James ready to turn up Heat this season

Associated Press

CORAL GABLES, Fla.

In one breath, LeBron James insisted that he’s moved past the venom directed his way after he chose to join the Miami Heat. In the next, the NBA’s two-time reigning MVP said all those naysayers out there are his fuel.

Which rings true?

Apparently, both.

“I don’t want to keep harping about what people have said about me,” James said. “But personally, I’m motivated by what has gone on this summer.”

Music to the collective Heat ears, right there. Donning his new Heat home uniform and spending the afternoon flanked by fellow star teammates Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, James began a new Miami chapter Monday, hours before his team was to fly north for training camp in Florida’s Panhandle.

Since “The Decision,” as it’s known, James has been called a quitter by Cleveland owner and former boss Dan Gilbert, had his competitiveness questioned by the Orlando Magic, heard Dallas owner Mark Cuban say he made a bad business deal, and found himself taking note of what was written and said by countless pundits.

It’s all made James feel like he has something to prove again.

“It’s funny how things happen in life and how people react,” James said. “It seems like a lot of people try to tell you what to do with your life and most of the time they don’t even have their own life in order. That was just funny to me. So I’m really excited for this opportunity for this franchise, getting an opportunity to bring my game to this city.”

James signed a $109.8 million, six-year deal with Miami on July 9, one day after starring in an hourlong TV special to announce he was leaving Cleveland. He hasn’t reached out to Gilbert, but has spoken with teammates he left behind and predicts Cleveland could exceed outside expectations this season.

Here in Miami, the Heat can’t exceed expectations, only meet them. This team was built to win titles, and James shrugged off the notion this season was “championship-or-bust.”

“Not bust,” James said. “But it is championship.”

“Ditto,” Wade added. “What he said.”

It won’t be easy, of course, which will be the message Heat coach Erik Spoelstra begins instilling Tuesday morning at Hurlburt Field, the U.S. Air Force installation where Miami’s journey will begin.

Spoelstra and James have gotten to know each other a bit over the summer, from voluntary workouts at the team’s arena to some lunches where conversations often drifted away from basketball. A bond is getting forged already, much like the one Spoelstra and Wade quickly began sharing seven years ago.