LeBron glued to soccer broadcast during 2014 meeting with Riley

The details surrounding LeBron James’ departure from the Heat will leak out in bits and pieces for years and an interesting one popped up this morning.
During a segment discussing whether the Heat would ever be willing to bring back James, who has endured some turbulence in Cleveland since leaving, ESPN Radio host Dan Le Batard revealed something that bothered Pat Riley when he met with James in the summer of 2014.
In retrospect, Riley apparently feels James had already decided to rejoin the Cavaliers before Riley flew from Miami to Las Vegas for the meeting. After traveling across the country for what the thought was a legitimate re-recruiting opportunity, he was irritated that James and his crew did not seem to be engaged in the discussion.
“I don’t think Pat Riley would take him back based on what I know, but maybe there’s a way around that if The King wishes to grovel,” Le Batard said on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz. “Maybe. I’m not kidding about this. Because Pat Riley was made to feel, flying across the country– Pat Riley’s got an ego, man.
“The details I could give you on some of the stuff that happened in that meeting– Pat Riley is trying to recruit LeBron, and they won’t stop watching the World Cup game that’s on there. The group of guys in the room won’t stop. He’s sitting there, come on.”

Miami Heat schedule

FECHAS:                                                                      Horarios
March 17            Charlotte Hornets vs Miami Heat                             7.30 PM
March 19            Cleveland Cavaliers vs Miami Heat                          7.30 PM
March 22            Miami Heat vs New orleans pelicans                        7.00 PM
March 23            Miami Heat vs San antonio Spurs                            7.30 PM
March 25            Orlando Magic vs Miami Heat                                  7.30 PM
March 28            Brooklyn nets vs Miami Heat                                   7.30 PM 
March 30            Miami Heat vs Los Angeles Lakers                          7.30 PM
April     1            Miami Heat vs Sacramento Kings                            7.00 PM
April     2            Miami Heat vs Portland Trail Blazers                       7.00 PM
April     5            Detroit Pistons vs Miami Heat                                  7.30 PM
April     7            Chicago Bulls vs Miami Heat                                   8.00 PM
April   10            Orlando Magic vs Miami Heat                                  7.00 PM
April   12            Miami Heat vs Detroit Pistons                                  7.30 PM
April   13             Miami Heat vs Boston Celtis                                   8.00 PM

NBA strength of schedule: Miami Heat’s advantage in playoff race | Heat Zone

Almost all of the hard games are out of the way for the Miami Heat, which is pretty helpful as they fight for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Withholding Wednesday’s game at San Antonio, which has the second-best record in the NBA, the remaining Heat opponents had a combined .428 winning percentagegoing into Monday’s games.

Miami has 11 games left after facing the Pelicans tonight and the Spurs, and three of those are against the Orlando Magic (29-40). The Nets (19-50) come to town Monday. The toughest road games left are San Antonio and the season finale at Boston.

That comes in handy as the Heat try to escape a tangle of four teams that are 1.5 games apart as they chase the No. 3 seed. Among Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte and Boston, the Heat have the second-easiest remaining strength of schedule behind the Celtics, according to NBA.com’s formula. The Hawks, currently in third place, have the toughest by far.

Dwyane Wade Plans To Sign Long-Term With Heat

Dwyane Wade plans to sign another long-term deal with the Miami Heat.
Wade, along with LeBron James and Chris Bosh, is likely to opt-out after the 2013-14 season.
"I'm not going to deal with it," Wade said of the speculation that will envelop James. "I'm going to address it on media day and that'll be the last time I address it. But obviously it's a part of it."
Wade has spent all 10 of his NBA seasons in South Florida.
"Everyone knows where I want to be," he said. "That's what it's all about to me, is making sure we focus on this season, winning this championship.
"I want to be in Miami and I have nothing else to talk about. So there won't be no exciting news over here."

Dwyane Wade Minutes Limit? Miami Heat Plan To Rest LeBron James' Sidekick In Second Title Defense

Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade dunks against the San Antonio Spurs during the fourth quarter in Game 4 of their NBA Finals basketball series in San Antonio, Texas June 13, 2013.

The Miami Heat plan to limit Dwyane Wade’s minutes this season in hopes of preserving his health over the course of the entire year, according to the Florida Sun Sentinel.

Coaches have discussed options ranging from sitting the perennial All-Star on the second nights of back-to-backs, to not playing him at all in a set number of games.

Wade’s lingering knee problems again became an issue last season, particularly during the playoffs when his jumping and running ability both appeared to sorely reduced. Prior to Game 7 of the NBA Finals against San Antonio, Wade had to have his left knee drained as well as receive eight hours of therapy on it.

Despite issues with both his knees much of the year, Wade opted not to have any surgery this off season, instead choosing to simply rest his body. With the Heat poised to make a run at only the league’s second three-peat (L.A. Lakers 1999-002) since the days of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, management is taking every precaution to have the team healthy and intact come playoff time.

The Sentinel also reports the team has discussed adding veteran swingman Dahntay Jones to the mix as a capable reserve.  Jones has averaged 5.6 points over the course of his career, but is best known for his defense including a couple classical battles with Los Angeles’Kobe Bryant.

NBA announces international dates for 2013 preseason schedule

  The NBA formally announced its complete preseason schedule on Thursday, although the league’s individual teams have been making the information public over the past couple of weeks.
Of note is the fact that the preseason will tip off on Oct. 5, with the Oklahoma City Thunder heading to Istanbul to take on Turkish basketball club Fenerbahce Ulker.
It’s the first of an eight-game slate of international games being played in eight different cities. The rest of the dates are as follows:
October 6            Philadelphia @ Bilbao Basket           Bizkaia Arena, Bilbao, Spain
October 8            Oklahoma City @ Philadelphia        Phones 4u Arena, Manchester, England
October 10            Houston @ Indiana                          Mall of Asia Arena, Manila, Philippines
October 12          Chicago @ Washington                     HSBC Arena, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
October 13            Indiana @ Houston                          Taipei Arena, Taipei, Taiwan
October 15            Golden State @ LA Lakers              MasterCard Center, Beijing, China
October 18            LA Lakers @ Golden State              Mercedes-Benz Arena, Shanghai, China
All eight international contests will be televised by NBA TV.

Blake Griffin agrees with Chris Paul

If Chris Paul meant to challenge his teammate Blake Griffin, when he said recently that the Los Angeles Clippers will "definitely go as Blake goes," it worked.
Not only did Griffin hear his teammates words, he agreed with them.
"[Paul] has a huge role on this team," Griffin said Thursday in an interview with ESPNLosAngeles.com. "He's been the guy who has closed out a lot of games late for us.

Blake Griffin, back, agrees with Chris Paul that he needs to step up his role and help shoulder the load for the Clippers.

"But in my mind, this is the year I need to step into that role and really help him shoulder that load. I'll be right there with him at the end of games, being the guy that he can always count on."
Griffin, 24, has developed into one of the best power forwards in NBA during his first three seasons, but has yet to advance past the second round of the playoffs.
Griffin made his third straight All-Star team last season, but his season averages in scoring (18.0) and rebounding (8.3) fell off slightly from his career averages (20.4 points, 10.4 rebounds) as he played nearly three fewer minutes per game during the regular season, at 32.5, in an attempt to stay healthier for the playoffs.
Griffin's assists rose to 3.7 per game in 2012-13 from 3.2 in 2011-12, while his steals rose from 0.8 to 1.2 per game over the same period.
"Blake is one of those guys, where his age has nothing to do with anything," Paul said in a phone interview with ESPNLosAngeles.com on Aug. 6. "People may say he's a young guy, but he's been special in this league, he's been an All-Star. His voice carries a lot of weight and I think our team will definitely go as Blake goes.
"He's our guy, and he's good enough to do so."
Griffin was in Los Angeles Thursday and back at the Clippers' training facility attending a promotional event for Red Bull's midnight basketball tournament. He's been traveling for a large chunk of the summer, both for business and vacation, but said he's been able to heal completely from an ankle injury that limited him in the Clippers' first-round playoff loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, and work on his face-up game.
"To be honest, I'm more excited about this upcoming season than I've ever been," Griffin said. "My workouts with [shooting coach] Bob Thate and our coaches have been geared around figuring out how I'm going to be used this season.

More on the Clippers

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"I'm doing a lot of stuff at the elbow, a lot of shooting. One of the things [new coach Doc Rivers] said to me was, 'I don't want you to be afraid to go 0-for-15.' In other words, just have the mindset of a shooter. And with the work I've done this summer, I'm starting to get that confidence, and think like a shooter."
Griffin shot 53.8 percent from the field last season, but just 34 percent on shots between 16-23 feet according to Hoopdata.com. He did noticeably improve his shooting from 10-15 feet, from 27 percent in 2011-12 to 40 percent last season.
Griffin believes there's still much improvement to be made however, and that when he proves he can hit a face-up jumper, it will change the way defenses play him.
"We've been working on a lot of face-up stuff in the post," he said. "I'm definitely going to be used differently this year.
"This summer has been so great for me. I've had a completely healthy, full summer to be able to work with our coaching staff, once I got over the ankle thing. This summer has been huge for me and it's one of the reasons I'm so excited about next year."
Griffin said he sat out about a month after the Clippers' season ended to rest, and let his badly sprained ankle heal.
"It lingered for a little over a month," he said of the ankle injury that hampered him in Games 5 and 6 of the Memphis series. "But by the time I was back to working out, it was fine. I won't really take that much time off the rest of the summer. I want to keep the training going."
The relationship between Paul and Griffin hasn't always been perfect in their two years as teammates. There have been some differences of opinion in terms of their visions for how the team should be playing.
But after spending a significant amount of time together this summer -- travelling to Asia as part of a tour for Nike's Jordan Brand and filming a national commercial for Foot Locker -- Paul says their bond, and understanding of each other, has deepened.
"It's been a great summer for us. I think we've both had an opportunity to grow," Paul said. "As you get older you realize it's all about winning and I think we both realize we really need each other in order to do that."