Chris Bosh hasn’t said a single word to LeBron James since James’ move to Cleveland
We’re in a different era. We’re not stuck in the 1980s, when Larry Bird had to buy a second edition of his local newspaper in order to see what Magic Johnson put up in the Laker box score that missed deadline on the west coast. There are no Rolodexes to attend to when you need to pull someone’s number up. With one hand, with contact lenses out and with someone snoring next to you in bed, you can text, DM, or hit someone up on any number of social media platforms. In a second, you could contact an ex-girlfriend, a father-in-law, the guy that beat you out for First Team All-NBA, or the teammate that helped you out with those two championship rings you keep in the other room.
That’s why it seems a little surprising that Chris Bosh, an otherwise sensible sort, hasn’t said a thing to LeBron James in the nearly three months since James decided to leave the Miami Heat for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Sure, Bosh and James are technically Eastern Conference rivals right now (even if the Cavs should wipe the floor with Bosh’s Heat this season), but in today’s ultra-friendly and ultra-communicative culture, the silence seems out of place.
To anyone but Bosh, I suppose, as the Heat and Cavaliers ready themselves to play a pointless exhibition game in Brazil. From ESPN and the Associated Press:
Asked by reporters if he had talked to his former teammate since James’ decision to leave the Heat, Bosh answered a succinct, “No.”
As to whether he was looking forward to seeing James on Saturday at the game in Rio de Janeiro, he replied with a lukewarm, “Yeah … I don’t know.”
“I’m in the mode where I’m trying to lead my team, help these guys out around here,” he said.
“If guys aren’t in this locker room, I don’t have much time for them — if any.”
To some, that sort of tough guy approach will seem appropriate. After falling short in the 2014 NBA Finals, LeBron decided to chase a ring again (silly him!) with a younger and potentially more potent (to say the absolute least) in Cleveland. The same thing, you’ll recall, that Chris Bosh did in 2010 when he (and LeBron) initiated sign and trade deals that allowed them to take their talents to – hell, we’re not saying this again – south Florida.
Chris Bosh also decided to interview with a handful of teams this summer as he worked through his free agency, ultimately and understandably choosing to value money and familiarity with his adopted hometown in Miami over playing for other championship-caliber rosters. Bosh could have taken less money and joined a potential dynasty in Houston, but he declined. That Rocket squad would have already featured Dwight Howard and James Harden, and it would have pushed Rocket general manager Daryl Morey to take the win-now approach and match a restricted free agent contract offer for swingman Chandler Parsons.
Bosh’s passed-on teammate, clearly, has a different approach in celebrating Parsons’ newfound wealth and home:
Again, this flies in the face of basketball orthodoxy – Jeff Van Gundy will likely grouse about this on your local ESPN radio outlet at some point this fall – but Howard’s approach does not fly in the face of how modern NBA players approach the relationships surrounding this game. Chris Bosh isn’t going to win any intimidation points over LeBron James (or any other, even lesser player) because he’s giving him the silent treatment. He’s just going to look like a tough guy in the papers and make your dad happy with his harsh takes. Because your dad is still reading newspapers.
Sports are so stupidly silly, sometimes.
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops
