Heart of a Champion: The story of the 2012-13 Miami Heat

Chris Bosh

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At least until a night in Toronto, as the team watched the Super Bowl following a victory just two days after a tough loss to the Indiana Pacers, when Shane Battier had something to say. But after he said it, the HEAT embarked on a stretch that, at least for the regular season, touch immortality. These days it can be difficult to do much of anything for 27 minutes straight without being distracted by a ring or a buzz or a bleep.

Whether they were winning by 20 points or in the last 20 seconds, the HEAT proved themselves a most complete team capable of winning in most every way imaginable.

And then it was over — the streak cut short by the Chicago Bulls, having lost Derrick Rose for the season, on a particularly feisty evening. It was time to get ready for the playoffs, and all preparations were made during a neat eight-game streak to finish off a year in which the team won 66 games, James was again the Most Valuable Player, Wade and Chris Bosh had the most efficient seasons of their careers and just about every shooter topped the 40 percent mark from three.

As soon as the year ended, the real season began. Even with Wade sitting out the fourth game, the HEAT completed a sweep, winning each game by double digits.

The series was over by April Derrick Rose was out and despite rumors of a possible playoff return, it was most likely that Chicago would be without the services of their former-MVP for their series against the HEAT. No matter the roster, Tom Thibodeau always had his teams ready to play and, more specifically defend, but this promised to be an uphill battle without a consistent source of offense. Until Game 1, that is. With Roy Hibbert and David West up front and an improved Paul George, shouldering much of the offensive burden left behind by and injured Danny Granger, on the wing, many considered the Pacers to be a team designed specifically to beat Miami.

As Spoelstra would say at the time, the series was a question of who could get to their game more often, and each team appeared to take turns playing their game as neither squad earned consecutive wins en-route to a Game 7. But this Game 7 had little of the excitement that such an event typically carries with it.

Fortunately, for viewers everywhere, this proved to be one of the most memorable final series in recent memory. After the Spurs took a closely-contested match in Miami off an impossible, spinning, leaning, falling shot from Tony Parker in the last minute, the teams traded blowouts for the next four games.

Year-by-Year: 2012-13

By Game 6, most of the big moves had been made. The Spurs were up Miami had two games left at home. It hasn't all been for nothing. He's been training with Leonard. Jax lebron for them powerful dunks. You know a draft is full of quality when its most likely first overall selection is a guy who probably won't play until at least January. Parker vanished near the end.

Duncan missed that shot he feels he should make every time. Manu with that errant mistake. This may be the last time we ever see the big three at this big a stage. God I hope they can manage another title run. All the people who called Danny Green for finals MVP are in need of some premature ejaculation therapy. Also Norris Cole with his 2nd in his 2nd season. I don't even know how to put this emotion into words. I just feel empty now: In all seriousness this series told a story like I've never seen before.

I mean it was just plain poetry in motion. I fucking love basketball. Congrats Heat, you deserved it! Easily the best finals i've seen in a very long time. Thank you to your Spurs for giving me a fantastic series to watch. I'd also say thanks for giving the Heat some adversity to make them stronger, but seeing Kawhi Leonard in that game makes me scared of what he's going to be in a few years.

I believe Lebron James has what it takes to win a championship, but this year may not have been his time. Now LeBron is a very good friend of mine I could very well see this being the case one day, he's definitely got the potential. People kept saying the series was Danny green's coming out party but I'd be damned if it isn't Kawhi's party too. Definitely Kawhi's coming out party. I never heard of him until the playoffs started. I could see 8 years from now, towards the end of Lebron's career and the prime of Kawhi's another finals match up that could be similar to this one with Lebron and Duncan.

And they felt quiet too. Classic Timmy D style.

He's learned from the master. Battier going out on top and he redeemed himself the last 2 games for being terrible all playoffs. I always dogged him for the move to Miami, but he has proven all the haters wrong, including me. He earned that shit. Only 5 players scored for the heat, one of them, Chris Anderson, scored 3 points. He earned it too. Wasn't a bench rider for the heat, played solid minutes and contributed huge in so many playoff games.

Not a LeBron fan, but he was unstoppable tonight. He did exactly what San Antonio wanted, but goddamn did he make it look like a silly strategy. Congrats to Miami, and a lot of respect goes out to the Spurs for putting up a hell of a fight. Amazing sportsmanship at the end of the game. Not only was this one of the greatest series I've ever seen, but the teams truly respect the ability on the other end of the court.

Congrats to the Heat. Also congrats to Lebron who played an amazing, amazing game tonight. Made the shots the Spurs were daring him to take and he just punished them for continually letting him shoot. I'll always remember the Manu that was Just bad luck he fell off the year the Spurs made it to the finals. I might be in the minority when it comes to neutral fans, but I'm glad the heat won, LeBron and the heat get a lot of hate, but man, what an amazing series, can't think of two more deserving finalists!

My friends give him tons of shit but I think he's the ultimate team player, respectful, and the best player in the world. Glad he can silent the haters. I'm a little irked seeing so many spurs fans turn on Pop. If you're going to fawn over the guy through 5 games which he deserves, dammit don't jump ship when things go badly.

Pop knows what the hell he's doing. I won't defend all of Manu's mistakes, but I'll defend Pop's decisions.

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He averaged 26 points, 10 rebounds and 3. The principal deficiency of previous campaigns—wing players—continued to upend Toronto's progress. Two weeks later, in a bid to bring in a wing player and create greater salary flexibility, O'Neal and Jamario Moon were traded to Miami for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. To prepare for the —10 season , Bosh worked out under Ken Roberson, looking to add 20 pounds and bring his weight up to Bosh was the league leader in double doubles at the time, being only one of two players in the league who averaged at least 20 points and 10 rebounds a game.

As the regular season came to a close, the Raptors went from being the fifth seed before the All-Star break to fighting for the eighth and final playoff spot with the Chicago Bulls. After recording his 44th double double on March 22, , Bosh became the Raptors' all-time leader in number of double doubles in a season. On April 5, , he was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week, winning the honor for the seventh time in his career tying Carter for the most in franchise history. The blowout loss cost Toronto their tie-breaker and ultimately the eighth seed, as the Bulls finished with 41 wins to Toronto's After the —10 season was over, there was much speculation over whether coveted free agents such as LeBron James , Dwyane Wade , and Bosh would sign with new teams for the —11 season.

Bosh was active on the social media front, posting his thoughts on Twitter and having a documentary crew record his meetings with the teams interested in signing him. On July 10, , Bosh officially completed a sign-and-trade deal with the Miami Heat , teaming up with Wade and James. I've loved every minute here and I just wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart Despite being widely tipped as contenders, the Heat got off to a tentative 9—8 start. The Heat managed to go on to compile a 21—1 record, however, and were jostling with the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls for pole position in the Eastern Conference as mid-season approached.

Miami won the series in five games, and also prevailed in five games in the semi-finals against Boston. In the Conference Finals against Chicago, Bosh was particularly instrumental, averaging He was slow off the blocks in the Finals against Dallas , shooting below. That was the last game Miami won, as Dallas won the next three to win its first ever championship. Bosh was seen sobbing as he walked to the locker room following the loss. On January 5, , Bosh led the Heat to a — triple overtime win against the Atlanta Hawks , highlighted by a three-point shot he made to force the game into overtime with 0.

Bosh finished the game with 33 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocked shots. In the playoffs, Bosh averaged In Game 1 of the Conference Semifinals against the Indiana Pacers , he suffered a lower abdominal strain that forced him to miss the rest of the series and the first four games of the Eastern Conference Finals against Boston. Bosh returned in the Conference Finals against the Celtics.

He was moved to center for the remainder of the playoffs, while James, who had filled in at power forward during his absence, remained at that position. Bosh scored 24 points in the deciding Game 5 and averaged Bosh remained the Heat's starting center during the —13 season.

The Heat and Spurs split the first two games before the Spurs blew out Miami in Game 3 to take a 2—1 series lead. In Game 4, Bosh scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to complement Wade's 32 points and James' 33 points to bolster the Heat's win, tying the series. San Antonio would bounce back in Game 5 to force the Heat to win the final two games at home. In the final seconds of Game 6, James missed a three-pointer, and Bosh grabbed the offensive rebound and found a wide open Ray Allen in the corner.

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Allen hit the shot to tie the game, and in overtime the Heat had a three-point lead with seconds left. San Antonio inbounded the ball to Danny Green , who attempted a corner three, but Green's shot was blocked by Bosh to secure the Heat's victory. In the —14 season, Bosh played and started in 79 games, averaging He also hit a career-high 74 three point shots on 33 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

This time, however, the Heat were outclassed by the Spurs, as they lost the series in five games. On October 28, , Bosh made his return to the court in the Heat's season opener against the Charlotte Hornets, recording 21 points and 10 rebounds in a —94 win. A blood clot in his leg again forced Bosh to miss time following the All-Star break. He faced increasing pressure from physicians and the Heat organization to sit out the rest of the season because of the potential dangers of the recurring medical condition.

In September , Bosh failed his physical exam with the Heat and was not cleared by the team to participate in training camp. That quickly changed, however, due to numerous setbacks accredited to continued blood clotting.

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In November , Bosh noted that he planned to "keep [his] options open as a player", [] and in February , he declared himself on the comeback trail, having refused to rule out a return to the NBA. Bosh's national team career began in when he was selected as a member of the USA Basketball Junior World Championship Qualifying Team that finished with a 4—1 record and the bronze medal.

After his NBA career began, Bosh was named in March to the — United States men's national basketball team program, and helped lead the team to a 5—0 record during its pre-World Championship tour.

The team won the bronze medal, defeating former Olympic champion Argentina. However, he sustained a foot injury and withdrew from the squad. In June , Bosh withdrew his name from consideration for the Olympics in London to recover from a lower abdominal strain that kept him out of some playoff games. Anthony Parker on Bosh's leadership [].

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