LeBron James will reach out to Derrick Rose to welcome him back to the NBA ahead of Tuesday's NBA regular season opener between the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls.

Rose sat out the entire 12-13 season recovering from a torn ACL.

"I'm happy and thrilled that he's back," James said. "I'm happy with what he did last year, to be able to stand strong throughout everything, throughout all of the adversity of everybody criticizing him about what he should do. He did what was best for him."

The Heat have taken notice of how impressive Rose has looked in the preseason.

"The game needs him," Dwyane Wade said. "You never want to see anyone get hurt, especially a player of D-Rose's caliber. Just because I'm a competitor doesn't mean I don't understand the importance of Derrick Rose to basketball. So it's good to see him back, and good to see him confident. He's going to make it tougher on everybody."