Monday, June 21st, 2010 at 4:15 pm  |  98 responses

Chris Bosh: ‘I’m Not an Addition. I’m a Centerpiece’

by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

Chris Bosh is one of the top free agents this summer. A solid big, one of the best in the League in fact, but he always seems to get overlooked when the discussion of this year’s big free agent class comes up.

Well, Bosh wants it to be known that he’ll no longer take a backseat. Chris believes he has what it takes for some lucky team to build around him, and win a championship.

NBA.com has the quotes:

“I don’t want to be mentioned as an addition to a team,” Bosh recently told NBA Entertainment. “I want to be mentioned as the guy that people want to center their team around.”

“I’m not an addition. I’m a centerpiece,” he said. “I have to have that confidence in myself, and I want people to know that, because I’m not somebody that helps out. I’m the guy you get like, ‘Yo, we’re going to win a championship, you’re gonna take us there.’

“I want to hold onto that because I think every kid when they dream about playing basketball, they don’t dream about being a role player. They dream about being the man. I have that position in Toronto and to give that up and go somewhere else to be an addition would kinda defeat the purpose of my dreams.”

If he’s already a “centerpiece” in Toronto, it’s a bit confusing that Bosh feels the need to tell the world that he is that dude (a statement that remains very much in doubt.)

July 1st can’t get here soon enough, if only for the fact that when it does, Chris Bosh and friends will thankfully no longer need to remind us of their value.

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  • flash

    First!
    You’re not even a Center!

  • http://slamonline.com JL

    so he’s staying? maybe he can be centerpiece but his O-game needs to be dominant, not just very good.

  • vanillagorrila

    Yeah, he is still just a poor man’s pau with a tendency to choke in clutch situations. He is the ideal 2nd option tho as a pf with a powerful defensive 5 to make up for his lack of any post defense. Its going to be interesting to see if his pride ruins his chances of winning a ring. My guess is it will.

  • vanillagorrila

    I don’t think being somebody’s pippen is that big of a problem Bosh.

  • http://www.hoopsvibe.com/features/overdribbling chiqo

    you’ve been the centerpiece for a few years now, bosh. how has that worked out for you?

  • jumpman3224

    well we know how he voted in today’s slamonline poll…thought that was supposed to be private

  • floe

    refer to comments to verify i called this first. dude’s gonna take a big chunk off the salary cap for the raptors the next few years and then realise he was never good enough to lead a team and then sign with boston/lakers/et al.

    also, hope lebron and wade end up playing together like i think they will.

  • CoraSong

    Hahahaha @ flash!

  • http://www.slamonline.com/ niQ

    I guess this means he won’t be teaming up with Lebron or Wade. ..

  • http://www.dimemag.com AMG

    The “RuPaul of big men”. One of Shaq’s best ever.

  • Silverselectjd

    Guess that rules out LA.

  • Str8in It Out

    I wonder if Pau thought like this before he got his two rings alongside Kobe. Teaming up with other superstars (who may be considered better) just makes the game easier for everyone and allows everyone to become a role player. wallow your pride Chris. Don’t get lost in the sauce.

  • Str8in It Out

    I wonder if Pau thought like this before he got his two rings alongside Kobe. Teaming up with other superstars (who may be considered better) just makes the game easier for everyone and allows everyone to become a role player. Swallow your pride Chris. Don’t get lost in the sauce.

  • Javy

    Yeah!! I know what you mean Nowitsky, ……….I mean Bosh!

  • Cool Dude

    Pau just wanted to get out of the Grizzlies. I really want to see Wade with Bosh tbh, creating the Lakers of the east. Can you imagine the finals? Wade vs Kobe. Bosh vs Gasol. Riely vs PJ.

  • LB

    Wow, come on, dude. I love Chris Bosh’s game and i like that he’s got that confidence in himself, but the results speak for itself. Even Vince Carter had more postseason success being the “Man” in T. Dot than Chris Bosh.

  • OneStep

    Well I suppose you’re about to get a nasty reality check then Mr Bosh. Nothing about your career so far has ever suggested you are or could be a centrepiece. You are and will continue to be a great second option. Accept this, be at peace with it and enjoy a fruitful career.

  • Yesse

    Sure, Bosh can play and he is an all star, but for a championship team he wouldnt probably be the best player. Maybe second best or third best.

  • 8ight

    Why is there a picture of Whoopi Goldberd on the SLAM homepage in connection with this post?

  • kh

    When will these dudes realize that there is nothing wrong with playing alongside another great player in order to get it done! Get over yourself Bosh.

  • robert stewart

    he looks like michael jackson in this pic. minus the bleached skin

  • Exiled Zebra

    He could go to the clips. Kaveman, bosh, griffin, gordon, bdizzle. Vry nice

  • Chris

    This quote was what he said at the BEGINNING of the season. Anyone that thinks he would give up a chance to be on a team with Kobe or Lebron is out of their mind.

  • Sweetness

    That kind of attitude isn’t going to take him far.

  • LD

    LOL @ Chris Bosh. Then why don’t you just lead Toronto to a championship. If you’re the centerpiece, it doesn’t matter were you go.

  • underdog

    If CB wants to win anyithing he must team up with at least one star player, and he knows that. He should just ask KG.

  • http://dsfrjklfl.com JukaI

    Bottom line: Pau Gasol would disappear into history as a semi-talented power forward who had one or two all-star games and never really did anything in the NBA… now he’s going to be viewed as a top-15 all time PF by winning two championships.
    Just cause yer not the ‘man’ doesn’t mean history wont remember you incredibly fondly. I don’t think this is a good attitude for Bosh to have.

  • http://slamonline.com tealish

    If Chris Bosh is a centerpiece of a team — that team sucks.

  • Neon

    “We don’t believe you/ you need more people!”

  • Joe

    What team ever, in the history of the NBA has won a title with just 1 superstar, or “centerpiece” and no secondary All-Star?………..lets take a walk down memory lane…….(Kobe/Pau),(Big 3),(Spurs Big 3),(D-Wade/Shaq,(Spurs Big 3),(Pistons starting 5),(Spurs Big 3 again),(Shaq/Kobe),(Duncan/Admiral),(Jordan &Pip),(Hakeem/Drexler),(Jordan&Pip)…..ok I think you get the point, if not then your name is Chris Bosh!

  • http://4Aitkenroad,Hamilton,ScotlandML37YA Hambone

    even ru-paul needs elton john

  • Tommy Patron

    Keep this softie the F out of Chicago.

  • Elias

    If he wants to be a Laker, he can’t have that attitude, if you’re Kobe then you can, but not if you’re Chris Bosh. If Bosh came to the Lakers for Bynum, he’d be like the number 2 or 3 guy on the team, and Bosh and Gasol would be soft. I don’t really like Bosh, heplays too Europian, and I’m from Europe and I can tell you that European basketball sucks, I’d rather watch WNBA.

  • Paul Johnson

    soft as cookie dough…

  • RedRum

    hahahah!!! thank you CB, you made me laugh! had a crap day, you saying you want to be a leader really cracked me up!

  • http://www.kwapt.blogspot.com KobeWearsAPurpleThong

    He’s a napkin-holder at the very least.

  • deano

    …in the same ways a coffee table is the centerpiece of a living room, CB4 is the centerpiece of a franchise. lets be real dude, you are a 200lb big-man, you haven’t yet proven to be the center of anything…..he’s gonna have to change this attitude and soon

  • http://facebook D00m

    what ever happend to Blake Griffen

  • Exile

    I don’t think he’s saying that he doesn’t want to team up with LBJ or Flash. He just wants to do it in the role of the big two, or three rather than robin to their Batman.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Pardeep

    He is just saying this so people will think he isn’t totally dissing Toronto. Bosh will be LeBron or Wade’s Pippen by the time free agency is over.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Pardeep
  • http://twitter.com/pdxgaybball dma

    LOL @ Joe leaving out the celtics. well played.

  • http://www.shawnkemp.com JACO

    well chris you can be an addition to a centerpiece on a great team (LAKERS) or you can be with a buddy (DWYANE) and begin a new dynasty and oh how would i love that.

  • Javy

    For those of you who have watched MJ, Magic, Bird, etc: this proves a point when money gets in the head of young players. Look at Lebron, the pose before the games, the celebrations, the smoke up in the air.Then Superman having biceps made of rock and the will made of powder.Now Bosh asking for respect since he’s managed to accomplish….ummm…ummm…sorry can’t recall what he’s won. Arenas not caring about excellence but instead about signing a fat contract.
    Be glad Kobe is still around otherwise Wade would be our only hope.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Pardeep

    Now that AI is returning I hope he signs with Miami: Iverson, Wade, Bosh or Boozer could form a Big 3 capable of winning the East. Iverson would have no problem taking a back seat to D-Wade he knows Wades better at this point.

  • cp3fan

    You can’t build a championship team around him. He will have to play with LeBron or D-Wade if he wants to try to win a championship. And either way, I don’t see a Wade-Bosh or Bron-Bosh combination being able to beat the Lakers in the Finals. People act like one of those two combinations will guarantee a championship….you need a few more players to play with too lol. It’s not 2 on 2…it’s five on five.

  • gani

    i think bosh proved last season how much of a ‘centerpiece’ he is. this guy needs a big serving of humble pie or something.

  • alexz

    IM NOT A DINOSAUR! IM NOT A DINOSAUR!

  • http://www.nbaballhog.wordpress.com God in Basketball Shoes

    When will athletes learn to put their arrogance to one side to improve their pursuit of winning? you really have to wonder how badly these modern athletes want to win. Look at Wilt joining a team with Elgin and West. You think those two were angry when they got the Stilt? You think O was upset when Lew joined the Bucks? Modern athletes feel that they need arrogance to give them the confidence to compete with the best and dominate their sport. That is well and good, but keep it to yourself, internalise that sh*t and use it to your advantage, don’t shout it to the world and make yourself look like a d*ck. They care so much about money but seem to forget the benefits and exposure that winning championships brings.

  • Exiled Zebra

    Dma is dumb. And joe, what about 94 rockets? Who was second superstar on that team? Elie? Horry? Hakeem is the only example of a single star led team winning a title

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