Former Heat center Chris Bosh gets his Hall call, to be enshrined in Springfield; Tim Hardaway again snubbed

Chris Bosh’s retired No. 1 that hangs from the rafters at AmericanAirlines Arena soon also will carry an ultimate badge of honor: Member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

A year after being bypassed in his initial year of eligibility so the Hall could focus on Saturday’s high-profile inductions of Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant, Bosh on Sunday was named to the Class of 2021 that will be enshrined in September.

“It’s just been a surreal moment,” Bosh said on ESPN shortly after the Hall announcement. “My feelings are still catching up. But I’m so thankful for the committee. I’m thankful for the NBA, and I’m really just thankful for basketball, for always being there for me and just being an outlet that I can be great at.

“And it’s just amazing that I’m here, amongst all these wonderful, wonderful people and we’re celebrating this wonderful game.”

Bosh becomes the third Heat player to have both his jersey retired by the team and a place in the Hall of Fame, joining Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning. As with O’Neal’s No. 32 and Mourning’s No. 33, the Hall designation will be added to Bosh’s banner.

“I think it’s so well deserving,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who coached Bosh to NBA titles with the Heat in 2012 and ’13. “He had just a Hall of Fame-winning career, as a star player in a lot of different roles: As the leading guy, face of a franchise [with the Toronto Raptors], in many ways, redefining a position, a frontcourt position of a four-man. And then coming to us and kind of being the glue that brought all of it together.

“And I think that just takes a special kind of talent and a player that really is only focused on winning. I love seeing a player get rewarded for that, of being the ultimate winner.”

Already enshrined in Springfield for careers that included time with the Heat are O’Neal, Mourning, Gary Payton, Ray Allen and Pat Riley. Former Heat assistant coach Bob McAdoo and former Heat executive Billy Cunningham also are in the Hall.

Again coming up short for induction was former Heat guard Tim Hardaway, whose No. 10 also hangs from the rafters at AmericanAirlines Arena.

The next Heat player with a retired number (No. 3) who is eligible for Hall induction is Dwyane Wade, who will on the ballot for the Hall’s Class of 2023, four years after his retirement.

Among those also announced Sunday as part of the Hall’s 2021 class were Paul Pierce, Chris Webber and Ben Wallace. Also named to the 2021 class were Villanova coach Jay Wright, former WNBA players Yolanda Griffin and Lauren Jackson, international star Toni Kukoc and former NBA coaches Rick Adelman and Bill Russell, who already is enshrined as a player.

“Words cannot express my gratitude to everyone who has been on this journey with me” Bosh posted on his Twitter account after the announcement. “Basketball has been one of the greatest gifts allotted to me in this life. This honor is my legacy.”

Bosh’s career was cut short by a series of medical episodes related to blood clots, with his final game coming prior to the midseason All-Star break in Feb. 2016. He initially contested the Heat’s medical finding that it would be too dangerous to continue his career, before formally retiring in February 2019. He later reconciled with the Heat, serving as a team ambassador at community events, as well as helping players on the team’s practice court.

Sunday, Bosh, 37, said getting the call from the Hall allowed him to reflect on the entirety of his basketball journey.

“It’s been everything,” he said. “The main thing that was going through my mind, it wasn’t necessarily winning championships or All-Stars or things like that, all of those cool things that I got to do. It was the bus rides, and it was hanging out with my friends. It was just having such a great time being a kid, playing video games on the road, a bunch of kids eating pizza in the hotel, going out on those hot summer afternoons and just doing anything I could to be a part of it.

“It was always my escape, my release, it was everything for me.”

For Bosh, induction will be another opportunity to escape the shadows of former Heat championship teammates LeBron James and Wade, with that Big Three having led the franchise to the NBA Finals from 2011 to 2014.

Despite a career cut short by illness, Bosh was an 11-time All-Star. No player with eight or more All-Star selections has been denied Hall nomination.

“His career, as we know,” Spoelstra said, “ended before he thought it would. Otherwise, he could have kept on going for another six, eight years.

“But his body of work spoke for itself and I think he always was able to do it with a great deal of class and professionalism, a real quiet confidence about him that uplifted everybody in the building.”

In addition to his four NBA Finals appearances with the Heat, Bosh was part of the United States gold-medal team at the 2008 Olympics, with collegiate and international play also factored into Hall consideration.

Despite an otherwise reserved demeanor, Bosh was loud and boisterous when his No. 1 was raised to the AmericanAirlines Arena rafters on March 26, 2019, which could portend a raucous September at the Springfield, Mass., shrine, as well.

Hardaway has failed to receive the required votes in his 13 years of eligibility, his reputation sullied by anti-gay comments during a 2007 radio broadcast that he quickly apologized for and attempted to make amends for with work on behalf of LGBTQ rights, including in South Florida.

Other 2021 finalists failing to get enough votes for election were Michael Cooper and Marques Johnson.