MIAMI—
A sampling of what was said and what went on Monday at the Miami Heat's media day at AmericanAirlines Arena:
-- Coach Erik Spoelstra, on Michael Beasley, "When he came available, we all wanted to get him back in our organization."
-- Spoelstra on Beasley's potential role, "We'll see how he fits in, and I don't have that answer right now. I don't have specific expectations for him on the court. I'm curious to see how it's going to work out."
-- Spoelstra, on Beasley's second tenure with the Heat, "It's a totally different role than what he had to do last time. And we'll go into it with an open canvas."
-- Beasley, on his second chance with the Heat, "Miami is my second home."
-- Dwyane Wade, on Beasley, "I'm happy he's back. I think he's the spark-plug this team needed from a talent standpoint."
-- Spoelstra, on Greg Oden's return from knee issues, "The expectation is to come in here and get the opportunity to work and get healthy. There's certainly no timetable. He's in here five hours a day."
-- More Spoelstra on Oden, "There is certainly no timetable. If it happens two months, if it happens three months, who knows?"
-- Oden spoke of trying to get on the court during the preseason.
-- Spoelstra, on the Big Three's postseason opt-out possibilities, "We have to focus on now and not become obsessed on the future, because it's unknown."
-- Spoelstra, on having so many potentially expiring contracts on his roster, "We'll address it, but we don't need to belabor it. Our guys aren't naive. When you have a team that has been built like this, we've been trained and conditioned for this moment probably more than any other team."
-- Spoelstra, on a potential championship hangover, "Just focus on now. We've got to let go of what we did last year."
-- Spoelstra, on possibly winning a third consecutive title, "We can convince ourselves of anything. What we have is a tremendous opportunity."
-- Spoelstra, on his contract extension, which was completed over the weekend, "I feel fortunate and grateful for the opportunity to continue working here."
-- Spoelstra, on the low-key word of the extension, "I would have preferred if it could have just happened without anybody noticing it."
-- Spoelstra on Heat President Pat Riley and Heat owner Micky Arison creating a comfort zone, "They know I want to grow. They know I want to continue to improve."
-- Wade, on Spoelstra's extension, "Hopefully he can extend his suit patterns with all that money he's now making."
-- Spoelstra, on naming Juwan Howard an assistant coach, "With Juwan, I'm excited about that. Juwan could probably still play another year or two or three."
-- Spoelstra, on remaining innovative, "We're focused on reinventing where we can reinvent."
-- Spoelstra, on LeBron James, "He's a special dude, that he's always going to stay in a state of uncomfortablness."
-- More Spoelstra on LeBron, "This year, it would be great for him to be recognized for the defensive work that he does. He has that potential to be Defensive player of the Year."
-- LeBron, on his right to opt out at season's end, "I don't think it's appropriate to talk about it right now."
-- More LeBron, on same, "Being a leader of this team, I owe it to this organization, to my teammates to not talk about it."
-- LeBron, on the possibility of a third consecutive title, "The number-one key thing is health. If we're healthy, it doesn't matter who you put in front of us."
-- He then was asked if he's satisfied, " . . . not 11, not 12, not 13, not 14 . . ., " with a huge smile, joking how he just guaranteed a title at 50.
-- And, no, no regrets, "I don't need to vindicate my decision to come here. I know I made the right decision when I said it."
-- LeBron on where he stands, "You guys are tired of hearing me say this, but I got better. I'm a better basketball player that I was last year."
-- Spoelstra, on Wade, "He's had a great summer. He was able to rest. He's coming into camp very healthy. He's had a great summer of rest."
-- Spoelstra continually downplayed Wade finishing last season with knee issues, "There's a major misconception, and I mean a major misconception, about his health last year. It was a bone bruise. It wasn't a knee issue of wear and tear."
-- Wade, on his knee, "It was bruising. It wasn't no more than that. When it comes to training camp, I'll be going at my pace. I'm feeling a lot better. I worked very hard this summer."
-- Wade, on his approach, "My thing is to prove myself right more than to prove you wrong."
-- Wade, on having so many expiring contracts on the roster, "You have concern when you feel people want to go elsewhere. I don't think nobody is looking to go elsewhere."
-- And Wade on whether his health could impact James' free-agency decision, "LeBron James' decision is LeBron James' decision . . . don't try to put that pressure on me."
-- Wade, on the tougher competition in the Easy, "I'm not saying this in a cocky way at all, but I think I always focus on our team more than I focus on other teams."
-- Wade, on his role, "Well, I'm the second option. Let's just point blank, say it. So I've got to do different things than I've done."
-- He added, "I'm one of the only second options to average 20 points a game. That's not bad at all."
-- Then there's LeBron on Wade, "He loves motivation. He thrives off motivation. And he's been given some more motivation."
-- Spoelstra, on holding camp in the Bahamas, starting Tuesday, "We wanted to get away and have a little bit of a mental reward for what we accomplished last year."
-- New Heat numbers of note: Michael Beasley 8; Larry Drew II 0; Eric Griffin 17; Justin Hamilton 7; Roger Mason Jr. 21; Greg Oden 20.
-- It turns out the Heat both signed and released Ricky Sanchez during the offseason, signing him Sept. 16 and released him Sept. 27.
-- Sanchez forced the Heat's hand by signing his contract tender, with the Heat then bypassing an invitation to camp, now no longer holding his rights.