LeBron James to host Thanksgiving dinner at Ohio home for Heat teammates

LeBron James and the Heat will spend Thanksgiving together in Cleveland. (Victor Baldizon/Getty Images)

Heat star LeBron James is known for his versatility, but he'll be taking it to an extreme on Thursday. James will split cooking duties with his newlywed wife as the couple co-host his Heat teammates for a Thanksgiving dinner at their Cleveland-area home on Thursday.

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The Heat are on the road this year for Thanksgiving, but the silver lining to their holiday schedule is that Miami plays James' former team, the Cavaliers, in Cleveland on Wednesday night. The Heat altered its travel plans to allow James to "do something for the team for Thanksgiving," the reigning MVP told Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press on Tuesday:

"We would have loved to have been here for the holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas being here in Miami. We don't mind playing on those holidays. Wish we could have been here, but I am happy that I'm able to do something for the team for Thanksgiving...I'm a great host," James said. "It's natural for me. I don't mind giving guys what they want — what they deserve."

James said that he tried his best to address every detail of the dinner, from requesting that guests wear casual attire to asking teammate Shane Battier what kind of beer he wants served with his dinner; last April, Battier had said he tries to keep his habit of drinking only Bud Light as part of a tradition during the playoffs, prompting the beer company to deliver a truckload of Bud Light to his residence. As for the casual attire James requested, Wade said he'll do his best:

"We're not at home with our families for Thanksgiving but it couldn't work out any better that at least we could be in someone else's home. And it's a very nice home that we're going to, so I'll make sure I'll put on the right clothes and the right socks, gotta-take-your-shoes-off-at-the-door type of house."

The Heat, currently 11-3, are second in the Eastern Conference to the Indiana Pacers. Miami will be in Toronto on Friday for a game against the Raptors.

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