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SAN ANTONIO — If a choice is to be made, a player anointed, a hierarchy established, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra coach gives no indication of which direction he leans.
LeBron James? Dwyane Wade? One of them must have the ball in his hands at the end of a close game. One of them must be the guy everybody else plays through. One of them must be the man.
Those were issues raised by inquiring minds when James, a one-man band in Cleveland, bolted for Miami to form a supergroup with Wade and Chris Bosh.
Three preseason games don't reveal much. Wade left with a strained right hamstring three minutes into the first game. He has yet to return.
Spoelstra said no choice is necessary.
"Whoever's open," Spoelstra said before the Heat's 90-73 loss to the Spurs, in a preseason game Saturday night.
Spoelstra goes further, pointing out that in his continuity offense — which includes elements of the triangle used by Phil Jackson with the Los Angeles Lakers — the ball moves continually from side to side. "Everybody's involved," Spoelstra said.
He's right — to a point. Jackson used the triangle in Chicago, encouraging Michael Jordan to share the ball. The same with Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles. Even so, Jordan would take control when necessary, or when we wanted to. Bryant does that now.
James and Wade will likely face such decisions in Miami. Won't somebody have to take command?
Wade did not speak to media after the game Saturday.
As for James, he recently said, "I can't defer. I'm always in attack mode."
Spoelstra's offense is new to James.
"I was the No. 1 and 2 option at times in Cleveland," said James, who scored 12 points in 12 minutes Saturday. "Here, if it's late in the game, we have sets where we can get it to us in our sweet spots. We both know we can go get it if we need it.
"I think people get caught up in saying who's gonna take the last shot, or who's gonna make the last shot. It's about who's gonna make the right play."
That was often James' approach in Cleveland. Though James said deference is not natural to him, he is given to passing the ball. He's one of the best.
In Cleveland, he was occasionally criticized for passing to teammates, who then missed shots in critical situations.
"Sometimes we lost the game," James said. "Sometimes we won the game. But I always tried to make the right play. No one said anything when I made the same play and we made the game-winning three."
James has received a new round of criticism since he opted for a dog-and-pony show on ESPN to announce that he was taking his talents to South Beach. His Q score, a national popularity rating , has dropped dramatically since January.
On the other hand, James and the Heat will not be ignored. Their first preseason game received the highest ratings on Sun Sports in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale market since the Heat's playoff game against New York in 1998.
And NBA general managers, in a survey, predicted that the Heat would appear on TV well into June, when they will lose to the Lakers in the finals.
Some will regard James as a failure if he does not produce multiple NBA championships after hooking up with Wade and Bosh. Heat president Pat Riley has given them a chance to succeed, surrounding his stars with complementary players who can help.
Rugged forward Udonis Haslem took less money to stay in Miami than he could have received elsewhere. Newcomer Mike Miller can fill the basket. The 7-3 center Zydrunas Ilgauskas followed James from Cleveland. Veterans Juwan Howard and Eddie House signed on as well.
"I think Pat and the coaching staff did an unbelievable job assembling this team," James said.
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