NBA News Updates – ‘We Don’t Like Them’ - Lebron James On Chicago Bulls; Eastern Rivalry Developing After Last Year’s Intense Series

After two straight championship rings and his fourth MVP (Most Valuable Player) Award, what else could motivate Lebron James?

Rivalries. The more talk about taking down the Heat, the more fuel for Lebron James. And where Lebron goes, Miami follows.

The loudest trash talk towards the Heat comes from Chicago. The Bulls gave the Heat their first playoff loss last year using a badly depleted line-up. While the Heat took the next four games to eliminate them, the Bulls left a bitter sting that Miami won't easily forget.

The one loss to the Bulls exposed the Heat's vulnerability. Sure enough, after disposing the hapless Chicago squad who played with just seven active players on one occasion, Miami was places on the ropes by a gritty Indiana Pacers squad.

While the Heat treated the Pacers with mutual respect, they only feel one thing for the Chicago Bulls. ESPN visited the Heat in practice. According to Lebron: "We don't like them, they don't like us," It's not unheard of. We all know how it is."

When asked about the opener, Lebron was contradicting himself: "It don't matter who it is, but we like the fact that it's the Bulls."

The Heat players understand that the Bulls want their blood. They were in a similar situation two years ago when they lost in the Finals against the Mavericks. Chris Bosh elaborates: "We wanted to embarrass [the Mavericks] on their home floor. We wanted to defecate on their night and we know [the Bulls] want to do that to us. They want to spoil what we have going and we're aware of that. We have to hit first."

The Miami Heat will raise their banners on opening night. Chicago Bulls' returning player Derrick Rose says: "That's their ceremony, not ours. If we were getting our rings there would be a little bit of a distraction, but for us we know that we got to stay focused, come together as a team, and really take their first hit because they're definitely going to be on charge."

One motivation for the Heat is to beat a healthy Chicago Bulls team, so there won't be any excuses. The Bulls will have Rose, Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng, all of which were injured in the playoff match-up last season. Joakim Noah, the starting center, has also declared that he is 100%.