Chris Bosh on Heat, Warriors, Vince Carter as NBA Top Dunker, B/R AMA Top Quotes
Even though Chris Bosh's time in the NBA was cut short due to issues with blood clots, his 13-year career included 11 All-Star appearances, two championships and a spot on the 2006-07 All-NBA second team.
On Wednesday, Bosh took part in an AMA session with Bleacher Report to answer fan questions about his career with the Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat, as well as what he's looking forward to seeing in the NBA this season.
When the topic of a matchup between the 2012-13 Heat and 2016-17 Warriors came up, arguably the two best teams of the decade, Bosh had a diplomatic and reasonable response.
"People have to stop asking that question, because who am I going to say? The Warriors win in 7? That would be the dumbest thing in the world," he said. "Of course we'd win."
That Heat squad went 66-16 during the regular season, ranked second in offensive efficiency, ninth in defensive efficiency and had a memorable NBA Finals win over the San Antonio Spurs.
The 2016-17 Warriors were 67-15 in the regular season, then won 16 of 17 games with a scoring margin of plus-13.5 in the postseason
Bosh spoke about getting the assist on Ray Allen's game-tying three in Game 6 against the Spurs: "I was tired, exhausted, but I couldn't really feel anything...people have to remember we played in OT...and then we still had a whole 'nother game 7."
Having played alongside Vince Carter and LeBron James during his career, Bosh had a first-hand look at two of the best dunkers in NBA history. He was very definitive about which one was better at that particular skill.
"Vince," said Bosh. "And Bron would agree with me. Vince is the best in-game dunker of all time, period."
As part of the famed 2003 NBA draft, Bosh is uniquely qualified to speak about the sport because he was part of the shift in the league when big men started playing on the perimeter. He made nearly as many three-pointers in his final three seasons (218) as he attempted in his first 10 seasons (302).
The player who has led the three-point revolution for this generation, Stephen Curry, has been in the news this week after Michael Jordan said on NBC's Today the Golden State Warriors star isn't a Hall of Famer yet.
Bosh had an interesting interpretation of Jordan's take about Curry: "I think he's just ribbing. We know Steph, usually when you win two MVPs in a row, you know the history. You know your big brother, he's just saying you're not doing nothing, you're not in the HOF yet."
Jordan was included in Bosh's list of top 10 NBA players of all-time. James, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and "throw in another player" also made it into the group.
Bosh also stated definitively he's retired and isn't considering an NBA comeback, but he did pick one young player heading into this season that he really likes and shares some qualities similar to his: "Jaren Jackson Jr. is cool, I like him, he's a lefty...I like that, the lefty spirit. His upside is really big."
