You have to be ready to compete. Because lots of people dream that dream, to be the best at something. But are you ready to commit to the hard work that it takes to get there? For me, it just became a part of my life, and it was what it was. Another day, another basketball practice or another game.
— Chris Bosh
I do kind of marvel at my journey. But at the same time, I look back at a lot of the steps, and maybe not every step, but a lot of the steps, and since I was 12 or 13, I look at the people who helped me and the moments that were inspirational to me, and you can recall what my mindset and what my make-up was at that time to try and be the best.
I have millions of dollars, and I don't know finance. I've had some bad things happen in my career. I've got to educate myself. I sit down with my finance guy once a month and go over everything, line by line.
I spend my days in an office in my house. There are things to be done that I don't have the skill set for. I'm able to learn on the fly, thank God, so I can function. But it's difficult.
The game has gotten a lot faster. I was anticipating changes as far back as when I first came into the league, when the spacing was changing, and big guys were playing in different spaces on the floor. But when that change actually happens, and it happens so quickly, it's just amazing.
I felt like I was chosen to play basketball when I was younger.
You go from being with the guys all the time in the locker room, in practice, having a militarized brain in terms of this schedule, and then, all of a sudden, you are on your own. You lose a sense of purpose; you lose a sense of yourself. And you lose confidence. You find yourself saying, 'I was the best at this, and now I'm not the best.'
The NBA is the best league in the world. It's no way you're going to be able to fill the void that the energy of performing before 20,000 people every night gives you. That's just impossible. So, I just try and move on from that and let it be a moment in time and leave it alone.
Once I close the doors, it's closed. I don't open it back up. That's kind of me as a human being. That's just one of the things about me... But yeah, for me, I don't close anything until I'm officially done.
People used to ask me, 'What else do you want to do?' For me, the answer was, 'Nothing.' I loved basketball. It's all I wanted.
