CB4, The Boshtrich, and The Boshasaurus are just a few nicknames for retired NBA player Chris Bosh. At Lincoln High School in Dallas, Bosh won Mr. Basketball before enrolling at Georgia Tech in 2002. He left after one season to enter the NBA draft, where he was picked fourth overall by the Toronto Raptors. Foolishly, the Pistons and Nuggets both passed on Bosh, selecting Darko Miličić and Carmelo Anthony, respectively. Miličić averaged 6 points and 4 rebounds throughout his career, and Melo is arguably the worst teammate of all time (possibly second only to Dwight Howard). In other words, Toronto got an absolute steal by picking a guy fourth who should've gone second—LeBron James went No. 1 that year, so I'll give the Cavs a pass.
In the 2003-04 season, Bosh made an immediate impact, averaging 11.5 points and 7.4 boards. He would make the all-rookie team, and he wouldn't slow down from there. The 6'11" freak of nature went on to become an 11x all-star and made the all-NBA team in 2006-07. In 2010, he joined LeBron and Dwyane Wade (who was selected one pick after Bosh in the draft) in Miami. He left Toronto as the franchise leader in basically every statistical category; for that reason, this seems like a good time to tell you that anyone who says DeMar DeRozan is the greatest Raptor of all time has forgotten about the true GOAT, the King of the Dragons, Chris Bosh. He and the other two members of Miami's big 3 won back-to-back championships while they were all together on the Heat. In 2014, LeBron decided he was tired of living in Bosh's shadow and decided to go back to Cleveland. This only made Bosh stronger, as he could finally play freely without having to share the ball with LBJ so often. He averaged 21 and 7 despite missing a lot of time due to injury. The following year, he dropped 21 points and grabbed 10 boards in the Heat's opening game. Later that season, the savage knocked down all five of his three-pointers against the Nets en route to a 24-point, 12-rebound performance.
Tragically, Bosh dealt with severe health problems in the form of blood clots beginning in the 2015-16 season. He has never been the same and has since retired. He left in the peak of his career at just 31 years old. It's hard to imagine how good he would be right now if he were still playing—I think it's safe to say he would be averaging at least 32 and 13. He's still working on a comeback, but many question whether he will ever be healthy enough to get back to NBA form. Pat Riley, legendary Miami Heat president, made the decision to retire Bosh's number 1 jersey in Miami. This seems like a no-brainer of a decision, and it's an appropriate way to honor one of the best players of all time.
Many other NBA big men have better numbers and possibly a better skillset. However, people forget that stats are for losers. Furthermore, Bosh has the most important intangible of all, which is that he's a great guy off the court. He's married and has four kids. He loves to cook, he's never been arrested, and he always played with a smile on his face. When you factor in all this with his stellar career, it is almost impossible to argue that he is not the greatest center/power forward of all time. If he never finds a way to make an NBA comeback, his presence will be greatly missed in the league.
