LeBron James thinks something’s missing in Brooklyn: the hate.
The Heat and Celtics used to be bitter rivals, with James facing Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce as a riveting subplot.
Garnett and Pierce were traded to the Nets this past offseason, and with the Celtics set to enter a rebuilding phase, it’s only natural the rivalry gets transferred from Boston to Brooklyn.
But James says the Barclays Center environment is not ready for prime time.
“[W]ith the Boston rivalry, not only were you playing against those guys [Pierce and Garnett], you were playing against their fans, too,” James told NBA.com. “And there are not too many fans that can compete with Boston — probably the Palace of Auburn Hills when it was rocking, as far as animosity or hatred.”
James intimated that the electric atmospheres that usually accompanied a Celtics-Heat game at TD Garden in Boston were a defining part of the rivalry, and that the Brooklyn fans have to build up some animosity towards Miami before they can approach Boston’s level.
“Brooklyn doesn’t have that [animosity],” James said. “Obviously, they have great fans, but Boston has that hatred. You kind of inherit not only going against those guys, but you inherit going against those fans as well.
The Heat and Nets are set to battle four times in the regular season, and all of those games will be nationally televised. The teams will meet for the first time on Friday, which will double as the Nets’ home opener.