LeBron, Wade show appreciation for Bosh after retirement ceremony
More than two hours later and almost 3,000 miles from AmericanAirlines Arena, where the Miami Heat retired Chris Bosh’s No. 1, LeBron James finished up a 124-106 win for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Washington Wizards at Staples Center. The forward couldn’t be in Miami on Tuesday, so he had to share his public message about Bosh on the 12-time All-Star’s big night through a TV camera in Los Angeles.
TNT’s Caron Butler tracked James down after the final whistle to ask him about his game and what happened in Florida for one of the other members of the Big 3.
“Chris Bosh is a brother to me. I love everything about him,” James said in the postgame interview on TNT. “Obviously, we all in this league have seen the player, from out of Georgia Tech what he turned into, but, more importantly, the man that he is, man. His family, what he stands for, what he preaches, it was just an honor to be with him for four years, it was an honor for me to come into the league in ‘03 with him and it’s an honor to still be a brother of his and to be able to send a text to him before we played tonight. I let him know how proud I am of him and how welldeserved seeing his jersey go up in the rafters in South Beach.”
Bosh’s jersey retirement Tuesday brought reactions from across the NBA world, players and coaches reflecting on the type of player Bosh was, and the type of person he still is.
Orlando Magic coach Steve Clifford talked about Bosh’s legacy after the game. Coach Erik Spoelstra talked about his former star post player over and over again. Any Heat player who had something to say about Miami’s 104-99 loss to the Magic on Tuesday also had something to say about Bosh, including Dwyane Wade.
“It was great, man, just seeing CB up there and the words that he said, what this meant to him and his family, what he meant to this organization, what he means to this organization,” Wade said in the locker room after the game. “It’s special, so I’m thankful that I was able to be here, I’m thankful I was able to be a part of it, so well deserved.”
Bosh got some playful barbs in at Wade’s expense, which the guard said was fitting.
“That’s our relationship. That’s what we do,” Wade said. “He’s always lighthearted, he’s always fun. When you’ve won two championships with guys, you have a bond that’s so special it can’t be broken, so it was his day, it was his moment, so whatever he said, we was going to roll with it.
Bosh spoke for 12 minutes at halftime — a break which lasted 22 minutes when factoring in additional speeches from Wade and president Pat Riley. Bosh’s engrossing speech, which he punctuated with some of his signature yelling, electrified the crowd, but Miami blew a halftime lead after players and coaches sat on the court for the entire ceremony.
After the loss, Spoelstra was quick to say there was no correlation between the extended halftime and the second-half struggles.
“It had nothing to do with what a terrific halftime that was,” Spoelstra said at his postgame press conference, “but the start of the third quarter, they just got back into the game so quickly. It was just bucket, bucket, bucket and then we we weren’t executing with great force or detail, and then it just became a grind from there.”