The biggest fallout, it now seems, of the entire Summer of Money, may be the impact it has had on Chris Bosh’s ego.
Let’s be honest: Chris Bosh is not in Dwyane Wade or LeBron James’s league.
Here are the advanced stats:
Adjusted Plus Minus
Bosh: +6.97
James: +16.92
Wade: +20.07
Wins Produced Per 48 Minutes
Bosh: .225
James: .401
Wade: .291
PER
Bosh: 25.0
James: 31.1
Wade: 28.0
This looks even worse if we keep in mind that last year was, by most measures, Bosh’s best season in the NBA.
Which is the kind of thing that tends to happen in contract years in professional sports.
Somehow though, by the fact that James pulled Bosh into this whole “Sign for 3 years with a player option for the 4th” gambit, three summers ago, to get a new deal in front of the new CBA while creating a marketing extravaganza at the same time, Bosh has decided that he’s a superstar, so much so that he appears to be refusing to come to Cleveland in a sign and trade.
Why would Bosh do this?
Is it because he’d have to take less money? Nah. Is it because he wouldn’t have a chance o win a championship? Nah. Is it because he’s a bad fit alongside LeBron? Nah.
Then what is it?
Cleveland’s not a big enough market.
Bosh wants to play for a team in a bigger market because, he seems to believe, it will provide more endorsement opportunities. Having lived in New York and Los Angeles, I can tell you about the kinds of endorsement opportunities playing in those markets can provide…
Nobody Beats the Wiz (or similar local electronics store)
Car Dealership
Pizza Shop
And if you’re really f’ing lucky, a guest spot on NCIS, like Pau Gasol.
So Chris is either endlessly fascinated with piling up stupid endorsement deals, hocking pizza and cars, or he’s seriously misinformed. Mikhail Prokhorov apparently hinted at this misunderstanding in a private conference call, that was ostensibly leaked to ESPN in order to publicly gas the egos of LeBron and his inner circle.
What Bosh doesn’t seem to understand is that he is neither the player nor the personality that James and Wade are. Now I don’t think Wade has much charisma either, and he certainly has a terrible stylist, but his campaign with T-Mobile must be successful enough for them to continually renew it (although there’s probably also a reason that they pulled Charles Barkley in). Bosh though is far worse. And if you don’t believe me, read his tweets.
The stats and Bosh’s success with the Raptors solidify my point. He will not win championships “on his own.” Houston is an intriguing possibility, but I’m still not convinced Yao Ming will ever stay healthy or that Aaron Brooks is the creator that team needs on the perimeter. Further more, playing with James would let Bosh walk through endorsement doors that were already open. James and the Cavaliers are poking their nose into China with the help of Kenny Huang - with a championship, they get all the way in.
Even if Bosh doesn’t want to live in the city of Cleveland or its surrounding suburbs in Northeast Ohio - which, we all have our preferences, and I can (obviously) understand why someone might choose to live somewhere else, doesn’t this seem like something you get past for the sake of your career, especially when every other part of “the job” makes so much sense? Sure, Bosh may feel he has a similar opportunity in Miami, if Toronto decides draft picks and a trade exception are truly that valuable, but Miami’s roster is not Cleveland’s, and Wade is both older than James and the owner of a far worse injury history.
Ultimately, James is the better match for Bosh than Wade is. But Bosh won’t come to Cleveland because he believes he’s some kind of star, who needs to live amongst the glitz and glamor of a bigger market.
Okay, fair enough. We all believe certain things. And I will choose to believe this - Chris Bosh is in over his head, and the best thing he can ever do for Cleveland is bring his girlfriend (ex-girlfriend?) to the first game his new team plays against the Cavaliers. And have that chick chew LeBron out.
We all remember what happened the last time he did such a thing.
