Chris Bosh Expresses Disappointment Over Hall Of Fame Snub

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Chris Bosh is not hiding his frustration about not being a finalist for this year’s enshrinement class for the Basketball Hall of Fame.

The former Miami and Toronto forward released a video statement on social media Tuesday, using some version of the word disappoint — be it “disappointed,” “disappointment” or “disappointing” — no fewer than 15 times in 5 minutes.

Bosh was a surprising omission last week from the class of eight finalists announced by the Hall as still being under consideration for enshrinement this year, a list that included contemporary players Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. The class of inductees will be revealed in Atlanta on April 4 at the men’s college basketball Final Four, and the Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony is in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Aug. 29.

“I’m going to be honest with you,” Bosh said. “I’m a competitive man. I’ve been competing my whole life. A lot of people don’t really know that about me, but I’m a fierce competitor. Losing bothers me. Coming up short bothers me. It always has, you know, since the moment I started playing basketball and it kind of bleeds over into everything that I do. So I’ll just get ahead of it. And so you hear this from me, I’m disappointed.”

Bosh is one of 13 players in NBA history to average 19.2 points and 8.5 rebounds in a career that included at least 11 All-Star selections.

The other 12 — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Karl Malone, Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, Larry Bird, Bob Pettit, Patrick Ewing, Elvin Hayes and Elgin Baylor — are all in the Hall of Fame.

Bosh is also the only Hall-eligible player with 17,189 points, 7,592 rebounds, 1,795 assists, 11 All-Star selections and two championships who is not already in, or a finalist this year for, the Hall of Fame. There are other players with those numbers, such as LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki, who are not yet eligible because they’re still playing or retired too recently.

“One of the things people like to say is, ‘Oh, next year,'” Bosh said. “What if there’s not a next year? That’s something that I think about every day. And I hope you think about it as well, but what if there’s not a tomorrow? What does that even mean? That is a definite question that’s been on my mind quite a bit, but I just have to be honest with you guys. I’m very disappointed.”

Bosh, who turns 36 next month, said he wishes he was still playing and believes he would still be in the NBA if not for the health issues that abruptly ended his career in 2016. Bosh had at least two bouts with blood clots.

He was an All-Star for Miami in his final season, 2015-16. He was averaging 19.1 points and 7.4 rebounds that season and had just arrived in Toronto for that year’s All-Star Game when a clot in one of his legs was discovered.

He never played again. Bosh eventually came to grips with that reality, saw his jersey be retired by the Heat — the team with whom he won two championships, a stint perhaps most notably remembered by his rebound and assist that set up Ray Allen’s season-saving, game-tying 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds left in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals against San Antonio. Bosh also blocked a 3-point try by Danny Green at the end of overtime to seal Miami’s three-point win, and the Heat would go on to win Game 7 for their second straight title.

“I’ve been disappointed with my career coming up short,” Bosh said. “I feel that I should still be playing basketball right now, but that’s neither here nor there. That was in my goals. That was in my plans and it just did not work out like that. I don’t want to be in this position. Now I’m here dealing with that. Had other plans, started making plans on the potentiality of going in with such a great class, didn’t even qualify. You know what I mean? … It’s just disappointing.”

(© Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Chris Bosh Expresses Disappointment Over Hall Of Fame Snub

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Chris Bosh is not hiding his frustration about not being a finalist for this year’s enshrinement class for the Basketball Hall of Fame.

The former Miami and Toronto forward released a video statement on social media Tuesday, using some version of the word disappoint — be it “disappointed,” “disappointment” or “disappointing” — no fewer than 15 times in 5 minutes.

Bosh was a surprising omission last week from the class of eight finalists announced by the Hall as still being under consideration for enshrinement this year, a list that included contemporary players Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. The class of inductees will be revealed in Atlanta on April 4 at the men’s college basketball Final Four, and the Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony is in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Aug. 29.

“I’m going to be honest with you,” Bosh said. “I’m a competitive man. I’ve been competing my whole life. A lot of people don’t really know that about me, but I’m a fierce competitor. Losing bothers me. Coming up short bothers me. It always has, you know, since the moment I started playing basketball and it kind of bleeds over into everything that I do. So I’ll just get ahead of it. And so you hear this from me, I’m disappointed.”

Bosh is one of 13 players in NBA history to average 19.2 points and 8.5 rebounds in a career that included at least 11 All-Star selections.

The other 12 — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Karl Malone, Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, Larry Bird, Bob Pettit, Patrick Ewing, Elvin Hayes and Elgin Baylor — are all in the Hall of Fame.

Bosh is also the only Hall-eligible player with 17,189 points, 7,592 rebounds, 1,795 assists, 11 All-Star selections and two championships who is not already in, or a finalist this year for, the Hall of Fame. There are other players with those numbers, such as LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki, who are not yet eligible because they’re still playing or retired too recently.

“One of the things people like to say is, ‘Oh, next year,’” Bosh said. “What if there’s not a next year? That’s something that I think about every day. And I hope you think about it as well, but what if there’s not a tomorrow? What does that even mean? That is a definite question that’s been on my mind quite a bit, but I just have to be honest with you guys. I’m very disappointed.”

Bosh, who turns 36 next month, said he wishes he was still playing and believes he would still be in the NBA if not for the health issues that abruptly ended his career in 2016. Bosh had at least two bouts with blood clots.

He was an All-Star for Miami in his final season, 2015-16. He was averaging 19.1 points and 7.4 rebounds that season and had just arrived in Toronto for that year’s All-Star Game when a clot in one of his legs was discovered.

He never played again. Bosh eventually came to grips with that reality, saw his jersey be retired by the Heat — the team with whom he won two championships, a stint perhaps most notably remembered by his rebound and assist that set up Ray Allen’s season-saving, game-tying 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds left in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals against San Antonio. Bosh also blocked a 3-point try by Danny Green at the end of overtime to seal Miami’s three-point win, and the Heat would go on to win Game 7 for their second straight title.

“I’ve been disappointed with my career coming up short,” Bosh said. “I feel that I should still be playing basketball right now, but that’s neither here nor there. That was in my goals. That was in my plans and it just did not work out like that. I don’t want to be in this position. Now I’m here dealing with that. Had other plans, started making plans on the potentiality of going in with such a great class, didn’t even qualify. You know what I mean? … It’s just disappointing.”

(© Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Heat’s Jones Jr. & Adebayo Winners At Epic All-Star Saturday

CHICAGO (AP) — Aaron Gordon lost another epic dunk contest. And it was by a couple of inches — namely, the top of Tacko Fall’s head.

Derrick Jones Jr. finally got his long-awaited dunk contest title as an exclamation point to an scintillating All-Star Saturday Night, both for him and the Miami Heat. Jones and Gordon needed a dunk-off to decide a winner, Jones prevailing 48-47 in the one that determined who left with the trophy.

Miami’s Bam Adebayo won the skills title as well, and Sacramento’s Buddy Hield took the 3-point crown. Their wins were absolute, without ambiguity: the ball going in told the tale. But the dunk contest — much like the one between Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins in Chicago 32 years earlier — came down to the judges’ call.

Gordon brushed against the back of Fall’s head, and that was enough to sway three of the judges — they gave 9s, and that combined with two 10s added to the final 47. Jones said he would have settled for another dunk-off round.

“He clipped Tacko’s head when he did that dunk, so I knew they couldn’t have gave him a 50 for that one,” said Jones, who was in the dunk contest in 2017 as well. “I would have respected it if they gave him another 48, so we can go again.”

Thing is, it wasn’t clear if they would have dunked again had it still been tied after Gordon’s final attempt. The NBA was not going to permit co-champions, and there would have been a point — which they were possibly at — when judges would have had to vote and decide a winner.

Controversy reigned regardless. And much like 2016, when Gordon lost to Zach LaVine in one of the best dunk contests ever, the Magic forward — who set a dunk contest record with five perfect scores — left frustrated.

“I feel like I should have two trophies,” Gordon said.

When Gordon the 7-foot-5 Fall to come out for his last dunk — Fall played college basketball in Orlando at UCF — it was the ultimate risk-reward moment.

Gordon, who wanted to jump over the slightly shorter-than-Fall Shaquille O’Neal but got that invitation declined, needed a 49 to win. But he didn’t totally clear his very tall prop, and just like that Jones was the champion.

“Tallest dude in the gym.” Gordon said. “Jumping over somebody 7-5 and dunking it, it’s no easy feat. What’d I get, a 47? Come on, man. What are we doing?”

Jones lauded Gordon for trying a dunk over Fall.

“If I would have thought of it earlier, I’d have did it,” Jones said.

The first round was full of props: Jones — celebrating his 23rd birthday — had a birthday cake and Adebayo on the court for his first dunk, Gordon went over Chicago native Chance The Rapper for a slam, Milwaukee’s Pat Connaughton leaped over Bucks teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo and kissed the ball off the glass before his second dunk, and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Dwight Howard brought back his Superman dunk from 11 years ago as well.

Jones Jr. and Gordon emerged as the two finalists. Gordon was perfect on every dunk until his last one. But in the end, Jones proved prophetic.

“I said I would do it,” Jones said.

Adebayo drew 2018 skills champion Spencer Dinwiddie of Brooklyn in the first round, having no problem with the accurate pass into a tight window, layup and 3-pointer that, to win, need to be made before an opponent completes the same course. Same thing in the second round, Adebayo finished off Toronto’s Pascal Siakam without a miss once again to earn his spot in the final.

“I told Spencer I’m going to be the champion,” Adebayo said. “We were walking in, and I told Spencer I was going to be a champion.”

It came down to big men: Adebayo against Indiana’s Domantas Sabonis. It took three tries for Adebayo to make his 3-pointer to win, and he still wound up beating Sabonis to the final make. Sabonis felt he rushed his second shot, and that gave Adebayo a leg up.

Neither Sabonis nor Adebayo was surprised that a pair of bigs wound up dueling for the skills title.

“It’s just showing how the game is changing and how big men and power forwards are basically bringing up the ball, passing the ball,” Sabonis said.

Adebayo dedicated the win to his mother — she’ll be getting the trophy as well — and said he was particularly honored to compete with a patch on that paid tribute to Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and the other seven victims of the helicopter crash that took their lives in Southern California on Jan. 26.

All competitors Saturday wore a patch with the numbers 2 and 24 — for Gianna and Kobe — surrounded by nine stars, signifying nine victims.

“When I was in high school, I said if I get to the NBA, I want to meet Kobe,” Adebayo said. “I felt like this (was) my All-Star to do it. I feel like he’s been more of an impact now than he was back then. Not saying that him living didn’t do anything for me, but it just means more now that I know I can never meet him. I feel like he knows who I am now. So just keep trying to make him proud.”

Adebayo won his trophy with a 3-pointer on the final shot, so perhaps it was fitting that Hield won his in the same manner.

The 3-point contest came down to Hield, Booker and Washington’s Davis Bertans after five others — including defending champion Joe Harris — were knocked out in the first round. Bertans went first in the final round, scoring 22. Booker went next, scoring 26.

And that left Hield, who made his last six shots of the opening round and needed to get hot again late in the final.

No problem.

His “money ball” rack — the one where every shot was worth two points — was the final of his five full racks, and he got to that corner with 19 points. That meant he had to go 4 for 5 on the last rack to catch Booker.

First one, make. Second one, make. Third one, make.

Hield then missed the fourth shot before letting the final one fly — dancing for joy when it dropped through the net, giving him a walkoff victory.

“As a shooter, this is on your bucket list,” Hield said. “You have to come in and you want to win a 3-point shootout. With a stacked field like that, it makes it even better. Pressure is on, and you’ve got to show up.”

That was the theme of the night, all the way to the end.

(© Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Kobe Bryant Casts Shadow as NBA’s Best Meet in Sunday’s All-Star Game

Kobe Bryant always seemed to be in top form when he stepped onto the court for the NBA All-Star Game. The league’s current best will try to match his effort when Team LeBron and Team Giannis meet on Sunday.

Kobe and Gianna Bryant are honored before the 2020 NBA All-Star — Taco Bell Skills Challenge during the State Farm All-Star Saturday Night at the United Center on Feb. 15, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. (Credit: Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

The All-Star festivities returned to Chicago for the first time since 1988 when Michael Jordan beat Dominique Wilkins in a slam dunk contest that remains the standard and scored 40 points to lead the East over the West.

But Bryant is casting a huge shadow over the events this weekend, just weeks after he and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were among nine people killed when their helicopter crashed into the side of a mountain near Los Angeles.

Commissioner Adam Silver announced Saturday night that the All-Star Game MVP award has been renamed in Bryant’s memory.

“We know that he’s watching over us,» the Lakers’ LeBron James said. «It’s our responsibility to just represent the purple and gold not only for him but for all the greats, everybody that’s ever come through the Lake Show. I really don’t want to sit up here and talk about it too much. It’s a very, very sensitive subject, but he’s with us every day.”

Bryant played on five NBA championship teams, won a league MVP award and two scoring titles in a career that spanned 20 seasons and has him poised to enter the Hall of Fame after he was announced Friday as one of eight finalists.

He was the youngest All-Star in league history, ranks second with 18 selections and took game MVP honors a record-tying four times, including on his home court in 2011 when he dazzled with 37 points and 14 rebounds. Bryant scored 20 or more seven times.

Kobe Bryant warms up with daughter Gianna Bryant during the NBA All-Star Game 2016 at the Air Canada Centre on Feb. 14, 2016 in Toronto, Ontario. (Credit: Elsa/Getty Images)

“The whole thing of paying respect to Kobe is awesome, so I think it’s going to be fun,” said Toronto’s Kyle Lowry, making his sixth straight All-Star appearance. «I’m hoping it’s really, really intense. Hopefully, we’ll give the fans one of the best All-Star Games ever.”

Here are some things to know:

THE MATCHUP

James is looking to go 3-0 as an All-Star captain, after his team beat the one picked by Golden State’s Stephen Curry in 2018 and topped the one Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo selected last year. James had the No. 1 overall pick for the starters round because he received the most votes from the fans and took teammate Anthony Davis.

Antetokounmpo used his first pick on Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid.

The Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, Houston’s James Harden and Russell Westbrook, and Dallas’ Luka Doncic were among the players joining Davis on James’ team.

Toronto’s Pascal Siakam, Boston’s Kemba Walker, Atlanta’s Trae Young and Miami’s Jimmy Butler helped round out Team Giannis.

“I’m just competitive, and I’m just going to try to go out there and get a win, get my first All-Star (win),» Antetokounmpo said. “I’m 0-3 so far. But at the end of the day, I’ve just got to keep a smile on my face because we’ve got to put on a show for the people.”

NEW RULES

The league announced major changes to the All-Star format last month, turning quarters into mini-games.

The scores will be reset back to 0-0 prior to the second and third quarters, then be reinstated for the fourth. The All-Star game winner will be determined by a target score, set by the combined point total the team in the lead had in the first three quarters plus 24 — a nod to Bryant, who wore that number over the final decade of his career. That’s just one of multiple tributes to him over the weekend.

The teams are also playing for Chicago-area charities, with at least $500,000 going to local organizations.

PAYING TRIBUTE

The support for Bryant and his daughter is uniform.

Team Giannis will wear No. 24 on its jerseys and Team LeBron No. 2 for Gianna, a promising player who wore that number.

All participants in the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday and 3-point, slam dunk and skills competition on Saturday wore patches showing the numbers 24 and 2 and nine stars to commemorate the victims of the helicopter crash. The patches worn Sunday will only have the nine stars since players will be wearing the numbers 24 and 2.

“He was the Michael Jordan of our generation,” Antetokounmpo said. “He was one of those guys that gave back to the game so much, gave back to the players. A lot of people when they’re so great, they don’t do that. There was a quote that said that talent is worthless if you’re not willing to share it, right? And he was one of those guys that was sharing his talent with us. He’s going to be definitely missed.”

HOMECOMING

Davis, a Chicago product, won’t be the only player in familiar territory. Butler will be playing where his career began.

Unheralded as a late first-round pick, he emerged as an All-Star and one of the league’s best two-way players in his six seasons with the Bulls before getting dealt to Minnesota in a 2017 draft day trade.

“Man, this city’s done a lot for me,” Butler said. “To me, kids are so important, and I love this city. So every time I come back, I try to do as much as I can with them.”

INTERNATIONAL FLAIR

With eight non-Americans suiting up, the game will have an international flair. Greece (Antetokounmpo), Slovenia (Dončić), Serbia (Nikola Jokić), Lithuania (Domantas Sabonis), Australia (Ben Simmons), Cameroon (Joel Embiid, Pascal Siakam) and France (Rudy Gobert) will be represented.