CORAL GABLES, Fla.—

As the Miami Heat’s lone representative at the Monday meeting that led to a hardened players’ stance in the NBA lockout, James Jones insisted he did not stand alone.

Instead, as secretary-treasurer of what formerly had stood as the players’ union, Jones said Tuesday that he cast the Heat’s vote against the NBA’s latest proposal after canvassing almost the entire roster.

“I spoke to the majority of the guys, just about all of ‘em,” Jones told the Sun Sentinel.

Jones said at no point in the process, which ended with the union electing to file a “disclaimer of interest” and disband, did he act against the interest of any of his Heat teammates.

“Our players elected our team officials and our reps to go up there and speak on their behalf and that’s what I did,” Jones said.

Forward Chris Bosh, who attended Tuesday’s University of Miami-Rutgers game and spoke to a pair of South Florida reporters during the first half, said he also understood the Heat’s vote to be unanimous.

“I don’t like it,” Bosh said of the nasty turn in the negotiations that led to the filing of antitrust complaints Tuesday in Minnesota and California. “I don’t think anybody likes it. But sometimes when you’re doing business it’s so hard to kind of draw the line and work together.”

Bosh praised Jones’ efforts, but said it still is difficult to comprehend an entire season could be lost.

“It’s still kind of weird not playing, because I’ve always played in November,” he said. “So it’s feeling real out of place.”

He said it would not be a stretch to believe the Heat’s signing of himself, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in the 2010 offseason contributed to the league’s belief that the work rules had to change.

“I think so,” he said.

But he said efforts to block such an approach are misguided.

“I mean, if you look at the free agents coming up in the same situations, with Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Deron Williams, they can control their own fate,” he said. “They have the power to control that and I think that’s a great thing. In any job you want freedom to negotiate.

“With us doing what we did, and Carmelo going to the Knicks, I think that has a lot to do with it. Hopefully we can keep that and guys can come and go and make the deal that’s best for them and their family.”

Bosh said he is not currently considering overseas options.

“I guess for me personally, it’s probably when the whole season is (lost), if it gets to that point,” he said. “If it gets to that point where there is no chance there is a season, then I might consider it. But even then a lot of things have to happen.”

Instead, his next overseas appearance could come in the 2012 London Olympics, with Wade and James already having committed.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I’ve been looking forward to the experience ever since we had it the last time. We’ve been talking about it for years and it’s been four years already.”

Jones said his work with the players’ association is essentially over.

“It’s out of our hands now,” he said. “It’s in the lawyers’ hands now. And anything regarding that stuff is best answered by them.”

iwinderman@tribune.com, Twitter @IraHeatBeat

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.”

BOCA RATON, Fla. — South Florida business owners are looking forward to scoring big as the NBA finals get under way in Miami.The Heat are not the only ones profiting from the big three — Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh.Doug Baber, the owner of Wowies Sports Grill in Boca Raton, said he has seen his business increase every time he shows the Heat games on the 35 flat screen televisions inside his bar.”On my gosh, tenfold. On Tuesday night, it doubles your business on a Tuesday night, just by having the Heat go this far. I’m looking forward to this week,” said Baber.At the Sports Authority in Palm Beach Gardens, keeping Heat merchandise is harder than blocking a free throw.”We’ve been having trucks come in, supplying us almost daily,” said Sports Authority manager Mark Coady.Game one of the NBA finals is Tuesday night, and some Miami Heat fans have already begun celebrating.”I know there’s a lot haters out there (who) said LeBron, Wade and Bosh couldn’t do it. But I think we go all the way this year,” said Sergio Julio.

CHICAGO —
Laughs from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on Tuesday here likely did little to ease the nervous tension of their fans back home.

Trailing for the first time in a series this postseason, the Heat plays the Chicago Bulls at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at United Center in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. Sunday’s series opener was a rout, with the Heat looking truly vulnerable for the first time in these NBA playoffs, but James and Wade brushed off any notion of panic from a team built to win multiple championships.

“I’ve been behind before,” Wade joked before the Heat’s practice Tuesday at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

“I have, too,” James added during a joint interview session with Wade.

The players laughed. They did a lot of that Tuesday while being surrounded by a swarm of local, national and international reporters.

“We’ve been behind before in our careers and you understand that you got to approach every game, every possession, as its own,” Wade said. “You can’t think about, ‘Oh, we’re down one game.’

“It’s a seven-game series. So, we’ve moved on from Game 1 and we approach it totally different than we did Game 1.”

The approach: Just play better. As simple as it sounds, that was the message delivered repeatedly by coach Erik Spoelstra and his superstar players for two days after Sunday’s 21-point loss. Wade and James combined to deliver their worst efforts of the postseason during Game 1. They combined for just 33 points and nine rebounds.

“This series will be less about adjustments than aggressiveness and toughness and who’s able to endure and get to their game more consistently,” Spoelstra said. “They certainly were able to do that more than we were able to do that in Game 1.”

But adjustments could be in store for the Heat. Spoelstra activated center Jamaal Magloire for Game 1 to help counter the Bulls’ tough-minded frontcourt. The reasoning behind playing Magloire and deactivating center Zydrunas Ilgauskas stemmed from the Heat’s three regular-season games against the Bulls. The Bulls outrebounded the Heat in each contest — 42-30, 53-39 and 36-30.

The strategy had no effect, though. Magloire had two rebounds in 10 minutes and the Bulls outrebounded the Heat 45-33, including 19-6 on the offensive end. The second-chance opportunities led to 31 points for the Bulls. The Heat managed just six. In the second half, Chicago outscored Miami 17-0 in second-chance opportunities.

“There were five wide-open threes that were the most open looks the entire night for either team on offensive rebounds,” Spoelstra said. “We have the ability to get to people even if there is a bad bounce and something happens.”

Udonis Haslem could be an option for Game 2. Haslem played four minutes in Game 1 and said Monday that he’s ready to contribute if called upon. Known for his energy inside, Haslem could be a difference-maker if his repaired left foot responds well against the quickness of Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer and reserve Taj Gibson.

“[There is] only one way to find out,” Haslem said.

Bulls reserves outrebounded the Heat’s bench 14-6 in Game 1 but Spoelstra said Tuesday that improving those numbers will not be the difference should the Heat even the series. Spoelstra said it’s up to the Heat’s stars to match the Bulls’ effort.

“We’ve been able to bounce back in the regular season and postseason to learn from our mistakes in the previous game and then move on,” James said. “We’ve done that. So we’re looking forward to the challenge. We’re excited about the opportunity to be here and try to steal home-court [advantage].”