LeBron's First Heat Practice Gets Intense

LeBron James' first practice with the Miami Heat was everything that basketball fans might have hoped for. It was intense, featured some great basketball, and even included a verbal dispute between Heat favorite Dwyane Wade and King James. The Heat met on Tuesday in Hurlburt Field, Florida for the first day of training camp. Newcomer James was an intense presence on the court, shouting out instructions during drills and relishing in the execution of some exciting plays; according to ESPN.com, James "pumped his fist after passing over a double-team and setting Joel Anthony up for a dunk. He got wide-eyed after breaking free in a defensive drill for a thunderous slam that left teammates more than impressed." The first day ended with a verbal spat between Wade and James about the score of a final scrimmage. It was all in good fun though. According to the Miami Herald, "Wade later joked that James' team rightfully won the game, and that he intentionally tried to spice things up." According to Wade, "LeBron is very intense, especially defensively. I love going against him. They got the defensive stop. The ball went out of bounds. I was just trying to get in on the argument, get in on the fray."

Tuesday's practice also suggested that this new Heat lineup will be able to develop some great team chemistry for the upcoming NBA season. "There was a lot of focus,'' said Wade. "There was a lot of talking, and you could see it was very competitive. I was in my room before practice just excited to get on the court. The biggest thing is to make sure that we continue to have that same intensity and focus.'' Erik Spoelstra, who has been the head coach of the Heat since 2008, said, "There's already chemistry out there. They're already playing hard. It was competitive practice. It was what we wanted. Let's go from there.'' As for James, he still does not feel quite at home. After all, this is the first time since his 2003 NBA debut that he has been part of another team (besides the Cleveland Cavaliers). "It's not normal," James said. "It's not normal just yet. It's a new beginning for me. I don't feel like a rookie but I feel like it's a new start. I've been around training camps before, but it's not normal. You guys know it's not normal. But as the year goes on, with the team getting to know each other, I continue to get to know you ... you get more comfortable with one another."

Intensity was one thing that was definitely not lacking at the Heat's opening practice. An ESPN report described the meeting as "a workout so intense even coach Erik Spoelstra was dripping sweat when the first session of training camp was over." Heat forward Udonis Haslem, who has been with the team since 2002, said, "it was very intense from start to finish. The intensity was high. No one was slacking. We got our work done." Chris Bosh, the other high-profile new addition to the team, said, "I think it pushes us. The intensity stays up because there's so much talent. These guys really want to win and we know what it takes to win. It's not easy."

(Sources: ESPN.com, Miami Herald)

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