Lebron James Network

Published 28 minutes and 59 seconds ago Last updated 19 minutes and 59 seconds ago The Miami Heat showed it can pour in 3-point shots to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the deciding game of the NBA Finals this season. They are now seeking out Boston Celtics free agent Ray Allen, which would only improve the Heat’s outside shooting. The Miami Heat plan to make a play for Allen at the moment free agency opens at midnight on Saturday. The team will offer the sharpshooter a $3 million mini-mid-level exception, ESPN.com reported on Friday. The Miami Heat plan to make a major push for Ray Allen in a move to make its outside shooting better. (AP Photo) Allen, who played some sixth man last season, would get major playing time with the Heat committing to play LeBron James at power forward, ESPN.com notes. James and Dwyane Wade have lobbied for Allen to join the Heat over the last month, according to ESPN.com. "We've got five or six guys earmarked (in free agency) so...

Joe Murphy/NBAE/Getty Images After winning his eighth title, and second with the Heat, how much does Pat Riley have left in him? MIAMI -- Pat Riley knows he will have at least three advantages as the Miami Heat looked to add to a championship roster this offseason. First, the Heat president's track record for pulling off surprising personnel moves speaks for itself. Secondly, the Heat are two weeks removed from winning a title, and the glow of the Larry O'Brien Trophy tends to be enticing. Riley Interview: Part I Check out Part I of Michael Wallace's interview with Pat Riley at Heat Index. Story » • Riley: Miami Years | Heat Index Beyond those attractions, Riley has two of the best recruiters in the game already on his roster in LeBron James and Dwyane Wade . "We would probably talk to our key guys, only because players really know the other players," Riley said in regard to potential free agent targets. "And they have their opini...

DALLAS ---- Deron Williams got to be careful he doesn't turn into LeBron James and alleniate his hometown folks. Yeah, there's a slight difference in that James grew up in surburban Cleveland and played seven years for the Cleveland Cavaliers, while Williams grew up in surburban Dallas but has never played for the Mavs. Mavs fans may think Williams is toying with them with thoughts of coming to play for the Mavs. Especially f he turns around and decides to sign a free agent contract with the Brooklyn Nets. If the latter occurs, it may get a little uncomfortable for Williams when the Nets play in American Airlines Center for the rest of Williams' career. That's just the way society has become. No one likes to get spurned. Particularly if the spurning is done by someone who grew up in your own backyard and knows this place like he knows the back of his hands. If Williams doesn't sign with the Mavs, he may regret not doing what Dallas native Chris ...

Updated: June 30, 2012, 11:14 AM ET By Brian Windhorst | ESPN.com If the Miami Heat have it their way, they'll have a commitment from Ray Allen within hours of Sunday's start of free agency. The longer the process plays out, the less it may favor them. The Heat, according to sources, have made Allen their prime offseason target and will pursue him strongly when free agency opens Sunday at 12:01 a.m. ET. More on the Celtics Keep on top of the Green throughout the season with ESPNBoston.com's Chris Forsberg. Blog • Send Chris a question They intend to offer him their $3 million mini-mid-level exception, a chance to win another title and significant playing time as they continue with the plan to play LeBron James as a power forward in the future. Heat players, including James and Dwyane Wade , have been publicly and privately recruiting Allen over the last month. "We've got five or six guys earmarked (in free agency) so we'll s...

Blake Griffin goes up for a monster-dunk against power forward rival, Kevin Love. Jeff Gross/Getty Images 5. Dirk Nowitzki ( Dallas Mavericks ) One season removed from an NBA championship and finals MVP, Dirk Nowitzki has begun to show signs of decline. But while his numbers are down across the board, he is still putting up stats that rival those of his colleagues. Dirk Nowitzki was robbed in the sense that Mark Cuban gutted the core of his championship team before the season began. As a result, arguments can be made that chemistry was lost for both Dallas as a team and Dirk as an individual. He still put up exceptionally strong numbers, posting averages of 21.6 points per game to go along with nearly seven rebounds a contest. You know you are witnessing a special talent when his "down season" will still land him in the top five. The heart of a champion lies deep within the Germanator. Rest assured that next season he will be back, hungrier than ever before...

MIAMIâ€" Q: With another season playing undersized and using LeBron James in the post, aren't we going to wear him down? Pat Riley will cut LeBron's career by five years by making him play the entire front line. -- Jeffrey, Fort Lauderdale . A: Or allow him to get five more championships. LeBron saw that the approach worked, so do you honestly think he is going to balk now? For years, coaches have been trying to get LeBron in the post; now he appears to want to be there. I don't see how it cuts his career short, when he's bigger than almost anyone he plays outside of his fleeting minutes at center. Q: What is your gut feeling on the Heat 's chances of signing a free agent who will make a significant contribution next year?  Money seems to drive most free agent's decisions, not rings. -- Joel. A: But it only takes one signing to make a difference, and sometimes it's not the sexiest choice, as Shane Battier showed this past season. Whether...

LeBron against the Cavs. Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images I hate LeBron James . But, to be fair, I've hated him since he was with Cleveland. As a fan of the Celtics , who faced off against James and the Cavaliers in the playoffs, it was more of a hateful respect â€"like Derek Jeter.  Then the Decision came, and James suddenly joined the likes of John Dillinger as Public Enemy No. 1 . The messy divorce from Clevelandâ€"whose claims to fame are this , this , and most importantly, this â€"led James to become a traitor to the city.  Now that he's won a championship (which, let's not kid ourselves, is most likely one of many), he's bound to win some more. This leads to the question: when James' career is done, will the Cleveland Cavaliers retire his jersey? The Decision Taking his talents to South Beach. Larry Busacca/Getty Images There really is no more perfect analogy to the Decision than a breakup, so allow me ...

He’s human, after all: LeBron James gets the jitters when it comes to very important events in his life, the Miami Heat star admitted to Oprah on Oprah’s Next Chapter , airing 8 p.m. Sunday on OWN. The MVP, 27, told the big O that proposing to Savannah Brinson on New Year’s Eve felt like “before a finals game.” James got down on bended knee at a party at held at Vesper Brasserie at the Shelborne South Beach Hotel. “I was ready to make the next step in my commitment with Savannah,” he tells Winfrey of his high school sweetheart and mother of his two kids. Teammate Dwyane Wade â€" who also appears on the show with Chris Bosh â€" held the $300,000 ring the whole night before he popped the Q, James reports. “I asked him for it right after the ball dropped,” James said. “He was like, ‘You ready?’ I was like, ‘If you don’t give me this ring right now, I ain’t gonna do it.’” No wedding date has been set but James isn’t averse to...

I am happy that LeBron James and the Miami Heat won the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship last week.  It's not that I'm a big Miami fan; I was rooting for Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder. But maybe the Heat's win will stop all the silly talk that LeBron James is not a great player because he had never won an NBA title.  The talk is silly for several reasons.  First, James has been an unbelievable player for nine seasons. He has averaged more than 27 points a game and around seven rebounds and seven assists. James's statistics in the playoffs are just as good.   I understand that people were mad when James left the Cleveland Cavaliers two years ago to play with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. But that doesn't mean he isn't a great player.  Second, there have been some great basketball players who never won a championship.   Here's a list of five of the greatest NBA players ever. Every one is in the Basketball Hall of F...

Chris Bosh Will Miss Olympics to Rehab from Abdominal Muscle Injury Austin Rivers Excited to Play With Anthony Davis in New Orleans Friday, June 29th, 2012 at 12:35 pm  |  3 responses The city of Cleveland lost its collective mind when LeBron James infamously left in the summer of 2010. James admitted to Oprah Winfrey (during an interview that will air this Sunday) that the batsh*t crazy letter that Cavs owner Dan Gilbert fired off shortly after “The Decision” hurt his feelings . Per Fox Sports : “Winfrey interviewed James and fellow Heat stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh shortly after they wrapped up the title for the show ‘Oprah’s Next Chapter.’ Part one will air 8 p.m. EDT Sunday on the Oprah Winfrey Network with part two at 8 p.m. EDT July 8. The network made available Thursday a clip with James’ response when Winfrey asked him about Gilbert’s letter. ‘It was hurtful because I know how much I put into that organization, and every night I’m ou...

June 29, 2012 â€" 9:00 am by Chris Fedor When the Miami Heat got together in the offseason two years ago, they threw a ridiculous laser light show party in South Beach before LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh ever played a game. Then LeBron made some ridiculous comments after getting caught up in the excitement of forming one of the best Big Three’s the NBA has ever seen. Quickly after that and after The Decision, Miami became the most hated team in the NBA and arguably the most hated and criticized team in NBA history. After every loss there were questions about LeBron James’ mental toughness, Dwyane Wade’s health, whether LeBron and Wade could play together, if Erik Spoelstra was the right guy to lead Miami to a title. It bordered on ridiculous at times but yet Shane Battier, who has been in hostile arenas before and played his college ball at Duke, the most hated college hoops program around, says it was at a different level in college. Shane Battier joi...

LeBron James and Savannah Brinson Serg Alexander/WireImage There are few things more pressure-filled than helping a professional sports team win a national championship â€" but for LeBron James, one of them was popping the question to his longtime girlfriend, Savannah Brinson. "I was nervous," James, 27, tells Oprah Winfrey on Oprah's Next Chapter . "It felt like before a finals game." The Miami Heat star proposed to his high school sweetheart during a New Year's Eve party in South Beach. "I knew all my teammates and my friends and family was going to be there, and I thought I was ready to make the next step in my commitment with Savannah," he tells Winfrey. James said he asked his Heat teammate Dwyane Wade to hold the engagement ring for him during the party, while he waited for the right moment to get down on one knee. And he still nearly chickened out. "I asked him for it right after the ball dropped," James rec...

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On Thursday evening, Bernard James will almost certainly be one of 60 players selected in the 2012 NBA Draft. He has received interest from a number of teams picking early in the second round including the Charlotte Bobcats, Washington Wizards and Golden State Warriors. Barring the unexpected, James will hear his name called on draft night and he’ll begin his NBA career. However, this won’t be James’ first full-time job. Prior to finding basketball, James completed a six-year term in the United States Air Force, serving three tours in Iraq, Afghanistan and Qatar. James enlisted in the Air Force when he was 17 years old and eventually rose to the rank of staff sergeant. In Iraq, he guarded thousands of detainees at Camp Bucca. In Qater, he secured buildings and airplanes. In Afghanistan, he worked as military law enforcement. He once had a 40-millimeter round land 90 feet away from him, killing six detainees and wounding many more. James describes his path to the NBA as ...

There are two definitive words that are associated with LeBron James â€"love and hate. You'd be hard-pressed to find a group of basketball fans that are indifferent to LeBron. You either love him or you hate him, and there's a reason for that. LeBron is without a doubt the most polarizing athlete in the history of professional sports, and he's earned that distinction by the way he's carried himself over the course of his career. The moment LeBron made the decision to take his talents to South Beach, he transitioned from just being a professional athlete to becoming the most polarizing athlete of all-time. At that moment, with "the decision" on the horizon, LeBron had a chance to take his NBA career in two different directions. His first choice was to stay in Cleveland , and be known as the humble, loyal player who chose to be the hero for his hometown. His second choice was to leave Cleveland and become the player who couldn't win by hims...

The Kardashians aren't Oprah Winfrey 's only ties to the NBA. The talk show host is bringing the stars of the NBA champion Miami Heat on her show, Oprah's Next Chapter , this Sunday (8 p.m. ET, Oprah Winfrey Network). Winfrey sat down with LeBron James , Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to talk about all sorts of things, from basketball to women to lives off the court. Here's a sneak peak : Michael Jordan has been a guest on Winfrey's show in the past , so we wonder if she'll bring up those persistent comparisons.

Click photo to enlarge Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade holds the the Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy after Game 5 of the NBA finals basketball series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Friday, June 22, 2012, in Miami. The Heat won 121-106 to become the 2012 NBA Champions. MIAMIâ€"More than a little bit has changed since Dwyane Wade's first taste of an NBA championship. He became a father for the second time. He played for the worst team in the league. He won an Olympic gold medal. He got divorced. He convinced LeBron James and Chris Bosh to join him in Miami. He dealt with an ugly custody fight that took years and in some ways continues today. He wrote a book this year. He lost a championship series last year. A whirlwind, by any measure. "What I dealt with personally," Wade said, "was indescribable in a sense." So was the feeling he had Thursday nightâ€"as a champion for the second time. Wade and the Miami Heat...

John Paul Filo LeBron James ‘kisses his baby’ during Tuesday appearance with David Letterman. When LeBron James and the Heat hit the road to defend their NBA championship next season they won’t be making any stops in Newark, and that’s just fine with the Finals MVP. James’ victory parade continued Tuesday night as he paid a visit to David Letterman, who chatted James up about how his life has changed since he’s won a title. But the interview took a funny turn Letterman asked James what the Nets’ move to Brooklyn next season means to the champs. “Now that the New Jersey Jets have moved to Brooklyn, what ...” “The Jets?” James asked, cutting off Letterman. “The Nets, rather,” Letterman continued. “Now that the Nets have moved to Brooklyn, what does that do to you and your teammates?” “Uh, it does absolutely nothing to me and my teammates,” James said with a chuckle. “Does it mean you don’t have to fly into Newark?” “And we ...

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Basking in the glory of his recently-won NBA Championship, LeBron James was spotted at “The Late Show with David Letterman ” last night (June 26). The Miami Heat superstar was in great spirits as he greeted fans and headed inside the Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York City. James received a standing ovation from the audience as he stepped out to do his interview with Letterman, who threw a few friendly jabs at LeBron for leaving his first team the Cleveland Cavaliers. Dave asked, "Well, now that you've got this out of your system, are you ready to go back to Cleveland and play some ball?" James replied, "Right now, I'll play no ball right now," When asked how his new championship win would change things for him, LeBron answered, "I went from being ringless on Wednesday night to, you know, having a ring on Thursday night. So it changed that."

I'm a Letterman fan. That dates me. His quirky sense of humor and herky-jerky interviewing style connected with me, long ago, maybe starting in college. So I overlooked his game growing soft in recent years for nostalgia's sake. But there's no overlooking that awful LeBron James interview Tuesday night. When Letterman said after the interview, "I'm no damn good," I really think it was in a fit of complete honesty for what played out. Let's roll the tape .... LeBron enters, smiling, to a standing ovation. “I haven’t had a standing ovation in my life,” Letterman says. Good self-effacing line. Good start. “Now that you got out of the system, you ready to go back to Cleveland and play some ball?” Letterman asks. Hey, a good playful jab, putting that subject on the table with a chuckle. And I'm all for some uncomfortable topics met with humor. In yesterday's blog , I said the Top 10 List should be, "The Top Ten Lines LeBron ...