Are Lebron James and Dwyane Wade reuniting?

It's a seemingly inane question to ask this early in the NBA season, especially with LeBron's not-so-pleasant departure from Miami and the whole "he's-coming-back-home, we'll-be-great-again" hype in Cleveland.

But reports of an early James exit from the Cavs have persisted, with one saying the King won't hesitate to leave his Ohio realm and seek free agency if it was the "appropriate business decision."

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And so James fans hung on to his Lordship's every word, which explains how they even noticed an almost drowned-out conversation between James and Wade caught by cameras after Cleveland's 91-101 loss to the Heat. LeBron supposedly said this to his friend and former backcourt partner: "Like I said, if we aren't better this year, we're gonna reunite again and do some bigger and better things, all right?"

Discovered from an NBA YouTube page by fan bloggers from the Heat Nation, the nearly mumbling audio was interpreted a lot of ways but many saw it as a promise by James to suit up again with Wade in the future.

Whether they would team up again in Miami or elsewhere, the clip didn't say but it's not hard to second-guess what James must have been feeling at that moment: Together with his old friend, in his former arena, surrounded by still loyal fans. There was a standing ovation for James and a film tribute at the start of the game. And, hey, it was Christmas Day.

But in a Tweet on Wednesday (via ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin), it was James himself who doused cold water on the Heat fans' hopes.

"I've seen the clip just like you've seen the clip. I don't know what I said at the beginning, either. I know I said "We'll get back together and do bigger and better things," but it had nothing to do about basketball...

"I know I didn't go to college but I'm not stupid. I wouldn't say that on Christmas with a hundred cameras around. I would have told him the night before in his house...But it had nothing to do with leaving here and reuniting with him. It had everything to do with just talking about other things more than just basketball."

TagsLebron James, Dwyane Wade, Miami, cleveland, reuniting