The Heat are telling him simply: Stay in line. After a preseason game in New Orleans, a league source said, James was chatting with Chris Paul outside the locker room and decided that he wanted to hit the town with the Hornets star. The Heat’s charter planned to fly home that night, but James suggested to Wade that perhaps they ought to ask Spoelstra about leaving in the morning to return home.
James could always do this in Cleveland, but Wade wanted no part of seeking permission. James did, and the message the coach delivered was unmistakable: Get on the plane; we’re going home.
This is how the Riley regime will make James accountable in ways the Cavaliers never did. James isn’t holding them hostage the way he did in Cleveland. No more separate sections of the team plane that belong just to James and his guys. He signed his free-agent deal and shouldered a burden to win – and win now – unmatched in the history of American sport.