Chris Bosh on turning Houston down: ‘All that guarantees is a bunch of pressure’

To a lot of NBA fans with no dog in this particular fight, Chris Bosh disappointed in a way by choosing Miami over Houston as a free agent destination last July. We understood why he decided to stay in Miami – the Heat are a capable team, he could make more money there, and he’s four years into raising a family in Florida – but the idea of Bosh pairing with Dwight Howard, James Harden, and potentially Chandler Parsons was tantalizing to say the least.

That missed opportunity felt even more severe when the 2014-15 NBA season started. Houston unexpectedly jumped out of the gates as the NBA’s top defensive team, a ranking they still hold even after giving up 119 points to the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night. Bosh, though he has cooled off over the last week, is putting together a fantastic year.

So why couldn’t the Rockets and Bosh work it out? Chris, as is his typical custom, was more than candid as to why, in comments that could anger some. From a talk with CBS Sports’ Ken Berger:

“I could see where people would think that’s an attractive site,” Bosh told CBSSports.com, speaking of Houston, where half the NBA expected him to land back in July. “They were trying to win right away. And I was really happy to be touted that I possibly could’ve been out there. But you know, that doesn’t guarantee anything, and I know that. All that guarantees is a bunch of pressure.”

[…]

“It’s incredibly difficult to win a championship,” Bosh told CBSSports.com. “I know that, and I know it’s a whole process.”

Your initial reaction is just fine. The Rockets are playing exceedingly well and the Heat are going to be a tough out all season, but there is also a very good chance that both teams could act as also-rans when all is said and done. Why could Bosh take to Houston and help create something? Something that, in basketball terms, could have been pretty special?

It’s because he didn’t want to.

Maybe some people don’t want to act as mercenaries for their entire career. Maybe our own projections should at some point stop acting as a launching pad for how we judge a person’s career arc. Maybe Chris Bosh didn’t want to hear the catcalls that he definitely would have received for chasing yet another ring. The kind that he’s already warned Kevin Love about.

Maybe he kind of likes living in Miami, making more money in Miami, and keeping his family in the familiar setting and his son and daughter in the only town they’ve ever known.

Bosh is having a fantastic year, combining the best of his low post elements that we enjoyed during his run in Toronto with the floor-spacing panache that marked his time as Miami’s decided third wheel during the LeBron James era. The Rockets should be proud of the team’s 9-2 record and top overall defensive ranking, but Chris Bosh’s 20 points a game would do a whole heck of a lot for Houston’s 21st-ranked offense.

Chris Bosh choosing Houston would lead most of us to sign off on the Rockets as a championship contender, and though Bosh relayed that absolutely nothing is certain when it comes to championships in his discussion with CBS Sports, we would be fair to place them amongst the ranks of the current greats. No, we outsiders don’t have intimate knowledge of “the whole process” that Bosh spoke of, but it’s also just fine for us to expect great things.

And it’s just as fine for Chris Bosh to play wherever the hell he wants to play.

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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