Chris Bosh Said People Calling Him Names Got ‘Out of Hand’

Anyone who signs with the Miami Heat is agreeing to scrutiny.  The Heat are set up to be an NBA powerhouse for years to come, which is enough in itself for fans around the globe to hate them.  Add in the fact that LeBron James plays in South Beach and you have the recipe for a perfect villain.  Most of the verbal assault on Chris Bosh has come in the form of insults about his toughness.  And wouldn’t you know it, Bosh doesn’t appreciate it.

“People created this stigma about (me) and they just ran with it,” Bosh said in an interview with Sports Illustrated. “And once it was out there, everyone ran with it. It was just talk. There was no evidence to back it up. The name-calling and stuff, it got a little too out of hand. If you want to say my game isn’t where it’s supposed to be, fine. But the name calling, that’s not journalism. Too many people, especially when they don’t know me, were just saying a whole lot of stuff that wasn’t true.”

Bosh is obviously referring to Skip Bayless nicknaming him “Bosh Spice,” but last time I checked Kevin Durant doesn’t have the same responsibility a journalist has, and he had some not-so-nice things to say about Bosh last season.  And what about the hilarious “Like a Bosh” viral video from a while back? No journalistic responsibility there either.

Bosh said over the winter that he was hitting the weight room hard to try to shake his reputation as a soft player.  Maybe the name-calling is uncalled for since Bosh is obviously trying, but it had to have stemmed from somewhere.  There’s a reason people don’t frequently call LeBron or Dwyane Wade soft.

Chest bump to I Am a GM for passing the interview along