MANILA – Miami Heat stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are both “thrilled” to see former league Most Valuable Player (MVP) Derrick Rose return, even if that means that Rose’s Chicago Bulls will become an even bigger threat to the Heat in the Eastern Conference.
Speaking to ESPN, James said he will welcome Rose back before the Heat and the Bulls play in their first game of the season tomorrow in Miami.
“I’m happy and thrilled that he’s back,” said James, adding that he admired how Rose refused to succumb to pressure to return early, and instead took his time rehabbing from a knee injury.
“I’m happy with what he did last year, to be able to stand strong throughout everything, throughout all of the adversity of everybody criticizing him about what he should do,” said James. “He did what was best for him.”
Rose missed all of last season while recovering from an ACL injury, but has shown flashes of the fearsome form that made him the league MVP in 2011 during pre-season games.
“The game needs him,” said Wade. “You never want to see anyone get hurt, especially a player of D-Rose’s caliber. Just because I’m a competitor doesn’t mean I don’t understand the importance of Derrick Rose to basketball.”
“So it’s good to see him back, and good to see him confident. He’s going to make it tougher on everybody,” he added.
Despite the respect that they have for Rose, James, Wade and the rest of the Heat still plan on going all out in the season opener as they start their campaign for a third consecutive championship.
“We don’t like them, and they don’t like us,” James said of the Bulls in a separate ESPN report. “It’s not unheard of. We all know how it is.”
“We’re both trying to do something, trying to win (a championship. You’re going to run into each other along the way and you’re going to dislike each other,” said Wade. “They want to beat us as badly as we want to beat them.”
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
