Chris Bosh: Why Being the Miami Heat's Odd Man out Isn't Such a Bad Thing

When the Miami Heat signed Chris Bosh and LeBron James to play alongside Dwyane Wade, they instantly became the most hated team in North American professional sports. When the "Big Three" held a rally in which they proclaimed that they were going to win "not five, not six, not seven" championships, they became the most hated athletes in North America.

As the NBA season wore on, however, you could sense a disconnect between the top two stars on the team—LeBron James and Dwyane Wade—and the "other" member of the unit—Chris Bosh.

Wade and James were holding joint press conferences after games while Bosh was left answering questions on his own.

Bosh, for all the money that he is making, never really seemed to fall into all that hype that surrounded the team after that rally last summer. He wanted to win, sure, but he never had the ego or the swagger that Wade and James did.

Now, with the NBA season being over, Bosh is doing even more to endear himself to casual sports fans thanks to a bachelor party that he dubbed as "The Hangover 3." And he did it without the presence of James and Wade.

Maybe those two didn't want to show up because they felt that it would negatively affect their public image. Maybe they were afraid of possible foul play (for the record, there wasn't any). Maybe they just didn't want to go.

I don't know, I don't care.

But I do know that Bosh has never really seemed like a guy that wants to play the role of the villain, which is something that the other two embraced. He was out alongside James and Wade because he signed a contract that was similar to the one that they did, but he never wanted to be THAT guy.

And as the year went on, you could see him keep his distance from the circus that was following James and Wade. He could have been blinded by the spotlight, but he just went out and did his job and went home.

Fans will never embrace this Heat team because they think that what James did to Cleveland was the worst betrayal since Judas sold out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

But Bosh is different. He doesn't promote himself. He doesn't call attention to his game. He just goes out and averages 19 points and nine rebounds per game.

Sure, he is seen as the guy who is riding on the coattails of the other two guys but that doesn't mean fans can't root for him. He is earning a lot of money playing hard night in and night out. He is a likable guy. Maybe being the third wheel isn't such a bad thing after all.

Fans don't have to embrace the Big Three, but there will come a day where they are at least able to cheer for someone like Bosh.