Chris Bosh has nothing but respect for San Antonio Spurs and Tim Duncan

Chris Bosh spoke about his finals matchups with Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs

In many ways, Chris Bosh is the archetype for the modern NBA power forward. The way he sacrificed and stretched out his game to be able to hit from all areas of the floor is what all modern forwards should aspire to. It also helped the Miami Heat set up two epic Finals matchups with the San Antonio Spurs in 2013 and 2014.

Bosh is a surefire Hall of Famer, but in the ’13 and ’14 Finals, he ran into the greatest power forward of all time in Tim Duncan. The matchups those years featured an aging Tim Duncan, one who was near the twilight years of his career, but don’t for a second think that that made him any less of a threat on the court.

In 2013 Duncan was nearing the end of his career, he was just three years away from retiring, but he was still a First Team All-NBA member and averaged 18.9 points and 12.1 rebounds per game on 49 percent shooting from the field during the Finals. Timmy was a problem. And Chris Bosh was the man who had to try to find a way to contain him.

Chris Bosh had some battles with Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs

During a recent interview with Zach Lowe on The Lowe Post, Bosh was asked if it was cool for him as a Texas native to go against one of the all-time greats to play in the Lone Star State. His response was hilarious and also opened a window into the thought process of what it was like to have to guard The Big Fundamental.

“Hell no it wasn’t cool. It was the hardest sh– I’ve ever done in my life man. It’s funny that you mention it cause I watched the film and I’m giving up about 20-30 pounds. He’s a heavyweight playing down at light-heavy, I’m a middleweight playing up at light-heavy. So like, he had the size on me but just every play down the court man, he was hitting me and nah it wasn’t fun. Cause the way Popovich and their system is designed, they knew that they had the size advantage on me, so they were always, the whole series, I was being put in positions I didn’t want to be put in…And guarding that dude, man…it was just kind of like a moment of truth for me cause I knew I wasn’t going to score and if they put us in rotation, if I can’t guard this guy…I mean they had already been frying us from three. And this was coming off of a spectacular Game 6. He busted my ass in Game 6.”

Bosh would go on to call Duncan “damn near impossible to guard” and praised his classic fade away, his bank shot, and his physicality. Some NBA fans might overlook how much of a killer Duncan was during his career but ask any NBA player who had to go against him and they’ll all tell you how dominant Timmy was throughout his career. Bosh was one of the greatest power forwards of his generation but even he seemed amazed by how difficult Duncan was to guard.

Lowe and Bosh would also talk about that fateful Game 6 shot by Ray Allen that broke the hearts of San Antonio Spurs fans everywhere. Bosh said the play was instinctive, that he got the rebound and fired it to Allen, who was calling his name while backing into the corner, almost in slow motion.

Bosh is a phenomenal player in his own right, but it’s entertaining to hear that even he had trouble going against the greatest San Antonio Spur of all time.