Former Miami Heat star Chris Bosh has had one impressive NBA run.
Chris Bosh joined the Miami Heat in 2010. But that’s not where this story begins.
When I was younger, basketball was the center of my universe. No matter where I was or what I was doing, I lived, breathed and slept basketball. It was that adoration that led me to the greatest league on the planet, the National Basketball Association.
I was first introduced to Bosh during the 2007 Playoffs, when his Toronto Raptors took on Vince Carter and the New Jersey Nets, and was immediately drawn to his passion for the game. Unlike big men of the past, he could dominate a game in an entirely different fashion.
Instead of posting up and throwing down sledgehammers over nearby defenders like a Shaquille O’Neal, the jab-step midrange jumper was his most deadly weapon. While he was beyond capable of finishing at the rim, it wasn’t his most deadly attribute as a player. The Raptors would go on to lose that series in six games as the Nets advanced to the second round, but I knew the 6-foot-11 guy with dreads was for real.
That admiration came full circle during the summer of 2010, when Bosh flocked to the sunny shores of Miami to join forces with Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. His first roar to the AmericanAirlines Arena crowd, which came during the infamous “not five, not six, not seven…” celebration was a sign of things to come for many years.
I have to admit, that first season didn’t go very smoothly for Bosh. His decreased production led many critics to label him as soft, ESPN’s (now FS1) Skip Bayless went as far as to nickname him “Bosh Spice,” particularly following Miami’s third regular season loss to the Derrick Rose-led Chicago Bulls.
That didn’t last long though.
Never Back Down
When push came to shove, No. 1 was always up to the challenge. Against those very same Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals, he scored 30 and 34 respectively in Game One and Three, leading the Heat to a 2-1 series advantage; he knocked down the series-clinching free throws in Game 5 too, as Miami rallied to advance to its first NBA Finals since 2006.
Most will remember the unexplainable collapse of James during that series, in which he was thoroughly outshined by Dirk Nowitzki and Wade. It was Bosh who was the second-most effective player for a Heat team that seemed overwhelmed by Dallas’s ball movement and 3-point shooting.
Bosh’s emotional reaction following their Game 6 loss said it all. Many people laughed at him, and it infuriated me. How would anyone feel if their life dream is within their grasp, then suddenly taken away by a team Miami was arguably better than?
The criticism would carry itself over into the next season, even as Bosh provided many memorable moments for Heat fans all over the world. The nation finally came to a sense of realization when the Dallas native was sidelined for a large portion of the 2012 NBA Playoffs, as Miami eventually found themselves trailing the underdog Boston Celtics 3-2 in the Conference Finals.
A memorable playoff run by James filled out the majority of the cake mix, but it was Bosh’s timeliness that provided the icing. His 19-point performance off the bench in Game 7 reinforced just that, as he knocked down 8-of-10 shots and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, helping propel Miami to a second consecutive Finals appearance.
A 24-point outing in Game 5 against the Oklahoma City Thunder was only second to James’s 26-point triple double, leading to the first of two times Bosh would find himself soaked in champaign in the depths of the Heat locker room. Watching him speak at the podium felt vindicating not only for him, but for myself as well.
By the time 2013 came around, I felt all the naysayers would be put to rest. Boy, was I wrong.
The Journey Continues
Not even a game-winning 3-pointer on the road against the Tim Duncan-led San Antonio Spurs could shut the critics up, but some were starting to have epiphanies. His greatest moment as a member of the Heat would not come by way of scoring the basketball, however.
You all know the story.
Down five with 21 seconds to go, facing elimination on their home floor. Familiar yet? Bosh’s offensive rebound that eventually led to the greatest clutch shot in NBA history is by far the most underrated sequence I have ever witnessed. Some will point to the lack of Duncan’s presence on the floor, but history isn’t predicated on “what if’s.”
His defense down the stretch of that game was equally phenomenal, swatting away shots from the likes on Tony Parker and Danny Green, on his last-ditch attempt to send the game to double overtime. This more than makes up for the donut performance in Game 7 of that series, where Wade, James and Shane Battier ultimately closed the Spurs out, as the Heat claimed their second consecutive championship.
2014, while the worst statistical year of the “Big Three” era, provided plenty of exciting memories. Ignoring the record-setting loss to those same Spurs in that year’s Finals, Bosh was quite effective. 37 points, 10 rebounds and another game-clinching 3 on the road was the highlight of Bosh’s season, as Miami was without James for the entirety of that game.
Seeing him get vindication over Roy Hibbert, David West and the Indiana Pacers was satisfying to see as well, finally breaking out of his shell over the course of the last three games of that series. His 25 points in Game 4 was the most exciting, 17 of those coming in the first quarter and a half.
Following the loss, James departed for Cleveland and Bosh signed a 5-year, $118 million deal to stay with the Heat, providing them with a consolation following the loss of the best player on the planet.
Health problems would derail Bosh’s NBA career over the course of the 2015 and 2016 seasons, and I can only remember how shocked and saddened I was after hearing the initial announcement. By the second time, I knew he would never play again, and it’s a reality I still have not been able to wrap my mind around.
I know he discusses a potential comeback quite often, and I’ve seen him on ESPN’s First Take as well as TNT’s Players Only, lamenting just that. If I had just one word of advice to Mr. Bosh, it would be this: I know basketball is your life, I know it’s your first love and I’m quite aware that it has brought you the most joy outside of your children being born.
It’s not worth losing your life over it, Chris. Class-personified, you’re so much more than just a basketball player. Nobody in a Miami uniform will ever don the No. 1 again, and I’m looking forward to the day you are enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
Next: Do the Miami Heat have a successful, late-game formula?
As a former Heat fan turned journalist, I think it’s time to begin writing the next chapter. Thank you for the memories, and those two diamond-encrusted rings sitting in your trophy case would not have been won without you.