According to Chris Bosh, when he joined forces with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in Miami, it “put pressure” on Kevin Durant to eventually find his own superteam.
Bosh says Durant likely wouldn’t have signed with the Golden State Warriors had he not seen what the Heat did with their vaunted Big Three.
Bosh adds that it was Kevin Garnett who helped him make up his mind about taking his talents to South Beach as a free agent in 2010.
Per NBC Sports:
“You want to play with people who can take pressure off you, that way you don’t have to worry about other things,” Bosh remembers Garnett telling him. “You can just play basketball.”
If Bosh’s blood clots hadn’t forced him out of the league, he could’ve entered this summer as a free agent, alongside the likes of Durant, [Kyrie] Irving, [Kawhi] Leonard and [Jimmy] Butler — the same players he unknowingly helped all those years ago. It’s a fact that has haunted him to this day.
“I’m happy for the guys,” Bosh says. “I’m happy to look back and even if people don’t know, to say, hey, you know what, I had a little bit to do with changing the league.”
Bosh changed the game off the court, too. I ask him, does Durant leave OKC if Bosh and the Big Three don’t choose to team up in 2010?
“No,” Bosh says now. “That put pressure on him.”
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