Chris Bosh: 3 big takeaways from his career

Adversity builds champions

During the seven seasons he spent in Toronto, Chris Bosh was unable to make it out of the first round of the playoffs in two attempts. The Toronto Raptors were competitive during the two series, but were clearly outmatched in terms of talent and coaching. The early playoff exits, combined with injuries to himself and teammates, cast doubt on Bosh’s future with the Raptors.

After leaving Toronto for Miami, Bosh did not immediately find smooth sailing with the Heat. The team notoriously struggled early as all members of the team struggled to find their rhythm.

The Heat would eventually find their stride and take a 2-1 series lead in the 2011 NBA Finals. The championship that seemed inevitable when the Big Three announced their signings were in sight. But it was not to be, as the Dallas Mavericks proceeded to win the next three games and the title.

The next season, the 2012 Miami Heat ran into a spirited Boston Celtics squad in the Eastern Conference Finals. After five highly entertaining games, the Heat found themselves down 3-2 and on the brink of elimination. The Heat returned to Miami for a decisive seventh game after a historic performance in Game 6 by LeBron James on the Celtics home floor. Game 7 was a hard-fought affair and Chris Bosh shined in the biggest game of his career to that point.

After extinguishing the embers of Boston’s most recent Big Three, the Heat would go on to win the NBA title in only five games against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The adversity that the Heat faced had culminated with the achievement of their ultimate goal.

That experience would propel them the following year to overcome another 3-2 deficit, this time against the San Antonio Spurs in the 2013 NBA Finals. The Miami Heat joined the Los Angeles Lakers as the only teams to repeat since the year 2000. All of the controversy, the losses and setbacks had forged Chris Bosh and his teammates into champions.