By CHRIS PERKINS
FOXSportsFlorida.com Heat Writer
Jan. 7, 2011
Heat forward LeBron James might be playing with a heavy heart tonight when Miami visits the Milwaukee Bucks.
One of the players he's adopted on the Heat, rookie center Dexter Pittman, has been reassigned to the D-League. He left Friday morning.
"LeBron is like my big brother," Pittman said. "He said I can't go anywhere without him. He's kind of heartbroken, he told me, because I'm leaving."
James, with a smile, confirmed Pittman's story.
"I am (heartbroken)," James said after Thursday's practice in Miami. "That's my rook, right there. I keep a good tab on him while he's gone, I want him to play well. I see a lot of potential in him."
It's fairly well-known that James has befriended third-year guard Mario Chalmers. But it turns out James and Chalmers have befriended Pittman, the talented but inexperienced 22-year-old from Texas.
"It goes back with me and Pitt ever since the KU-Texas days," said Chalmers, who attended Kansas and competed against Pittman in the Big 12. "I've known Pitt for a while."
So Chalmers and James have taken it upon themselves to guide Pittman around the NBA, get him wise to the ways of the league. Well, sort of.
"We're always together, hanging out," the 6-11, 300-pound Pittman said. "And they always seem to pick on me because I'm the rookie. But when it gets too far, I use my physical size on them."
Pittman begins another tour Friday with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Heat's affiliate in the NBA Development League (D-League). He'll likely be there until the Heat return from their five-game, 10-day road trip.
When Pittman played eight games in the D-League earlier this season (Nov. 26 to Dec. 20), he approached dominance, averaging 16.6 points, nine rebounds and 1.63 blocks per game while shooting 60.2 percent from the field.
But on the veteran Heat, there's no time or need for Pittman, who was the 32nd pick of the draft (second pick of the second round). So he'll hone his basketball skills in the D-League and continue to use his size to his advantage in the NBA. James confirmed that account of Pittman's, about using his size as an equalizer.
"Absolutely," James said. "He's the biggest guy on the team, so you've got to know when to fold your hand at times."
