Chris Bosh will have to wait at least one more year to earn Hall of Fame status
Chris Bosh will not be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Bosh, 35, was not one of the eight finalists named Friday at All-Star Weekend in Chicago for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Bosh still has time to get into the Hall of Fame and he’s expected to get inducted at some point, but 2020 marked the first year he was eligible for consideration after his playing career came to an end in 2016.
The list of former NBA players who were named finalists for the 2020 Hall of Fame class: Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant.
While blood clot issues ended Bosh’s NBA career early after 13 seasons, he still accomplished a lot. He put up career averages of 19.2 points on 49.4 percent shooting, 8.5 rebounds, two assists and one block in 893 regular-season games (881 starts), and he was an 11-time All-Star.
In six seasons with the Heat from 2010-16, Bosh won two NBA championships, appeared in four NBA Finals and was voted into six All-Star Games. He averaged 18 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 0.9 blocks in 384 regular-season games with Miami, spending four of those seasons playing alongside LeBron James and Dwyane Wade as part of the Big 3.
Among the Heat’s all-time leaders, Bosh ranks fifth in points (6,914), scoring average (18.0) and free throws made (1,469), sixth in defensive rebounds (2,258) and field goals made (2,595), seventh in total rebounds (2,816) and blocks (332), and 10th in minutes played (13,121).
Bosh and the Heat had a falling out in 2016 when Bosh believed he was ready to resume his playing career after battling blood clots, but the Heat believed it was not safe for him to do so. The Heat eventually waived Bosh in July 2017 to clear his contract from its salary cap once his blood clot issues were ruled a career-ending illness by an NBA doctor.
But the Heat and Bosh later reconciled, as Bosh came to accept the fact that he played his final NBA game and stopped working toward an NBA comeback. A lunch with Heat president Pat Riley in Malibu, California, late in 2017 also helped to get the two sides back on the same page.
Bosh has spent a lot of time around the Heat since last season, sitting courtside at various home games and spending time with players, coaches and team executives. He was even at a practice last season helping to drill players.
Bosh had his jersey retired by the Heat last season, joining Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Hardaway as those who have had their jerseys retired by the organization. Wade will have his jersey retired during a halftime ceremony of the Heat’s home matchup against the Cavaliers on Feb. 22.
Like Bosh, Hardaway also was left off the list of Hall of Fame finalists this year.
Already enshrined in the Hall of Fame for careers that included time with the Heat are Ray Allen, Mourning, O’Neal, Gary Payton and Riley. Wade is on track to be eligible to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2023.
In addition to Duncan, Garnett and Bryant, the other finalists from the North American Screening Committee are coaches Rudy Tomjanovich and Eddie Sutton.
From the Women’s Screening Committee, the finalists are coaches Kim Mulkey and Barbara Stevens, and Tamika Catchings as a player.
The 2020 Hall of Fame inductees will be announced April 4 at the NCAA Final Four in Atlanta. A finalist needs 18 of 24 votes from the Honors Committee for election into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Class of 2020 will be enshrined in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Aug. 29.
This story was originally published February 14, 2020 at 5:45 PM.
