LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers will make the trek to South Beach for a highly-anticipated Christmas Day matchup with the Miami Heat, and Dwyane Wade hopes the hometown faithful will cut back on the expected vitriol.
Wade hopes the fans remember the good times, and put aside the hurt they felt when LeBron left to head back to Ohio.
James and his former teammate remain extremely close friends.
Per Bleacher Report:
“It’s going to be a mixture,” Wade said. “How I think he should be received is a little different. The man helped take us to places 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 comes on, then do what you’ve got to do (as fans).”
And Wade anticipates that even if there are some boos early in the game, “it won’t last long.” […] “At the end of the day, the guy is an amazing basketball player and everyone is a fan of the game,” Wade said. “So ‘oohs and ahhs,’ they come before boos sometimes. I hope our fans are just appreciative of what he brought to this organization in four years.”
This isn’t lip service. He said his personal relationship with James hasn’t changed “at all” since July 11 (when James announced he was returning to Cleveland). […] “At the end of the day, this is a sport,” he said, and he would never let a sport come between him and the closest friends he has made through it, whether it be James, Udonis Haslem, Dorell Wright or Quentin Richardson.
