LeBron Calls Bulls 'Much Better' Than His Cavs -- Right Now
(CBS) So much for any pregame bad blood between the Bulls and Cavaliers, who many believe will have a budding rivalry, as they're expected to battle it out as the Eastern Conference's two favorites.
Heading into tonight's preseason game at Ohio State in Columbus between the squads, star LeBron James called the Bulls a "much better" team than his Cavaliers.
"(The Bulls) are a team that's much better than us right now just off chemistry," James said, according to ESPN.com. "They've been together for awhile, we've got a long way to go."
Though the Bulls are integrating at least three new players -- not including Derrick Rose coming back from injury -- into their rotation, James gave a nod to the ups and downs their core has gone through together. That's in contrast to Cleveland, which is integrating stars James and Kevin Love with the returning players and a host of new role players.
"You've got to go through something to create a bond; that means for the worse," James said. "We've got to lose ballgames that we think we should've won, we've got to get into an argument every now and then just to test each other out."
James' comment came one day after the Bulls largely downplayed any extra meaning or a rivalry awaiting in facing the Cavaliers.
"It will be good to get a good feel for their team, but it's a preseason game," Bulls big man Pau Gasol said.
"It will be a good preseason test."
Chicago is 4-2 in the preseason, while Cleveland is 4-1. The teams play on Oct. 31 in the regular season.
