lefty
06-22-2012, 02:00 PM
NBA final: Chris Bosh credits time with Raptors for helping him build character
Published 51 minutes ago
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http://i.thestar.com/images/fa/6c/fd45720346498c37aac9864781b2.jpgThe Miami Heat's Chris Bosh enjoys a moment in the locker room after Game 5 of the NBA finals basketball series against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday in Miami. The Heat won 121-106 to become the 2011-12 NBA champions.
WILFREDO LEE/AP
http://i.thestar.com/images/79/e9/98501915479f98c7af830efc9082.jpeg (http://www.thestar.com/unassigned/columnists/94566--smith-doug)By Doug Smith (http://www.thestar.com/unassigned/columnists/94566--smith-doug)Sports Reporter
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MIAMI—Chris Bosh (http://www.thestar.com/sports/basketball/article/1214899--nba-finals-miami-heat-s-chris-bosh-focused-on-not-letting-championship-slip-away) knows springs and summers of discontent and disappointment.
He knows what it’s like to be the best player on a not-so-good team, to sit and watch the playoffs unfold, to watch someone else reach the pinnacle of his sport.
It ate at him but it also helped shape him and now, as an NBA champion, the one-time Raptor can look back and realize how it made him what he is.
“It wasn’t the best of times all the time out there in T.O.,” Bosh said after he and the Miami Heat dominated the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-106 Thursday night (http://www.thestar.com/sports/basketball/article/1215551--nba-final-lebron-james-leads-miami-heat-to-title-over-oklahoma-city-thunder) to win the NBA final in five games. “We had a lot of losing seasons, but we had a lot of good times, as well.
“But I mean, I think I built a lot of character out there because night in and night out, no matter what happened I came to work, and that wasn’t the easiest thing to do. But each and every year I believed in my team, and I believed in everything, and I kept working hard. And it really showed me that you have to continue to work hard.”
Bosh’s work paid off in a redemptive run to his first NBA title. He had suffered through any number of slings and shots in his two seasons in Miami, branded soft and a fake tough guy and a third wheel on tricycle. But there really is no denying his value to the Heat, his return from injury during the just-completed playoffs (http://www.thestar.com/sports/basketball/nba/article/1205787--miami-heat-s-chris-bosh-might-return-for-game-5-of-nba-eastern-final) coincided with Miami’s best performances of the post-season, he is an integral part of a very good team, regardless of some popular misperceptions.
“I know a bunch of people made fun of me and said I was soft, but you can’t be soft playing this game,” he said. “We wanted it so bad, I just wanted it so bad, I didn’t care what anybody said, I didn’t care what anybody thought. All I thought about was pushing forward to get that trophy.
“You know, I worked hard. I thought about that stuff all the time. So I appreciate the people. My hat’s off to you for giving me the fuel not to quit.”
The Heat’s journey to the second championship in franchise history — and the first in the era of the new Big Three — was as much about redemption as anything. They knew the gut-wrenching feeling of losing the 2011 final and used it for fuel, they had been mocked and criticized for the way they came together and the way they comported themselves last season and the sting hurt.
But adversity and disappointment often make victory sweeter.
“Two years ago, putting this team together, obviously we all expected it to be a little easier than it was,” said Dwyane Wade (http://www.thestar.com/sports/basketball/article/1210686--nba-finals-dwyane-wade-of-miami-heat-defends-lacklustre-play-in-game-1-against-oklahoma-thunder). “But we had to go through what we had to go through last year. And as much as it hurt, we had to go through that pain and that suffering. To get to this point of this season and the rest of our careers together, we’ll take nothing for granted.”
Will the perception change? Not everywhere, there will be those who still harbour resentment towards LeBron James (http://www.thestar.com/sports/basketball/nba/article/1214698--nba-final-lebron-james-mellows-outs-but-still-dominates-competition) and Bosh for the manner in which they joined Wade in South Florida, regardless of what they do from here on out.
They don’t seem at all concerned about it.
“If indeed it does change and everybody says, I knew you guys were going to do it and this is it, we’re going to be like, no,” said Bosh.
“We’re going to remember the times when it was tough, when we were down and everybody was kicking us. You know, no matter how many times we got knocked down, we got right back up and we got right back in that game.”
Published 51 minutes ago
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http://i.thestar.com/images/fa/6c/fd45720346498c37aac9864781b2.jpgThe Miami Heat's Chris Bosh enjoys a moment in the locker room after Game 5 of the NBA finals basketball series against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday in Miami. The Heat won 121-106 to become the 2011-12 NBA champions.
WILFREDO LEE/AP
http://i.thestar.com/images/79/e9/98501915479f98c7af830efc9082.jpeg (http://www.thestar.com/unassigned/columnists/94566--smith-doug)By Doug Smith (http://www.thestar.com/unassigned/columnists/94566--smith-doug)Sports Reporter
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Topic: NBA (http://www.thestar.com/topic/nba)
Fantasy: NBA Watch (http://www.forecaster.ca/thestar.com/basketball/index.cgi)
2011-12 Raptors schedule (http://www.forecaster.ca/thestar.com/basketball/schedule.cgi?Tor)
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MIAMI—Chris Bosh (http://www.thestar.com/sports/basketball/article/1214899--nba-finals-miami-heat-s-chris-bosh-focused-on-not-letting-championship-slip-away) knows springs and summers of discontent and disappointment.
He knows what it’s like to be the best player on a not-so-good team, to sit and watch the playoffs unfold, to watch someone else reach the pinnacle of his sport.
It ate at him but it also helped shape him and now, as an NBA champion, the one-time Raptor can look back and realize how it made him what he is.
“It wasn’t the best of times all the time out there in T.O.,” Bosh said after he and the Miami Heat dominated the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-106 Thursday night (http://www.thestar.com/sports/basketball/article/1215551--nba-final-lebron-james-leads-miami-heat-to-title-over-oklahoma-city-thunder) to win the NBA final in five games. “We had a lot of losing seasons, but we had a lot of good times, as well.
“But I mean, I think I built a lot of character out there because night in and night out, no matter what happened I came to work, and that wasn’t the easiest thing to do. But each and every year I believed in my team, and I believed in everything, and I kept working hard. And it really showed me that you have to continue to work hard.”
Bosh’s work paid off in a redemptive run to his first NBA title. He had suffered through any number of slings and shots in his two seasons in Miami, branded soft and a fake tough guy and a third wheel on tricycle. But there really is no denying his value to the Heat, his return from injury during the just-completed playoffs (http://www.thestar.com/sports/basketball/nba/article/1205787--miami-heat-s-chris-bosh-might-return-for-game-5-of-nba-eastern-final) coincided with Miami’s best performances of the post-season, he is an integral part of a very good team, regardless of some popular misperceptions.
“I know a bunch of people made fun of me and said I was soft, but you can’t be soft playing this game,” he said. “We wanted it so bad, I just wanted it so bad, I didn’t care what anybody said, I didn’t care what anybody thought. All I thought about was pushing forward to get that trophy.
“You know, I worked hard. I thought about that stuff all the time. So I appreciate the people. My hat’s off to you for giving me the fuel not to quit.”
The Heat’s journey to the second championship in franchise history — and the first in the era of the new Big Three — was as much about redemption as anything. They knew the gut-wrenching feeling of losing the 2011 final and used it for fuel, they had been mocked and criticized for the way they came together and the way they comported themselves last season and the sting hurt.
But adversity and disappointment often make victory sweeter.
“Two years ago, putting this team together, obviously we all expected it to be a little easier than it was,” said Dwyane Wade (http://www.thestar.com/sports/basketball/article/1210686--nba-finals-dwyane-wade-of-miami-heat-defends-lacklustre-play-in-game-1-against-oklahoma-thunder). “But we had to go through what we had to go through last year. And as much as it hurt, we had to go through that pain and that suffering. To get to this point of this season and the rest of our careers together, we’ll take nothing for granted.”
Will the perception change? Not everywhere, there will be those who still harbour resentment towards LeBron James (http://www.thestar.com/sports/basketball/nba/article/1214698--nba-final-lebron-james-mellows-outs-but-still-dominates-competition) and Bosh for the manner in which they joined Wade in South Florida, regardless of what they do from here on out.
They don’t seem at all concerned about it.
“If indeed it does change and everybody says, I knew you guys were going to do it and this is it, we’re going to be like, no,” said Bosh.
“We’re going to remember the times when it was tough, when we were down and everybody was kicking us. You know, no matter how many times we got knocked down, we got right back up and we got right back in that game.”