Chris Bosh insists he’s been “revitalized” by LeBron James’ departure, adding his whole attitude about basketball is on the rise given the four-time league MVP’s decision to take his talents elsewhere.
After admitting just how he himself came close to leaving South Beach to return to his Texas roots with the Rockets, Bosh told ESPN “I guess as soon as LeBron made up his mind that’s when everything could fall in line. But I was just waiting, so I didn’t know what was going on.”
With James deciding to head back to Cleveland, Pat Riley and the Heat quickly moved in to ink Bosh to a $118 million max deal they hope will motivate him to return to be closer to the force he was over his first seven NBA seasons in Toronto.
“It got me excited for the next chapter,” Bosh said of all the changes the once back-to-back champion Heat have gone through this offseason. “I’m really excited.
As the third wheel in the Heat Big 3 of James, Dwyane Wade and himself, Bosh averaged 17 points and seven rebounds over his four seasons in Miami, compared to 20 and 10 with the Raptors. With James now out of the picture, the Heat offense figures to revolve more around the versatile Bosh, who has averaged 52 percent field-goal shooting over his last two seasons, including 34 percent from behind the arc last in 2014.
“The longer it dragged out, the more I figured this could happen,” Bosh said of James actually leaving and he being elevated to the role of the Heat’s leading man. “When it happened, of course I was surprised and shocked and everything. But after a while, I can understand… You just move on.”
Besides re-signing Wade, Mario Chalmers and Chris Andersen, the Heat have also added Luol Deng, Josh McRoberts, Shabazz Napier, Danny Granger, and Shawne Williams, arguably giving them as much depth as anytime during the era of the Big 3.
“I think we have a very good team,” added Bosh. “I know we don’t have the best player in the world; that’s an obvious thing. But team-wise, if we come together we can do a bunch of special things. We’re still going to be competitive. It gives us an opportunity to play with a chip on our shoulder.”
