In the latest edition of The Last Chip, former Miami Heat stars Chris Bosh and Ray Allen talked about “The Rebound and The Shot.”
In Game 6 of the 2013 Finals, Heat superstar LeBron James missed the game-tying 3-pointer with less than 10 seconds left in regulation. All the San Antonio Spurs had to do was grab the defensive rebound, make some free-throws and the 2013 title was theirs.
However, Bosh came flying out of nowhere to grab the offensive rebound off of James' missed shot and found Allen in the corner for 3.
The rest is history.
In the newsletter, Chris Bosh and Ray Allen have a nice back and forth about the shot and how special that moment was. Bosh, for his part, noted that he thought he heard Allen yelling his name from the corner and, out of reflex, made the critical pass.
Article Continues BelowAllen, however, said he wasn't the one to shout Bosh's name and gave the former Heat forward the credit.
“When LeBron took that deep three, I followed it my whole way to the basket. One of the earliest and most helpful pieces of advice I ever got on rebounding was, ‘All you have to do is get there before the ball does.' And as I played more and got better, I became better at watching the flight of the ball, trying to drill it in to the point that it’s automatic. Sometimes, watching can be dangerous—you can take an elbow to the face pretty easily. But not this time; no one was boxing me out that play. So I watched the ball, figured out where it was going, ran there, and grabbed it,” Bosh narrated.
“I know there were other things I could’ve done next. We’ve seen plenty of people dribble out to the arc and get tangled up, lose possession. So I knew I couldn’t put the ball down. And I wasn’t in much of an offensive rhythm that series anyway.
“But then I swear I heard someone yell my name, loud as hell, from the corner. I thought it was you! You’ve told me it wasn’t. But honestly, I wasn’t thinking. I passed it to you as a reflex, so I don’t even know if I can take credit for making the decision, because it’s not really a decision.”
Allen then responded: “Brother, you get the credit.”
The Heat won the 2013 Finals in seven games for their second straight title. James won his second consecutive MVP Award as well.
The Big 3 era ended after the 2014 Finals. The Spurs defeated the Heat and James went back to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the summer of 2014 as a free agent. Allen retired from the NBA, while Bosh re-signed with the South Beach franchise.
However, Bosh was forced to retire from the NBA prematurely due to blood clots.