Miami Heat: Is Chris Bosh A Hall Of Famer?

Eligibility for the Basketball Hall of Fame is a fluid, subjective process. Numbers don’t tell the full story, nor does a narrative present an air-tight case to be enshrined. And perspective, perhaps the most elusive of lenses through which to view a player, is often clouded by emotions.

Somehow, Chris Bosh must find a way to adapt once more in order to gain the highest of individual honors.

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The 31-year-old Bosh is working his way back from a season-ending struggle with blood clots in his lungs. He seems to be well on track to join the team in training camp, claiming that he’s healthy and ready to go. A recent picture shows that he’s looking noticeably more muscular than he has throughout his career (Bosh, alongside other Miami Heat teammates, is on the far right):

BPS NBA Training on the West Coast w/ The Miami Heat! @youngwhiteside @mchalmers15 @chrisbosh @DwyaneWade @ThisIsUD pic.twitter.com/Q13frit5vm
— Bommarito Performance Systems (@BOMMARITOS) August 25, 2015

But what if his doctors hadn’t caught the lung ailment in time? Without considering that there was certainly a risk to his life, let’s just focus on the all-too-real possibility that it could’ve ended a great 12-year career. Would he have done enough during that tenure to warrant enshrinement in the Hall of Fame?

His career numbers of 19.3 points, 8.6 rebounds and two assists per game are great but might not immediately jump out as HOF-worthy. Part of that has to do with his reduced role in Miami; since joining the team in 2010, his scoring average has dropped considerably, from 24.0 in his last season to Toronto to just 18.7 points per game the following year.

It’s worth noting that in the 44 games he played last season, his average did reach 21.1 points per game, more in line with his production while with the Raptors. It’s possible that he could be more productive throughout the rest of his career and finish with an average of more than 20 points per game, a number which would certainly strengthen his overall resumè.

Another argument from 2014 relies heavily on overall win-shares as a main factor in deciding Bosh’s eligibility. Here’s Bleacher Report’s Tom Sunnergren stating his case:

"Bosh, at the moment, has 98.2 career win shares, per Basketball-Reference.com. This is good for 79th place all-time in the NBA. While win shares isn’t the beginning and end of the conversation, it’s a good proxy for the way voters evaluate players and, as the analytic movement deepens in influence, will likely be a stronger indicator still by the time Bosh becomes a candidate.In the NBA’s all-time win shares leaderboard, you have to scroll down to No. 39 to find an eligible player who hasn’t been inducted. (Sorry Buck Williams.) So No. 79 probably won’t do it."

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The numbers, based on last season’s production, have jumped up slightly for Bosh: he now has 99.6 career win shares, good for 77th place all-time.

But what Sunnergren doesn’t include in his argument is that Bosh’s rank places him well above a number of players that are not only in the Hall of Fame but are considered historically great players. This list includes Lenny Wilkens, Rick Barry, Jerry Lucas and Bob Cousy, to name a few. So much for the win shares argument.

Other factors weigh much more heavily in Bosh’s favor, including his 10-time All-Star status, two-time NBA champion and an Olympic gold medalist (2008).

Still let’s assume that Sunnegren and other critics have a valid argument, that Bosh’s numbers don’t solidify his Hall-of-Fame candidacy. What history may overlook is exactly how important Bosh was to Miami’s success over the four years of the “Big 3” era.

While teammates LeBron James and Dwyane Wade remained productive while playing virtually the same as they had their whole careers, Bosh underwent an incredible transformation as a member of the Heat.

When Bosh joined the Raptors in 2003, his three-point shooting represented just 2 percent of all of his shot attempts; during the 2014-15 season, that number jumped up dramatically to 22.6 percent, nearly a quarter of all field-goal attempts.

Despite his limited activity last season, his 168 attempts from long range surpass the total number of three-point shots he took in seven seasons with the Raptors.

Additionally, it was Bosh’s ability to play the center position effectively, thereby stretching the floor considerably on offense, that allowed Miami’s “position-less basketball” to work so effectively during the “Big 3” era. He played a vital role in the system, something Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra explained to reporters back in 2014:

"“We’ve said that (about Bosh’s importance) since Year 1 because of his versatility on both ends of the court. With what we do defensively, there’s very few bigs that can do that in this league — defend the pick-and-rolls out to 30 feet, defend the post, help with your defense with great intelligence. And then offensively, we’ve had to tap into his versatility a little bit more to help us, to help our game, and to make it work. But knowing that he’d be probably criticized for some of the sacrifices he’s had to make for our offense.”"

Spoelstra’s spot-on in his defense of Bosh, perhaps providing that elusive context that is so difficult when determining his eligibility in the Hall-of-Fame. Bosh could have been more productive, focusing instead on statistical output, but he chose to sacrifice that aspect in order to make his team better and, by extension, win consistently.

By nearly every possible definition, that is what makes Bosh one of the best power forwards in NBA history and, without a doubt, a surefire addition to the Basketball Hall-of-Fame.

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