Dwyane Wade is feeling right at home in London as he prepares for Miami's NBA Europe Live meeting with New Jersey.The two teams will face off before a sell-out crowd at the O2 Arena in a pre-season game, and both teams have been wowed by the facilities on offer in London.
"This is nice," Wade said with a grin as he got a first look at the O2 today. "Once you're in here you don't even know where it is.
"You're in a foreign country but you feel at home. Come tomorrow night when it's packed in here and the game is on it's feel exactly like that."
Wade's young team-mate, Michael Beasley, is certainly noticing the differences of being in England, however.
The rookie admitted he almost got run over as he learned the hard way about cars driving on the 'wrong' side of the road.
He said: "I'm still trying to get over the way people drive here.
"I've never seen that - the steering on the right and you drive on the left. I don't think I could drive over here.
"I was crossing the street and I looked the wrong way. I look left but the cars are coming from the right. Thank God people were looking out for me."
Having survived that, Beasley got to visit some of the sights of London, but still wants to find time to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace.
"I want to see if I can make one of them move," he said.
But while there has been time for sightseeing, there is serious business at hand.
Tomorrow's game offers two teams rebuilding their rosters another chance to work on their games ahead of the new season, while being in Europe has once again raised questions of whether the NBA could sustain full-time teams based in a European division.
The idea was first raised last year, and while NBA commissioner David Stern appeared to back off a little on Friday, it still dominated the talk at practice on Saturday.
"You never know what can happen," Wade said. "Just a couple of years ago we didn't think of the game as being as global as it is now.
"You just have to keep your mind open and your heart open to where our game is going. Basketball is getting bigger and bigger."
While back-to-back sell-outs for pre-season games has hinted at the potential, New Jersey head coach Lawrence Franks was more cautious.
He said: "I don't know so much what the plan is, whether it is expansion of the NBA or setting up another league here.
"You'd have a great honeymoon period, but there's the logistics of it. How do you work the travel?"
"Those things still need to be worked out, but the players are open to any ideas.
Heat forward Shawn Marion added: "I don't think it's out the door.
"I think it's possible. I'm hoping it all comes - but it's not up to me to decide."
by www.espnstar.com/us-sports/nba/news
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