MIAMI (AP) ― A season ago, things seemed much different for the Miami Heat. In South Florida, the team was celebrated before ever playing a game. In every other NBA market, the Heat was maligned, again before ever playing a game.

There’s a sense that is now changing ― well, maybe just a little bit.

Drama seems to be the rule these days in many NBA cities, but not Miami.

“I don’t think anything can be as bad as it was last year,” Heat forward LeBron James said Monday.

For Miami, any change would be a refreshing one, especially if it means basketball can seem like the top priority entering basketball season. It’s a far cry from last year’s training camp, when all the buzz ― and there was a lot of it ― around the Heat was about how James and Chris Bosh changed teams to join Dwyane Wade in Miami, whether a so-called “superteam” was good for the NBA and if three stars could get along happily while sharing one ball.

“Look around. You remember how it was last year ― it’s nothing close,” Bosh said. “This year, we can concentrate on just building our team. We can concentrate on picking up where we left off. I think that’s huge for us. We know what to expect. There’s nothing really surprising us right now and we can just work on focusing to get better.”

The team needed a police escort to their annual media day in 2010, with security lurking around just about every hallway inside the University of Miami facility where that annual meet-and-greet session was taking place. Reporters from four continents showed up. Press conferences to start the year were held in a cavernous auditorium.

On Monday, media day was tame by comparison.

“I heard some stories,” new Heat center Eddy Curry said. “I thought it’d be a lot worse than this.”

Expectations are still high for Miami, of course. Bringing virtually the entire core of last season’s Eastern Conference championship-winning club back would figure to put the Heat ahead of some teams who are dealing with roster shakeups, the distraction of potentially moving some superstar-level players, or even simply finding guys to sign to contracts.

So as is not the case in many NBA cities, things seem calm in Miami right now, and that’s one of the reasons why oddsmakers in Las Vegas list the Heat as favorites to win the 2012 title.