Raptors taking offense to LeBron James comments about Dwyane Wade

Leave it to LeBron James to manage to become a story in a series he isn’t even playing in.

On Wednesday, James commented on how much he’d like to face his former teammate and friend Dwyane Wade in a playoff series, admitting that he has given it some thought. Of course, James’s Cavaliers have to get past the Atlanta Hawks first, and Wade’s Heat have to see off the Toronto Raptors.

The Raptors, as it turns out, aren’t taking this well, feeling that James is looking past them.

Raptors players are all being asked about LeBron's comments as a sign of disrespect

— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) May 4, 2016

Lowry on perception people want Heat/Cavs: "I'm sure we are looked at as the underdog. But we are the No. 2 seed. Let ESPN talk about them."

— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) May 4, 2016

Dwane Casey on LeBron's comments: "Nobody respects us & everybody's written us off and that's fine." He says Raptors should "take offense."

— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) May 4, 2016

I don’t think James meant to start a furor with his comments, but here we are. Casey probably wants to use this as a tool to motivate his team, which is down 1-0 in the series to Miami, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Of far more importance to Toronto should be getting Kyle Lowry’s shot right again.