MIAMI—
Saturday night was about what LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have been missing.
The coming week might be about what they won’t get back.
Gathering at Florida International University for their charity lockout all-star game, the Miami Heat’s three stars found themselves talking about a thirst for basketball that largely might go unquenched except events such as this “South Florida All-Star Classic” at U.S. Century Bank Arena.
“I’m prepared for a season whenever it happens,” James said before Saturday’s extravaganza, which drew an overflow crowd, “and I’ve been preparing all summer, putting in a lot of work.”
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The NBA has set a Monday deadline for the cancelation of the first two weeks of the regular season, a threat that would wipe six games off an 82-game schedule the Heat were poised to open Nov. 2 against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
In the wake of that deadline, the NBA said it only would resume negotiations if the players’ association first agrees to a 50-50 split on basketball revenues.
“I hope our fans understand there is a business side of the game,” Wade said, “it’s very unfortunate, but it is. And we can’t control that.”
Against that backdrop, James, Wade and Bosh took the court for the first time together since falling June 12 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals to the Dallas Mavericks, with Bosh playing alongside James, and Wade as an opponent of the two.
“I got prepared today like it was a regular game, same pregame meal, massage, everything I do on a normal day, getting up early,” Wade said. “And just pulling up and seeing the fans excited outside about the game of basketball just puts you in the right state.”
While James has been a regular on the lockout exhibition tour, Saturday’s game was just Wade’s second of the lockout and it was the first for Bosh.
The Heat had been scheduled to opening training camp this past Monday and would have been opening their preseason schedule Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena against the Orlando Magic, had the lockout not shelved those plans.
Instead, the league’s stars largely have been living a nomadic life, banned from NBA facilities, thus the need to work with FIU coach Isiah Thomas and his charitable foundation to secure Saturday’s 4,500-seat location. Several NBA players have been utilizing FIU’s facilities during the lockout, including Saturday participant Amare Stoudemire.
“We’re locked out,” Wade said. “We didn’t call for a strike, so we’ve got to find a way as players to make sure that we continue to play and make it as competitive as possible.”
There had been talk of a union briefing in conjunction with Saturday’s game. While those plans fell through, a Sunday briefing is possible.
“I think,” Thomas, a former players’ union president, said, “it’s important we understand that the players have been locked out. They do want to play, they are willing to play. They are not on strike.”
Bosh said he was just glad to be back on the court with some few familiar faces.
“I think we’re all starved for basketball,” he said. “I think everybody is. I miss basketball. We all do. Given the enormity of this situation, all these great guys coming together for a good cause and playing at a venue that never probably has ever seen anything like this and people getting excited about it . . . just to bring a real true excitement is fun.”
In addition to James, Wade and Bosh, the Heat were represented at Saturday’s game by free-agent point guard Mario Chalmers, with former Heat players Caron Butler and Dorell Wright also among the 20 players participating.
Center Eddy Curry, a Heat free-agent target, was a no-show, leaving unclear questions about his conditioning. Wesley Matthews and Lou Williams also were removed from the rosters, with James Harden and Tristan Thompson added.
While the tickets, priced at $ 100 and $ 50, for Saturday’s game sold out within two hours Monday, the secondary market fizzled with the announcement of Saturday’s telecast in South Florida and streaming of the event on the web, with few re-sales exceeding more than twice face value.
iwinderman@tribune.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat.
