Chris Bosh Happy to Put Ego Aside to Keep Winning

In stature, Chris Bosh is the smallest of the Miami Heat’s vaunted Big Three. And though he has dreams of being a greater star, Bosh knows and accepts that taking on a smaller role is the smart and successful play. Per SI: “‘I always thought about being The Man,’ said Chris Bosh, who then invoked a name greater than his alpha-and-omega teammate. ‘I always wanted to be Jordan. That’s what I wanted to be.’ The stats say Bosh is not and never will be Jordan — or LeBron James either. In these playoffs Bosh is averaging 14 points and 7.1 rebounds for Miami. Of far greater importance to Bosh are the championship he helped win last season and the 10 playoff games he has helped the Heat win this season — and the six more wins they’ll need over the weeks ahead. […] Bosh at 6-foot-11 never wanted to be a center, but here he is in the Eastern finals, three inches shorter and 45 pounds lighter than his assignment. ‘One thing I’ve learned since I’ve been here is what you really have to sacrifice in order to be on a winning team,’ said Bosh. ‘A case in point is guarding Roy Hibbert. If I had my choice, I [wouldn’t] want to wrestle with that guy for a whole game. Him and David West? Well, David West I probably have to — but not Roy Hibbert. But I’m going to have to come in, do my job, do it well in order for us to win.’ […] ‘That’s why for three years we’ve said he’s our most important player,’ said Spoelstra. ‘Because he had been a proven No. 1 option that had the maturity and ego to be able to accept a totally different role, and a role that was initially uncomfortable for him. We’d put him in so many different places where he hadn’t played before. But it took him to be able to accept and adapt to all of that for us to truly unlock our versatility.’ After being raised as a young star in an American basketball culture that teaches players to view themselves in terms of their stats, Bosh at 29 has learned to see success from a new perspective. ‘I had to reprogram myself,’ he admitted. ‘You have to submerge yourself in the team, and sometimes it’s doing things you don’t want to do. It’s whatever the team needs, and usually you have to listen to your coach to know what the team needs. You can’t be like, well, this is what I’m going to do to help this team. It doesn’t work like that.'”