The Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers might be trying to downplay any idea of a budding rivalry between the two teams, but a war of words between the former Big 3 is not helping the situation. The two teams met for the first time in the preseason over the weekend as the Cavaliers won the first matchup in the new LeBron James/Kevin Love/Kyrie Irving era. Irving did not play while James did not look his usual dominant self despite what the stats say. According to Chris Bosh, James is out of shape.
Bosh has certainly had a lot of passive aggressive comments towards his former teammate. Leading up to the preseason game, Bosh made note that he had not talked to James since the 2012-13 season ended. He also made a comment saying the Heat have moved past the former NBA MVP and are no longer dwelling on the loss of James.
Now, Bosh is commenting on the lack of fitness of his former teammate. James had just seven points in the game while going 2-8 shooting. Naturally, Bosh felt the need to say that James was out of shape telling the media via the Miami Herald, "He's not all the way in shape yet. You can tell. He doesn't have his game legs yet."
First and foremost, it is just the second game of the preseason. There is not a single player in the league that his his "game legs" yet. Yes, James did not run up the point totals, but he also had eight assists proving the team can function if Irving is injured at any point this season. James looked healthy during the matchup, leaving very little doubt that he will not be ready for the regular season to start.
Bosh's comments are only fueling the potential rivalry brewing between the Heat and Cavaliers. Everyone involved is trying to deny that idea from coming to fruition. James simply said that it was great to see his former teammates and while he found it a bit odd the amount of preseason talking going on, he would always support Bosh and Dwyane Wade along with the rest of the Heat roster.
