Teammates help LeBron propose to girlfriend

MIAMI — It was a team effort for the Miami Heat over the weekend. Dwyane Wade carried the ring for LeBron James on Saturday night and Chris Bosh carried the scoring load for him the next evening.

James proposed to his longtime girlfriend Savannah Brinson on New Year's Eve at a team gathering at South Beach's Shelborne Hotel. Then Bosh scored 20 of his 24 points in the first half Sunday night at AmericanAirlines Arena as the Heat rolled to a 129-90 win over Charlotte.

So where was James when Bosh was putting up all his points in the first half as the Heat took a 65-37 lead? He had just one point in the first 22 ½ minutes and four at intermission.

But give James a break. He had scored plenty of points already during the weekend with Brinson, who was proudly displaying her ring at Sunday's game.

"My girl, she's really excited," said James, who entered the night as the NBA's leading scorer with a 33 average and scored 12 points in the second half to finish with 16. "She would love to answer more questions about it than me. But she's happy, my family's happy and that's what it's all about. . . It should be a surprise. For any woman, any time something like that happens, she was surprised."

James might not have been long on details. But teammates Wade and Bosh were quite willing to talk about the evening.

Wade's job was hold the ring. He finally got his assist shortly after midnight.

"Trying to catch her off guard, obviously," Wade said of the tactics used by James, who has been dating Brinson since they were at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio, a decade ago and who has children, LeBron Jr., 7, and Bryce, 4, with her. "They've been together for a while. I'm sure they had many discussions of marriage and the possibility. So I thought he did a good job of catching her when she least expected it even if she did expect it.

"He kind of caught her in a moment right after New Year's after we all did the countdown when everybody was (yelling), 'Happy New Year.' Then he got her. So it was good. To me, it felt like he was on his knee for an hour. It probably was like 35 seconds. It was great."

Bosh said about 10 players were on hand for the moment, which he called "beautiful." The event also was a celebration of James' 27th birthday, which was Friday. It featured a large rum cake adorned with edible 18-carat lions and Swarovski crystals.

James wore a black tuxedo with a bowtie and black glasses. Brinson donned a black dress.

With all this excitement the night before, it might have been easy for Miami to have come out flat. But that was hardly the case as the Heat raised their record to 5-0 for the first time in the team's 24-year history.

"It was a professional win," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Never mind that the Bobcats looked rather amateur. It's hard to believe this was the same outfit that lost just 96-95 to the Heat last Wednesday at home, Wade providing the win on a 10-foot bank shot with 2.9 seconds left.

"It was one of those games where nothing went right," Charlotte coach Paul Silas said of the second time around.

Miami settled matters early by taking a 29-9 lead, and the Heat eventually had the fifth-largest halftime lead in team history. Miami led by as many as 46 points in the second half.

Bosh handled the scoring load in the first half, shooting 8-of-11. He also had six of his 10 rebounds.

"He's drawing up plays for me," Bosh said of Spoelstra. "When they do that, I don't want to let guys down. I want to make sure I'm effective. I want to make sure I get into my best move and just take what the defense gives me."

Meanwhile, James was surprisingly quiet on offense in the first half. Then again, it's not like he was needed. With 1 ½ minutes left in the half, James had one point but the Heat still led by 23.

James eventually got it going, and was able to extend his regular-season streak of consecutive double-figure scoring games to 362. But the mere fact Miami was able to dominate to such a degree without James scoring much is yet another message to foes about how dangerous this team can be.

Wade put up 22 points. The Heat also got 16 points apiece from point guards Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole. Chalmers shot four-of-four from three-point range, making him nine-of-12 on the season.

"If we want to win a championship, which is our ultimate goal, we're going to have to have those habits every night," Bosh said of the Heat, who also held the Bobcats to 38 percent shooting and out-rebounded them 47-40, quite a contrast being beating on the boards 53-30 last Wednesday in Charlotte.

To say it was a team effort would be an understatement. And forward Shane Battier said that spirit will continue any time James might need any pointers in marriage.

"If he needs any advice, there are a lot of married guys here," said Battier, who is one of them. "We'll gladly give him a shoulder to lean on when it comes to that time because it comes for all of us."

As for their play on the court, it's been all bliss for the Heat so far this season.

Chris Tomasson can be reached at christomasson@hotmail.com or on Twitter @christomasson