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| Voldemort also known as "He Who Must Not Be Named" and "The Dark Lord" |
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| Chris Bosh, bearing a slight resemblance to "He Who Must Not Be Named"/"The Dark Lord" |
Just like LeBron James, Chris Bosh took his talents to South Beach last season to team up with Dwyane Wade. A season that was plagued with a 9-win, 8-loss start, a 5-game losing streak, a non-stop barrage from the media and what wound up being a collapse in the NBA Finals at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. For James and Wade, the debate between sports pundits and fans rallied around which player was the Batman or Robin of the Miami Heat. As for Bosh, he was continually referred to as “soft” for not putting up the same numbers as he did in Toronto[1]. The criticism was dealt out by even the most casual of fans, my girlfriend being one of them, who, during one game mid-season noticed that Bosh bares a slight resemblance to Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series. And in a sense, as we enter the second season of the big experiment in South Beach, Bosh has become “He Who Must Not Be Named.”[2]
In his first season with the Heat, “The Dark Lord” averaged 5.3 points and 2.5 rebounds less than he did in his last and most productive year in Toronto. For some reason it was pretty clear to critics that ‘TDL” would offer the Heat the same output he was able to provide in Toronto. This assumption entirely disregards two facts. The first being that his usage rate would take a big hit playing alongside LeBron and Wade and the second being that LeBron and Wade are two of the best rebounders that play on the wing. Translation: teamed up with LeBron and Wade, “TDL” should theoretically see a dip in his scoring and rebounding, not because of his lack of effort or play, but because he simply will have less opportunities to compile his Toronto-esque stats. And as stated above, that’s how the season played out.
By springtime last season, “The Dark Lord” went from being a part of the “Big 3,” joining both James and Wade to form a postgame triumvirate for media members, to being disbanded from the trio and claiming a solo role as James and Wade fought it out for numero uno and dos. James and Wade were then referred to as “The Big 2” and throughout the playoffs discussions focused on whether or not the two of them could bring a championship to South Beach. “TDL” at this point had become an afterthought.
This rhetoric carried on into this season as well. Once the lockout ended and the sportswriters and talking heads began making their regular season and playoff predictions, the Miami Heat were placed as favorites by many to win it all. Reasons being that LeBron and Wade would have a year of gelling under their belt, a healthy Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller, a deeper team thanks to the signings of Shane Battier and drafting of Norris Cole and the ultimate motivation being that if they didn’t win it this year, the experiment in South Beach would be deemed by many to be a bust. Yet there was little mention of “The Dark Lord.”
Meanwhile, while all this talk was going on, a few facts from the offseason went slightly under the radar. I say slightly because they were mentioned, but taken more or less with a grain of salt. To make his game a bit more versatile, “The Dark Lord” put some time in to work on his three point shot this offseason. Perhaps this was a step in the direction of a player like Dirk, who manhandled “TDL” in the Finals. On top of that, “TDL” got into the gym, added somewhere along the lines of 15 pounds of muscle, which may have been an attempt to address his being “soft” and unwillingness to play center or rebound effectively.
Now we stand 18 games into the 2011-’12 season. A season that has seen Dwyane Wade miss 9 games, including the past 6 in a row. “The Dark Lord” on the other hand has played in every game thus far. In 9 games without Wade, the Heat have 8-wins and 1-loss, including one game that was also without LeBron James. That game was against an Atlanta Hawks team that had beaten the Heat three days prior with Wade, James and “TDL” all on the court. But without Wade and James, ‘TDL” led the Heat to a 116-109 overtime win, going for 33 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals and a game-tying three that sent the game into overtime. In games without Wade this season, “TDL” is averaging 25.6 points per game, a whole 3.9 points more than he is averaging on the season[3].
On Tuesday night “The Dark Lord” went off again, dropping 35 points, including 17 in the 4th quarter against a feisty Cavs team that was hungry to beat LeBron. In that game he went to the line 14 times (hit all of them) and shot 62.5 percent from the field. Then, last night, against a surprisingly competitive Pistons team, Bosh scored 27 points, shooting an astonishing 80 percent from the field. But the highlight reel still paid more attention to King James instead of “The Dark Lord.”
For whatever reason the media has decided that Chris Bosh will be “He Who Must Not Be Named” when it comes to the success of the Miami Heat. If his outstanding play continues, I expect murmurs of credit to appear in the mediasphere, perhaps even enough to consider him apart of the “Big 3” again or, in the off chance that moniker is dropped, given the recognition of being one of the league’s elite; the same reason LeBron and Wade wanted to team up with him in the first place.
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