Nothing wrong with some trash talk leading up to the big game on Wednesday.
Pacers coach Frank Vogel made a statement that LeBron took offense to during his postgame news conference after the Pacers closed out the Knicks in Game 6 of the conference semifinals (setting up a rematch with the Heat).
Should be an entertaining series! Check out what they both had to say…
Via Michael Wallace at ESPN:
Heat star LeBron James took exception Sunday to Pacers coach Frank Vogel referring to Miami as “just the next team” standing between Indiana and a shot at an NBA title.
“We’re not just another team,” James said. “I don’t understand what he’s saying. But we’re not just another team. That’s not true. He said we’re just another team in their way. We’re a great team. If we’re just another team, you really don’t prepare for just another team. You have to prepare for us.”
This marks the second straight postseason the Heat and Pacers have engaged in a war of words before facing each other. Vogel was fined $15,000 last spring for saying the Heat were “the biggest flopping team in the NBA.” Indiana took a 2-1 series lead before the Heat won the next three games while playing without injured center Chris Bosh.
James said his ears perked up when he heard Vogel’s postgame remarks Saturday night after the Knicks series. The Heat and Pacers play Game 1 on Wednesday, a series that starts six days after Miami ousted the Chicago Bulls in five games.
“We’re very confident,” James said. “We’ll be ready for them. We don’t need bulletin-board material. We’ve heard everything, we’ve seen everything. But I would say we’re not just another team, though.”
“We’re ready for whatever,” James said. “I believe it’s going to be like last series. They’re going to try to put me on the floor, maybe. Be physical with me, maybe. I don’t know. Every team kind of does the same thing. They kind of read what everyone else talks about [and say], ‘You have to beat up the Heat to beat them.’ We’ll see what happens.”
