heat’s starting point guard for the sixth and final game of the series made it clear that basketball decisions were determining the outcome.

Yes, emotion remains a significant part of the process, particularly over the grind that is the regular season. And the Heat had their share of ups and downs on their well-chronicled ride to Finals failure.

But the last thing Wade, James and Chris Bosh should be carrying into their next season is any misapprehension that “spite” ultimately determined last season.

The Pat Riley motivational madness that had P.J. Brown flipping Charlie Ward over the end line is gone. There were no “15 Strong” cards in the locker room last postseason. Those are tricks that are necessary when talent, alone, isn’t enough.

Now, the talent should be more than enough.

IN THE LANE

GRACE PERIOD: Among the evolving elements of the proposed new collective-bargaining agreement is the “amnesty” program that allows teams to discard one contract from salary-cap and luxury-tax obligations. The latest update is that, unlike after the 1998 lockout, the decision will not have to be made immediately. For the Heat, that is a helpful element when it comes to Mike Miller, who could yet again receive another final chance to prove he can remain in one piece. By having the ability to wait until after 2011-12 (if there is a 2011-12) to decide on Miller, the Heat can get a better read on Miller’s offseason shoulder and thumb surgeries. There should be a sneak peak next Sunday, with Miller scheduled to participate in Dwight Howard’s lockout charity game at the University of Central Florida, playing on a team of Magic alumni. For those who forget, the Heat’s amnesty cut in 1999 was Wesley Person.

NOT SO B-EASY: That public-relations firm that former Heat first-round pick Michael Beasley hired to reshape his image? Essentially, it fired him after less than three weeks on the job. In the wake of a lawsuit and countersuit focusing on possible payments made to Beasley amid his climb to the pros, in the wake of a Beasley “all-star” event outside of Minneapolis that failed to attract any actual All-Stars, and in the wake of Beasley calling NBA labor negotiations “kind of retarded,” the Minnesota Timberwolves forward once again is left to attempt to reclaim his image on his own. “He was just not a good fit for our firm,” S&S Associates’ Tonya Payton told CBSSports.com, essentially mimicking what Pat Riley said 15 months earlier.

READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL: In the middle of NBA lockout apocalypse what exactly is LeBron James doing? Helping you set your Sunday fantasy lineups, of course. While Heat teammate Dwyane Wade and Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan were at center stage on the lockout front Friday, James took to Twitter to rate the NFL’s elite. The official LBJ ratings? At quarterback: “1.Aaron Rodgers 2. Tom Brady 3. Drew Brees 4. Mike Vick 5. Cam Newton.” At wide receiver: “1. Megatron [Calvin Johnson] 2. Andre Johnson 3. Steve Smith (Car) 4. Larry Fitz[gerald] 5. Mike Wallace.” At running back: “1.AP [Adrian Peterson] 2. Arian Foster 3. LeSean McCoy 4. Matt Forte (Pay him please!) 5. Ray Rice.”

FROM DOWN UNDER: The D-League dynamic will be particularly odd this season, with the Heat not allowed to send any of their players to their Sioux Falls (S.D.) Skyforce affiliate amid the lockout, not even first-round pick Norris Cole. The Skyforce nonetheless open camp next Saturday and their season Nov. 25. The team, which also serves as an affiliate for the Orlando Magic and Minnesota Timberwolves, released its camp roster Friday, with former Heat training-camp prospect Anthony Mason Jr., the son of the former New York Knicks forward, and former Southern Cal guard Gabe Pruitt the most recognizable names. The rest of the roster: CoCo Cofield, Dominique Coleman, Josh Edmonds, Brian Evans, Charles Garcia, Brock Gillespie, Billy McShepard, Casey Mitchell, Anthony Moody, Will Pratt, Dominique Scales, Greg Stiemsma, Latroy Taylor and Eric Tisby.

NUMBER

7. Exhibition appearances for LeBron James amid the lockout, with an upcoming Tuesday date in Memphis the latest stop.

iwinderman@tribune.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat.

What do you guys think about this.

If I hear anybody utter the words, “Philadelphia Eagles” and “Miami Heat” in the same sentence, the words “aren’t like” must be in the sentence as well.

July 8, 2010 — a day that will live in infamy. It was a day that LeBron James announced that he would be taking his talents to South Beach to team up with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.

James then said this trio would win, not one, not two, not three, but many championships. Expectations were high as they were projected to win the 2011 NBA championship, but the Dallas Mavericks spoiled those plans and won the franchise’s first title.

The Eagles will have those same expectations, as they have loaded up with free agent signings. The Eagles swooped in — no pun intended — and stole cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, who was thought to go to the New York Jets, the Dallas Cowboys or the Houston Texans. The defensive line was bolstered by the signings of Cullen Jenkins and Jason Babin. Michael Vick was given more targets in wide receiver Steve Smith who was with division rival, New York Giants. Former Miami Dolphin Ronnie Brown gives the Eagles depth at running back, and if Vick happens to get injured, the offense won’t really change with Vince Young stepping in. Young was signed because the Eagles traded backup quarterback Kevin Kolb to Arizona for cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

The secondary team for the Eagles is ridiculous. Rodgers-Cromartie and Asomugha join Asante Samuel to make up — in my opinion — the best secondary in the league. I don’t know how any team is going to want to throw the ball. When the Chicago Bears go to Philadelphia, these three should have a field day since Jay Cutler threw 16 interceptions and got sacked a woeful 52 times last season.

The reason the Eagles are different from the Heat is because these players didn’t conspire before signing. It just happened. The pieces just fell into place. Besides, none of these players have come out and said anything like James. The media is placing pressure on this team. It’s saying Super Bowl or bust.

This isn’t a lofty expectation as it is a talented team, but it’s sports and the games have to be played.

Just be thankful football is back and the league isn’t locked out like the NBA. The Eagles will have an opportunity to complete their quest for a Lombardi Trophy whereas the Heat and the NBA look to be locked out for the entire season and maybe more.

— Edited by Marla Daniels

Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

Thanks for reading! .

Read More: nba schedule, 2011-12 cavs schedule, J.J. Hickson (F – SAC), Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers

The NBA released the 2011-12 schedule on Tuesday afternoon with a triple-header of action on opening night – November 1 – that includes the World Champion Dallas Mavericks hosting the Chicago Bulls and the Oklahoma City Thunder traveling to Los Angeles to face the Lakers.

One team NOT included in the opening night festivities are the Miami Heat.  They open the season on Wednesday, November 2 with a trip to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Knicks.

The Cleveland Cavaliers also open their 2011-12 season on the road, heading to Boston to face the Celtics.  Cleveland will take on the Toronto Raptors in the Home Opener at The Q on Friday, November 4.  Cleveland won’t spend long at home, however, taking their first trip to the West Coast starting November 6.  The Wine and Gold will play 3 games in 4 nights against the Los Angeles Clippers(11/6), Denver Nuggets(11/7) and Sacramento Kings(11/9) in the first meeting between the Cavaliers and J.J. Hickson.

What about the Miami Heat, you ask?  

The Cavaliers and Heat will play four times next season, with the Heat coming to Cleveland on Friday, November 18, a game that will be televised on ESPN.  The Heat will also be at The Q on February 17, 2012 while the Cavaliers will head to South Beach on March 7 and April 6.

The Novemeber 18th matchup is the only time the Cavaliers are scheduled to be on ESPN/ABC or TNT all season.  Cleveland will play 13 games in November, with 6 at home and 7 on the road.

Check out the complete 2011-12 NBA Schedule;  Cavaliers site Fear The Sword talk about the Cavs schedule as well!

Comment Below!.

Read More: Miami Heat

The 2011-12 NBA schedule for a season that may not happen has been released, and there is a mild surprise in the Christmas Day offering. After playing five games on Christmas day in each of the last three years, the NBA has dialed it back to three games this season.

The headliner is a 2:30 p.m. EST NBA Finals rematch between the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat in Dallas on ABC. The Mavericks won Games 4 and 5 in Dallas before topping the Heat in Game 6 to win the title.

Following that game, the Chicago Bulls will take on the Los Angeles Lakers in Los Angeles at 5 p.m. EST on ABC. The Bulls had the league’s best record in the regular season, but fell to the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Lakers failed in their bid for a three-peat.

The day’s action will begin at noon EST with the Boston Celtics facing the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on ESPN. The two teams faced each other in the first round of the playoffs last season, with the Celtics sweeping.

You can view the full 2011-2012 NBA schedule on NBA.com.

That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow.

Think hundreds of kids in one gym on the Nova Southeastern University campus makes for a hectic schedule for Dwyane Wade amid his youth camp this week?

Then consider his upcoming China itinerary:

Hong Kong, July 26-28; Chengdu, July 29-30; Hangzhou, July 31; Beijing, Aug. 1-3; Shanghai, Aug. 4-6.

But for Wade, it will be about more than sightseeing and promoting his Brand Jordan affiliation.

“I told Brand Jordan I wanted to go to see where the magic happens, where the sneakers are made, the people that make the sneakers,” the Miami Heat guard said. “I want to go meet those people.”

While working conditions at Nike’s overseas factories had been an issue in past years, the company has taken a proactive approach with its facilities in China. Wade wants to experience the process firsthand.

“I like to thank people,” he said. “I’m a sneaker guy. With these sneakers that I’ve been loving for so many years, I want to go over there and shake the hands that made them, and just show them the appreciation and a thank you for doing it, for their talents.

“Because whenever my boxes come and I know I got some new sneakers, you know how excited I am. So I want to go over there and give them the same excitement if I can.”

The last time Wade was in China, he was winning gold in the 2008 Beijing Games.

“I’m really looking forward to going back to China. I haven’t been since the Olympics,” he said. “And I read on Twitter a lot, Facebook, a lot of the fans in China wanted me to come back, are already marking the day that I come over there. So I’m excited to finally go over there and just enjoy China.”

Injury updates

Not only did Mike Miller undergo recent surgery for a ruptured tendon in his left thumb, but it has been learned that Miller recently also underwent surgery on his left shoulder. Due to the lockout, the Heat were not allowed to confirm the procedures.

Miller told his hometown newspaper, the Mitchell (S.D.) Daily Republic, “I’ve been trying to glue myself back together, kind of like the humpty-dumpty man right now. I’ve been out since the season’s been over. It’s a little bit frustrating right now, but hopefully it will give the rest of my body a chance to heal up and take a break.”

In addition, forward James Jones, who opted to become a free agent last month, currently is dealing with a sprained toe . . .

While Wade has not responded to KFC’s offer for lockout employment, his previous employment for the chain as a Chicago youth did come up at his youth camp, “I did get a question about KFC. And he said, ‘Dwyane did you really get fired from KFC?’ Yeah, I got fired.”

Olympic deliberations

Wade said he has yet to decide on returning to the Olympic team for the 2012 London Games.

“I’m like in the middle,” he said. “I’ll be in the middle for a while. We’ll see.
“It depends on a lot of things. It depends on health, obviously. It depends on if I have a position the team needs me to play, etcetera. So we’ll see. I’ll be honored if they want me to.”

Former NBA Executive Jerry Colangelo, who heads USA Basketball’s Olympic program, is expected to send out feelers in coming months.

“I’ll be one of the older guys on the team if I decided to play, at 30,” Wade said. “So I have to sit down and really think about it. But right now I’m just in the middle of it. That’s so far away from right now. I’ve got a lot of things to focus on before I get there.”

iwinderman@tribune.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat

What are your opinions.

Standing before hundreds of children at his basketball camp Wednesday, Dwyane Wade got plenty of tough questions. About playing with LeBron James this past season with the Miami Heat and their trip to the NBA finals. About his actress girlfriend, Gabrielle Union. About what it takes to be a great basketball player.

One noticeably absent topic? The NBA lockout.

“No lockout questions at all,” Wade said afterward. “I think it’s sensitive to them. They’re staying away from it.”

Those kids may be the only ones staying away from the NBA’s latest chapter.

Taking a break from working with the kids at his camp, Wade spoke on a number of topics Wednesday, including the camp, his travel plans for the remainder of the summer, whether or not he’ll try to be part of the U.S. team at the 2012 London Olympics — and, of course, the work stoppage that threatens the next NBA season, with players and owners billions of dollars away from agreeing on a new labour deal.

“I don’t miss it yet,” Wade said of his inability to work out at 601 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami, the address of the arena that the Heat call home. “I’m only a month away from the game. I’m cool. I’ve got two more weeks to relax before I get back into it. But when the time gets to where we’re still going, I will miss it and most importantly I think everybody will miss it because you’re used to getting into a rhythm, used to getting into a schedule. And when that schedule is starting off, everything is off.”

Still, a month removed from losing in six games to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA finals, Wade is a long way from forgetting the pain of coming up short with a title at stake.

He’s been busy since: A European trip has already been completed, as has a camp he co-hosted with NFL star Devin Hester in Chicago and a commercial shoot in Los Angeles, all preceding his annual camp at Nova Southeastern University — which added a twist this year, a cheerleader camp led by Katina Taylor, the wife of NFL defensive end Jason Taylor.

And soon, Wade will head back to China for the first time since the U.S. won gold at the 2008 Beijing Games. Much of that trip will be built around Wade’s work with Nike’s Jordan Brand, although he has several other business meetings lined up there as well.

“I’m excited to come back over there and just enjoy China,” Wade said. “I want to go different places over there. I told Brand Jordan I wanted to go to see where the magic happens, where are the sneakers made, the people that make the sneakers. I want to go meet those people. I’ve got a lot of things I want to accomplish this summer and I’ve got a lot of time to do that.”

Other topics Wade touched on Wednesday:

— Regarding losing the NBA finals. “The sting is there, no question about it. I joke with the kids, I say, ‘All right, I’m going to make jokes about it, and you guys aren’t going to ask me questions.’ Because when they ask questions, they want to know some stuff. So I make sure I shed some light on it in a sense of humour type of way. But the sting’s there. But you’ve got to move on.”

— Regarding the perception of Miami’s season as a disappointment. “We understand that it was a failure, that it was a failure not just for the Miami Heat, it was a failure for every team that didn’t win except for the Dallas Mavericks. They were the champions, so they had the best year. Everyone else failed — they didn’t win a championship. But the things that we did, they don’t just erase.”

— Regarding what he hopes to build for a legacy with kids through his camps and other interaction. “I always feel like I’m on this Earth for a purpose, for a reason, just to leave my mark, leave the world a better place. And just use basketball to do it. If I can leave my mark on the world in that way, as I do with my foundation, with our youth, then I’ll feel like I did my job. So when I get 60, 70, 80 years old, I can sit back and be happy with what I’ve done.”

Feel free to leave your comments below.

DAVIE, Fla.—

It has been barely a month since the Miami Heat walked off the court at AmericanAirlines Arena second to one, after dropping Game 6 of the NBA Finals to the Dallas Mavericks.

But June 12, the night his championship dream died, still resonates to Dwyane Wade to the point that he continues to avoid the possibility of having to relive the moment.

“I haven’t watched ESPN in a long time,” Wade said Wednesday morning, amid his youth basketball camp at Nova Southeastern University. “Sorry ESPN. I love the network and all. It’s still hard to watch basketball. I’m used to basketball coming on any time, I’ll have it tuned in.”

Now? Now he’s still trying to tune out the memory of being up 2-1 in the best-of-seven series, only to come up short alongside LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

In fact, when asked to discuss basketball success in front of his campers at the start of Wednesday’s session, Wade referenced his team’s blown 15-point fourth-quarter lead in Game 2 of those NBA Finals.

“I don’t think I should be the one giving advice,” he quipped to his campers.

Despite a month that has taken him to fashion previews in Italy and France, then to another camp he hosted in his Chicago hometown, Wade said the night of June 12 and that lost feeling still stings.

“The sting is always going to be there when you lose,” he said. “Obviously, it was my first time ever losing the Finals. The sting is there, no question about it. I joke with the kids. I said, ‘All right, I’m going to make jokes about it. You guys are not going to ask me the question.’ Because the first thing, when they ask questions, they want to know stuff. I make sure I shed some light on it in a sense-of-humor type of way, but the sting is there.

“But you’ve got to move on. As I said, at the end of the year, we learn from it, but life continues to go and we’ll have a lot more basketball left in our lives to play and we’ll get another crack at it.”

Some of the criticism in the wake of those Finals has been harsh, particularly for a team that finished two victories from a second championship in the franchise’s 23 seasons, after Wade led the team to the 2006 title.

“I mean, I really don’t listen to it,” he said. “To us, we wanted to win a championship in our locker room. And there were a lot of people in Miami, as well, that really wanted us to win a championship.

“We understand that is a failure, it was a failure for every team that didn’t win.”

But Wade said it shouldn’t be viewed as if the Heat were the only team that failed.

“Everyone else failed; you didn’t win a championship,” he said. “But the things we did aren’t erased. So we understand that what we did the first year as a team, we had a good year, we had a darned good year, and if we’d have won the championship, it have been a pretty amazing year. So, it wasn’t pretty amazing, it was pretty good.”

While the sting of losing the Finals endures, Wade downplayed the sting of these first two weeks of the NBA lockout.

“Right now, I don’t miss it yet,” he said. “I’m only a month away from the game. I’m cool.”

iwinderman@tribune.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat

What do you guys think about this.

DAVIE, Fla.—

It has been barely a month since the Miami Heat walked off the court at AmericanAirlines Arena second to one, after dropping Game 6 of the NBA Finals to the Dallas Mavericks.

But June 12, the night his championship dream died, still resonates to Dwyane Wade to the point that he continues to avoid the possibility of having to relive the moment.

“I haven’t watched ESPN in a long time,” Wade said Wednesday morning, amid his youth basketball camp at Nova Southeastern University. “Sorry ESPN. I love the network and all. It’s still hard to watch basketball. I’m used to basketball coming on any time, I’ll have it tuned in.”

Now? Now he’s still trying to tune out the memory of being up 2-1 in the best-of-seven series, only to come up short alongside LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

In fact, when asked to discuss basketball success in front of his campers at the start of Wednesday’s session, Wade referenced his team’s blown 15-point fourth-quarter lead in Game 2 of those NBA Finals.

“I don’t think I should be the one giving advice,” he quipped to his campers.

Despite a month that has taken him to fashion previews in Italy and France, then to another camp he hosted in his Chicago hometown, Wade said the night of June 12 and that lost feeling still stings.

“The sting is always going to be there when you lose,” he said. “Obviously, it was my first time ever losing the Finals. The sting is there, no question about it. I joke with the kids. I said, ‘All right, I’m going to make jokes about it. You guys are not going to ask me the question.’ Because the first thing, when they ask questions, they want to know stuff. I make sure I shed some light on it in a sense-of-humor type of way, but the sting is there.

“But you’ve got to move on. As I said, at the end of the year, we learn from it, but life continues to go and we’ll have a lot more basketball left in our lives to play and we’ll get another crack at it.”

Some of the criticism in the wake of those Finals has been harsh, particularly for a team that finished two victories from a second championship in the franchise’s 23 seasons, after Wade led the team to the 2006 title.

“I mean, I really don’t listen to it,” he said. “To us, we wanted to win a championship in our locker room. And there were a lot of people in Miami, as well, that really wanted us to win a championship.

“We understand that is a failure, it was a failure for every team that didn’t win.”

But Wade said it shouldn’t be viewed as if the Heat were the only team that failed.

“Everyone else failed; you didn’t win a championship,” he said. “But the things we did aren’t erased. So we understand that what we did the first year as a team, we had a good year, we had a darned good year, and if we’d have won the championship, it have been a pretty amazing year. So, it wasn’t pretty amazing, it was pretty good.”

While the sting of losing the Finals endures, Wade downplayed the sting of these first two weeks of the NBA lockout.

“Right now, I don’t miss it yet,” he said. “I’m only a month away from the game. I’m cool.”

iwinderman@tribune.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat

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Charles Barkley admitted on Wednesday that he “can’t root for” the Miami Heat. And Charles Barkley, for whatever this says about us, is the voice of the people.

He’s not some manipulative Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes-type, taking advantage of us on his way to (nearly) the top, and he doesn’t parse his words out carefully to make us feel as if we all have a friend as the top voice on radio and/or TV. He’s just a guy that, despite our obvious differences, seems to often say exactly what’s on our minds. Like, despite what the Miami fans in the comments section will tell you, what a lot of us are thinking about the Miami Heat.

Right or wrong, few are rooting for this team. I, honestly, am rooting for great basketball for seven games, but as long as the Heat continue to play poor basketball down the stretch of losses, how can you not at least prefer (if not root) for a Mavericks team working with its likely last chance at a title? Especially when hounded by the Heat’s martyrdom and boorish fans that didn’t seem to be there last year?

On Wednesday, this is what Barkley had to say about the Heat, on ESPN Radio 1000 in Chicago:

“Listen, if the Miami Heat were playing the Washington Generals I would pick the Washington Generals,” Barkley said with a chuckle. “It’s something about that team that annoys me.

“They just a whiny bunch and I can’t root for them.”

(Before we react, it should be pointed out that the Washington Generals were nice, amiable guys even in defeat. No heels, there.)

Mind you, this is coming off a Mavericks win. It wasn’t as if Miami just pulled out a close game, breaking Barkley’s heart (and, some would be left to guess, a small personal investment of his own), and Charles was reacting to that frustration. No, he’s saying these harsh things even as the Heat walk toward the locker room while shoegazing after a defeat.

Sir Charles turned the rusty knife after that:

“Yeah, they have the worst fans. No question. It’s not even loud in there. You’re at the game and you are like, ‘Man this place isn’t even loud.’ At least when you go to Chicago, it’s loud in there, it’s crazy down in Dallas but it’s not even loud in Miami.”

In Miami fans’ defense, I’ve watched as some of them show up in our BDL Chats, and there are some knowledgeable, articulate, and intense backers that do right by the Heat. But, in Charles’ defense, a scribe like me (that has to deal with 30 teams) had heard from more Charlotte Bobcat fans that Miami Heat fans in the years leading up to 2010-11.

That’s not a stereotype. These Heat fans just didn’t seem to be out there until Miami started winning, and the overwhelming majority don’t seem to mirror the knowledge and tact of the few sound Heat fans that I’ve heard from. And I’m sure some of the deeper-rooted Heat fans amongst us can agree that the new kids who don’t even remember that Keith Askins (or, as they call him, “the guy with the bow tie on the bench”) used to be the team’s wing stopper aren’t exactly on the up and up.

Heat fans? Stop with the boorishness, and prove us wrong.

Heat players? Lead the way. LeBron James(notes) did well to start it off on the right foot on Wednesday.

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DALLAS — LeBron James made another decision Tuesday night, and because of it, the Miami Heat finds itself no closer to the NBA championship he promised the team’s fans when he signed on 11 months ago.

James’ puzzling choice in Game 4 of the NBA Finals to completely detach himself from the proceedings weighed heavily in the Heat’s 86-83 loss to the host Dallas Mavericks, evening the best-of-seven series at 2 heading into tonight’s Game 5 at the American Airline Center.

And contrasted against the heroic effort of a flu-ridden Dirk Nowitzki, who soldiered on despite a fever and visible fatigue, James again Wednesday found himself on the defensive against assertions that he’s evading the responsibility that comes with such grandiose declarations as those he made in South Beach about winning eight championships.

While Nowitzki was being lauded for his efforts — “He did everything he could possibly do,” said Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle — James’s puzzling performance was damning evidence of his apparent indifference.

Dallas swingman DeShawn Stevenson, who has an acrimonious history with James, said that James “checked out” of Game 4.

Explaining the context of that thought, Stevenson added: “Dwyane Wade had it going, and sometimes you get like that when a player has it going.”

Over and over again, television replays of James’s disconnection from the offensive flow throughout the game — especially in the fourth quarter — gave credence to pundits who a day earlier questioned James’s commitment to winning and his leadership abilities when the game was on the line.

On Tuesday, James attempted one shot in the fourth quarter. It missed.

He scored only four points in the second half on 2-of-7 shooting, and for the first time in his playoff career failed to score in double digits, finishing with an anemic eight points. James didn’t reach double figures in scoring for the first time in 90 career playoff games; it also was his poorest outing since scoring eight points Jan. 5, 2007, at the Milwaukee Bucks.

On Wednesday, James, who has played 835 1/2 minutes in 19 postseason games this season, and almost 46 minutes in Game 4, attempted to illuminate the reasons why he seemed so dispassionate on the offensive end Tuesday night.

“I feel like I’m in condition where I can still be effective,” James said, referring to his heavy minutes. “I just have to figure a way I can be effective on both ends of the floor. Last night, you know, eight points is definitely inexcusable for myself.

“I hold myself up to a higher standard than that. I had to do a better job of putting myself in situations where I can benefit myself and my team, no matter how many minutes I’m out on the floor.”

James insisted his disappearing act Tuesday night was a result of his absence of “rhythm.”

“You’re at a point where you just not in a good rhythm. You start aiming shots; you start thinking about plays too much,” he said. “You start thinking about the game too much … instead of going out and reading and react and playing the game. It happens to all of us where you get to a point where you feel so out of rhythm, you try to impact the game some other way than offensively.

“I try to rebound the ball, try to defend. When you’re out of rhythm, it’s tough to get back into the flow in that particular game. I guess the best thing about it is you try to watch that film, see the things you can do better the next game and then go after it.”

James admitted he was bothered by his efforts, or lack thereof, Tuesday night.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I criticized myself. I was hard on myself all last night. Any time I feel like I could have played better and the team loses, that’s what it’s all about. If I have a bad game and we win, I’m hard on myself — but at the end of the day, we win the basketball game.

“That’s ultimately what it’s all about. When we lose and I don’t play well, and I feel like I could have did one or two more things to help our team win or get over the hump, you’re definitely hard on yourself. That’s just me. That’s just the make up of who I am.”

Miami Coach Erik Spoelstra predicted that, with the Heat planning offensive adjustments to get James more involved, James’ play tonight in Game 5 should quiet his critics.

“He will be more aggressive and have more of an attack mentality,” Spoelstra said. “He doesn’t need to overthink it. He’s a great player; he’s a proven player. He knows how to be aggressive and how to pick his spots. I don’t want him to necessarily overthink it.

“The aggressive mentality will be enough. We will do some things to help him, put him in positions to be aggressive — and then the last thing would be that the ball has to move. And sometimes he can get involved from execution, other guys being aggressive, and he’s off the ball and impacting in different ways. So we anticipate it will be different (tonight).”

James didn’t go so far as to guarantee that, but he seems to believe it could be an evening of redemption.

“Both series, the Boston series and the Chicago series, there was a couple of games I didn’t play well,” he said. “You come back and you just do better the next game.

“I understand that I have the ability to go out there, my teammates give me all the confidence in the world to go out there and try to help them win a basketball game. You definitely relish the next moment. I’m looking forward to it.”

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