LeBron James: Playing for the Cavaliers again 'would be great'

LeBron James is under contract with the Miami Heat for two more seasons. After that, he is free to once again take his talents anywhere he pleases.

Even back to Cleveland, a destination that James did not rule out when asked about it Thursday.

James was back in his old home gym for practice ahead of the Heat's game against the Cavaliers on Friday night. When asked if he could see himself ever returning to the team he spurned on national television, James paused, then said he could.

“I think it would be great,” said James, who still has a home in nearby Bath, Ohio. “It would be fun to play in front of these fans again. I had a lot of fun times in my seven years here. You can't predict the future and hopefully I continue to stay healthy. I'm here as a Miami Heat player, and I'm happy where I am now, but I don't rule that out in no sense.

“And if I decide to come back, hopefully the fans will accept me.”

James' decision to leave the team that drafted him to join the Heat -- and the way he handled the situation -- drew a heavy backlash from Cavaliers fans, as well as team owner Dan Gilbert. James said he has not spoken to Gilbert since that summer, but he has no hard feelings toward his former employer.

“I don't hold grudges,” said James, who won two league MVP awards and made one NBA Finals appearance with the Cavaliers. “I hold them a little bit, but I don't hold them that long. He said what he said out of anger and he would probably want to take that back. But I made a mistake, too, and there are some things I would want to take back as well.

“You make mistakes and move on.”

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-- Chuck Schilken

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo: LeBron James of the Miami Heat drives on Alonzo Gee of the Cleveland Cavaliers during a game at American Airlines Arena in Miami on Feb. 7. Credit: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images

LeBron James won't apologize for tweet on Griffin's dunk

LeBron James took to Twitter to express his excitement after Blake Griffin's monster dunk over Oklahoma City's Kendrick Perkins.

The Miami Heat star wrote: "Dunk of the Year! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!!! Wow! I guess I'm No. 2 now. Move over #6."

James' unbridled enthusiasm apparently didn't sit well with Perkins, who told Yahoo! that he wasn't pleased by the forward's emphatic reaction to his nearly 3.5 million followers.

“You don’t see Kobe [Bryant] tweeting,” Perkins said. “You don’t see Michael Jordan tweeting. If you’re an elite player, plays like that don’t excite you. At the end of the day, the guys who are playing for the right reasons, who are trying to win championships, are not worrying about one play.

“They also are not tweeting about themselves talking about going down to No. 2. I just feel [James] is always looking for attention and he wants the world to like him.”

When James was told of Perkins' adverse reaction to his tweet, the forward immediately fired back.

"I would never apologize about anything like that when I'm connecting to my fans," James told ESPN.

"Did I call him out? I mean, did you read the tweet? Did I call him out? I can see why he felt embarrassed. I don't think I was the only one to react to the unbelievable play by Blake and that's what it was all about," James said.

Do you think James owes Perkins an apology?

Was James out of line and did his tweet serve to further mortify Perkins? Or is Perkins overreacting to a spontaneous and benign moment of excitement by James?

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--Melissa Rohlin

Photo: LeBron James. Credit: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images

Blake Griffin vs. LeBron James: Watch, vote on the better dunk

Blake Griffin's monster jam on Kendrick Perkins during the Clippers' 112-100 victory over Oklahoma City on Monday night is being described by many as the dunk of the year.

The same phrase was being used all day on Monday after Miami's LeBron James electrified the NBA with his one-handed dunk while flying over Chicago's John Lucas III on Sunday night.

Clippers guard Chris Paul said of Griffin's dunk: "That's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen."

And unless Paul was nowhere near a TV or computer all day Monday, he had probably already seen the clip of James literally jumping over Lucas many times before making that comment.

James himself weighed in on the subject via Twitter just after Griffin's big play: "Dunk of the Year!! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!! Wow!! I guess I'm #2 now."

Which do you think is the dunk of the year (or at least the dunk of the first month or so of the season)? Vote in the poll, then leave a comment explaining why you voted the way you did.

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-- Chuck Schilken

Which is the best NBA team in the Eastern Conference?

Writers from around the Tribune Co. discuss which team is the best in the NBA's Eastern Conference. You can join the discussion by leaving a comment of your own.

Baxter Holmes, Los Angeles Times

No longer do LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh play awkward basketball.

They look like teammates.

No longer do the other Miami Heat players look like uniform fillers. They look like teammates.

James is establishing himself as the top scorer (29.5 points a game), but while Wade’s (19.9) and Bosh’s (21.4) numbers are down, Miami’s offense is more potent. That’s partly because someone (Mario Chalmers) aside from those three is averaging double-digit points and another guy (Norris Cole) can hit that number, too.

Also, the off-season acquisition of Shane Battier is a wildly underrated defensive upgrade.

Dallas took the NBA title a season ago when Miami was a talented-enough team but not enough of a team overall. This season, the Heat are, finally, both.

K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune

The Miami Heat are the best team in the Eastern Conference and, barring major injuries, they will prove it yet again to the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals. The Bulls' strengths are the Heat's weaknesses. Derrick Rose likes to attack the rim and the Heat possess few shot-blockers. The Bulls are strong up front in terms of big-man depth, and the Heat are not. They have upgraded their depth with the additions of Shane Battier and Norris Cole and a return to health for Udonis Haslem.

But simply put, the Heat can have at least two All-Stars on the court at all times and often three in LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. The Bulls have Rose and an almost-All-Star in Luol Deng, who is borderline elite for his versatility, not his ability to create. As good as the Bulls are defensively, stopping three primary scorers four times in seven games is too tough a task. And that will apply to the Western Conference as well when the Heat win the NBA Finals.

Lakers' Coach Mike Brown compares Kobe Bryant and LeBron James [updated]

Imagine coaching Kobe Bryant or LeBron James.

Hey, Kobe. Please don't shoot so much.

SCOWL. (Followed by a 40-point performance.)

Hey, LeBron. Please play four quarters instead of three.

SCOWL. (Followed by a 40-point performance in the first three quarters.)

It's a task not many men would be able to do, a role that Mike Brown has been thrust into since being dismissed by Cleveland and accepting the role as head coach of the Lakers.

In an interview with The Times' Ben Bolch, Brown discussed what it has been like to coach the two superstars.

["They're both competitive, they both want to win," Brown said when asked about Bryant and James. "There's just a different feel to the two guys that it's hard to put into words right now. They're both obviously guys that know how to perform at a high level.

"Their games are very different on both ends of the floor, but especially offensively. LeBron is a guy who is still learning and still growing and the reality of it is, being down there with Dwyane Wade is helping him. Every year, every game, he's getting better."

Blake Griffin and Chris Paul discuss Clippers victory over Miami [Video]

In a game that took on an almost playoff-like intensity and physicality, the Clippers beat the Miami Heat in overtime, 95-89, at Staples Center on Wednesday.

Beating the Heat, the team many predict will win a championship this season, was a huge infusion of confidence for a team that's trying to establish its relevance in Los Angeles.

"The level was definitely raised a bit," said Blake Griffin, who finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Chris Paul led the Clippers with 27 points on 11 for 21 shooting while Caron Butler added 20 points. They combined for 21 points in the third quarter, helping turn a 48-43 halftime deficit into a 70-69 fourth-quarter lead for the Clippers.

"He was unbelievable," Griffin said of Paul. "He is so tough to guard because you never know what he is going to do. He can hit that jumper or get to the rim, shoot a floater or pass it and that is why he is the best."

Amid the lobs and sharp shooting, there was one play that Paul orchestrated in the second half that will surely make the highlight reels.

Paul rolled the ball on the floor after an inbounds pass, beckoning the defense to run toward him. As soon as they took the bait, he snatched the ball and lobbed it to DeAndre Jordan for a powerful jam.

Jordan was also instrumental in the team's victory. He played solid defense and was a strong force in the middle, finishing with eight points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots. There was one play with just over six minutes remaining in the fourth in which Jordan scored a layup then came down on the other end and rejected a shot.

"Six blocks doesn't tell the real story of how he played," said Paul. "He gained possessions for us."

The game was sent into overtime after a few Heat errors down the stretch, including LeBron James fouling Chauncey Billups from the three-point line with 27 seconds remaining and the Clippers trailing 84-83. Billups made each of his free throws.

In overtime, the Clippers held Miami to only three points, sealing the impressive victory for the Clippers.

Despite the temptation, Paul resisted rubbing the win in the face of his good friend James. When asked by a reporter what he's going to say to his superstar buddy, he said, "Good game."

--Melissa Rohlin

Miami Heat leads Clippers at halftime, 48-43

In a high-energy, physical game that lived up to the hype, the Miami Heat and Clippers went at it from the start, with Blake Griffin, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul doing just the kind of things that make them NBA superstars. At halftime, the Heat led the Clippers, 48-43.

Griffin finished the half with 16 points, including his first three-pointer of the season as the shot clock wound down with just over seven minutes left.

Paul scored 14, Wade had 11 and James 10.

Problematic for the Clippers: Midway through the second quarter, only three Clippers had scored: Griffin, Paul and Mo Williams and Miami led, 39-28, while Miami had a much more balanced attack.

But with Caron Butler making a couple free throws and Chauncey Billups making a three, the Clippers cut the lead to 41-39 late in the half.

Anticipation for this game was at an all-time high for the Clippers, who for the first time since, well, forever, are generating expectations that the team should make a deep run into the playoffs. And the Heat is precisely the kind of opponent the Clippers need to beat if they are actually moving into the world of successful playoff teams.

But entering the game, the Clippers (4-3) hadn't yet had the kind of success befitting a top-level team. The Clippers' four victories, three of which came at Staples, were over teams with a combined record of 16-20 entering Wednesday's games. Their three losses, two on the road, were to teams with a combined record of 22-8. 

LeBron James makes a dunk, but it's counted as a miss

In the fourth quarter of a close game between Miami and Charlotte on Wednesday, LeBron James made a one-handed fourth-quarter dunk, but the ball bounced off Gerald Henderson's head and flew right back out of the net. The referees botched the call and didn't count the basket.

Even though Henderson essentially had a ball slammed onto his head by a 6-foot-8, 250-pound man, the Heat nearly sustained a bigger headache from the play considering that their unblemished start came down to the final seconds of the game.

With the Heat trailing by one point and only 2.9 seconds remaining, Dwyane Wade banked a 10-footer to lift the Heat to a 96-95 win.

If Wade hadn't made the basket, James' made dunk that counted for zero points definitely would have been one sour jam.

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— Melissa Rohlin

NBA: Miami Heat makes a music video

Last season the Miami Heat was the most hated team in the NBA, its players flooded with boos and jeers at every arena besides their own.

Even with a year's wisdom, it doesn't seem they're doing much to endear themselves to the public.

In an over-the-top display of bravado, members of the team have made a music video to introduce themselves in which they dance, pose and dust themselves to Kanye West's hit single "All of the Lights."

The Heat established itself as a villain last season when LeBron James announced on national TV that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to play in Miami, a move infamously dubbed "The Decision."

The team had assembled three of the top players in the league -- James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh -- and they spouted unsubtle promises of a championship.

So, unsurprisingly, when the Heat was eliminated by the hardworking, humble Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals last season, the basketball world celebrated. Many loved watching the Heat lose and took special pleasure seeing James choke down the stretch.

You would think this season the Heat would have a different tactic.

They still have all the talent. But instead of focusing on being more likable, it seems they still want all of the spotlight.

--Melissa Rohlin

Kris Humphries edges LeBron James as NBA's most disliked

Everybody hates Kris ... well, a lot of people do anyway.

Kris Humphries -- the New Jersey Nets power forward who gained national notoriety with his 72-day marriage to reality TV star Kim Kardashian earlier this year -- is the most disliked player in the NBA, according to a survey conducted by Nielsen and E-Poll Market Research and reported on Forbes.com.

Humphries received a 50% dislike score to edge Miami Heat superstar LeBron James, who got 48%. James topped the survey last year in the aftermath of his televised decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers.

For Humphries, an otherwise little-known role player who just re-signed with the Nets for one year and $8 million, it likely was the attention he received after the split with Kardashian and maybe some general public fatigue that pushed him to the top of the list.

“He’s been on five magazine covers, all in a negative light,” Nielsen Sports vice president Stephen Master said. “It’s all so recent, he’s gotten all this publicity for something other than basketball talent.”

Two Lakers appear in the top five -- Kobe Bryant at No. 3 (45%) and Metta World Peace at No. 5 (36%). Lamar Odom, who was traded from the Lakers to the Dallas Mavericks earlier this month, came in at No. 10. Odom is married to another Kardashian sister, Khloe.

Also in the top 10: San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker at No. 4, the Heat's Chris Bosh at No. 6, New York Knicks' Carmelo Anthony at No. 7 , Boston Celtics' Paul Pierce at No. 8 and the Heat's Dwyane Wade at No. 9.

According to Forbes, the survey targeted the broad population, not just NBA fans.

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What LeBron James eats on Thanksgiving [Video]

Talk about a feast meant for a king -- a 6-foot-8, 250-pound king.

LeBron James had quite a spread for his Thanksgiving meal with his family. The Miami Heat forward posted a video to his Twitter account Thursday showing exactly what he eats on the holiday.

The meal included rolls, cornbread, cranberry sauce, fried turkey, yams, greens, creamed corn, green beans, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, stuffing, gravy and potato salad.

The food looked pretty good -- but I'm not sure it rivaled Kevin Durant's spread.

But that much delicious food can be dangerous. Just ask Blake Griffin's grandmother.

The Clippers forward tweeted Thursday: "Grandmother just said she could 'out-eat me today' It's gonna be a long thanksgiving for her ..."

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-- Melissa Rohlin