Bosh treating All-Star Weekend as if it’s his last
TORONTO — Next season, Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh will breathe easier around this time of year.
No longer will he worry of his chances of being selected to the NBA All-Star Game. No longer will he wonder if his body of work is enough to impress the coaches around the league.
In fact, no longer will Bosh even care about adding to his long list of accomplishments. He knows this is likely his last opportunity to share the stage with the NBA’s best players.
“This will be the last year that I’m worried about it,” Bosh said. “I figured I’ve had a pretty good run.”
This marks the 11th time Bosh has been part of the All-Star festivities. If this is indeed the finale, it will come in the arena he called home for seven seasons. The host city is Toronto, where Bosh played with the Raptors from 2003-10 before joining LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in Miami. While Wade and James, who is now with the Cleveland Cavaliers, were voted in as starters, Bosh is slowly giving way to the pecking order as the league transitions to a new generation of players.
“I mean, it’s 11 times for me,” Bosh said. “It’s newer, younger guys coming up. It’s getting tougher and tougher to make every year.”
It’s why making this year’s game was so important. Bosh has tended to shy from talking about his worth to the team, preferring to leave it to peers and teammates. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and Wade made it clear they felt Bosh deserved an All-Star spot.
Even Bosh said he would have been “disappointed” had he not been chosen, mainly because he wanted this to be the last year of fighting for an All-Star appearance.
“I think any time you don’t make it, at least for me, you get disappointed,” Bosh said. “I would have gotten over it fast and just utilized that time to do something else because it is work. It’s work of the privileged. I get the opportunity to go out there, do some cool stuff, play in a great game. It’s the best 24, 25 players in the world.”
Only 26 players in league history have more All-Star appearances — led by Hall of Fame center Kareem AbdulJabbar’s19 — than Bosh. He is fifth among active players, behind Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, James and Wade.
There was a time an invite to the game was a measuring stick for Bosh. Now he is just more focused on playing like an All-Star instead of being advertised as one. He said there is a possibility he would decline an invite next season even if he remains playing at a high level.