Basketball legend Chris Bosh had a pretty illustrious NBA career. Aside from being an 11x All-Star, he was a major contributor to the Miami Heat at the peak of their run, helping them capture two straight titles in 2012 and 2013.
Looking back, Bosh has already expressed pride and contentment with his tenure in Miami, making the following statement ahead of his Hall of Fame enshrinement:
Big shots. Big blocks. Big wins. We hung banners and took home titles for the city of Miami. In the process, I made brothers for life.
But did you know that Bosh was almost pulled away from joining Miami in 2010? In a piece by the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Bosh revealed the story of his busy free agency:
“They put a lot of pressure on me,’ Bosh mused from Springfield, as he settled in for this weekend’s activities, with the Bulls emphasizing to him at the time that the Heat were not going to be able to sign himself, Wade and James.”
Bosh would have been great with the Bulls, and it’s easy to see why he was considering joining them at the time.
Meanwhile, the Heat were considering bringing in Amar’e Stoudemire instead — who was a pretty big deal at the time. Still, Pat Riley admits that signing Stoudemire would not have turned out as well.
…I don’t know if it would have been as successful as it was with Chris, because Chris was the ultimate complement,“ Riley said, “I don’t want to use this term, but he was sort of the adult in the room at the time, to be able to separate all three egos.”
Bosh was very important to those Miami Heat teams. Not only did he provide size and a presence inside (on both ends of the floor), he put aside his ego to sit backseat behind Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. Not everyone could have done that.
In the end, things worked out for the best.
