DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Chicago Bulls forward Joakim Noah says he has gotten over LeBron James' dancing antics, but that doesn't mean he has forgotten.
The pair exchanged heated words during a game on Dec. 4 in Cleveland when James began dancing with the Cavaliers comfortably ahead. Noah let James know that he was upset.
Noah was asked Friday about being public enemy No. 1 in Cleveland as his Bulls get set to take on the Cavs in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs on Saturday afternoon.
"I have no feelings at all," Noah said. "I'm just excited to be on that [playoff] stage now.
"You guys can talk about whatever you guys want to talk about, I understand that's part of it. Obviously, what happened in that game I wasn't too happy about it. I think our team wasn't too happy about it. We felt like it was disrespectful. If he's still upset about it, that's on him. I have no hard feelings."
While Noah remembers James' dancing, James remembers Noah saying the Bulls were going to try to "shock the world."
"We're ready for the challenge," James said Thursday. "I think Noah's a really good player. He's a really good talent. But, you know, he asked for us a couple weeks ago and he got us. So we're ready. It's a different monster they're going to be playing against on Saturday."
Noah acknowledged how much respect he has for the Cavs' star.
"LeBron's going to get numbers," he said. "It's just a question of his percentages and things like that. If we can get him shooting at a [bad] percentage, that works in our favor.
"But he's somebody who's great in the open floor. He's a freak athlete. He has a lot of stuff to his game. It's definitely a team problem. It's on us to help [Luol Deng] as much as we can."
As for the possibility of trash talking, don't think Noah is opposed to it as the series wears along.
"I'm from New York City," he said. "That's what people do is talk, so I'm used to it."
Nick Friedell covers the Bulls for ESPNChicago.com.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.