Chris Bosh is everywhere right now.
The 33-year-old recently teased a return to the NBA on ESPN’s “The Jump”, was a guest on the panel at the recent MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, and made his latest appearance in an interview with GiveMeSport.
The former Toronto Raptors power forward touched on several topics, including his inspiration growing up, whether his 2003 draft class is better than Michael Jordan’s 1984 draft, and what it was like to experience Kobe Bryant’s 81-point night first-hand.
After Bosh was drafted by the Raptors, his slight frame, ball skills and shooting touch drew comparisons to former MVP and future Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett. The pair had memorable battles against each other right from Bosh’s early days when :The Big Ticket” was still with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and hit their height when the two dynamic forwards met in the playoffs with new teams.
When reflecting on the impact of Garnett on his career, Bosh provided a glowing review.
“Very important,” Bosh said. “People called me KG growing up because I wanted to be like him so much and I would watch all his tapes.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4NWF91UQTo
Well known in Toronto as CB4, Bosh joined two members of his draft class in Dwyane Wade and LeBron James in Miami, while Garnett teamed up with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen in Boston. Bosh’s Heat defeated the Celtics twice in the post-season and finished with two championship rings to their lone title.
One of the less pleasant memories for Bosh during his career came in Los Angeles on Jan. 22, 2006, when Bryant erupted for 81 points to lead his Lakers to a second-half rally past the Raptors. Bosh remembers the team being almost numb to the experience, unable to believe what was actually happening in front of them.
“Nothing, we were just in silence. Is this really happening?”
He notes that while the players were in a daze, then head coach Sam Mitchell was still focused and trying to come up with some way to stop the bleeding.
“Yeah, it didn’t work,” Bosh said. “He drew a bunch of stuff up, he drew more than he ever drew before and it didn’t work.”
He was then asked to pick between his draft class which featured James, Wade and Carmelo Anthony and the 1984 draft class which consisted of Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley and John Stockton.
“Man, (2003 is) better. I’m going to say it’s better. That was a hell of a class, but I’m competitive, and yeah, we were better. Those ’84 guys, I know they’re going to look at me like, ‘What?!’ but I’ll have that argument. We can hypothetically go over the scenarios.”
So, hypothetically, we’d have Jordan squaring off against LeBron, Stockton possibly going up against Wade, Carmelo versus Barkley, and Bosh guarding Hakeem. This may just come down to who the fifth guy would be. Alvin Robertson is arguably the best player from the ’84 draft class outside of the big four, having been a four-time all-star, a defensive player of the year, and a member of the 1986 All-NBA Second Team.
The ’03 class would have to choose the right fit, as they could go for T.J. Ford or Kirk Hinrich at the point, or assuming that most of the ball-handling responsibilities would fall on Wade and LeBron, they could go for Kyle Korver. Considering the imposing size of Hakeem and Barkley, they could even go with David West, but they’d be pretty bereft of shooting with that choice.
One thing Bosh did note, is that while this is a fun topic of discussion, the ’03 class is still writing its story. Well, at least LeBron still is.
With Bosh, we can only wait and see if his NBA story is well and truly over.
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