Please Put Some Respect On Chris Bosh’s Name

Whenever a journalist starts a tweet with “legitimate question,” you can basically assume that anything that comes after that is pretty much the opposite. 

Brandon Tierney threw this tweet up against the wall, and guess what? It stuck.

Julius Randle is better right now than Chris Bosh in his prime?

GTFO

For sure, in his 7th season, Randle is having a career year. He’s averaging 23/11/5 which are well above his career average of 16/9/3. He is now a legit All Star, heading to Atlanta for his first appearance. He’s a major the Knicks are over .500 for the first time in ages at this time of the year, and why their fans literally dancing in the streets:

When Chris Bosh was in his 7th season, he was a 4x all-star, 2nd team All NBA and averaged 24/11/3 -- similar stats to Randle in 2020-2021. But the previous four years Bosh averaged 23/10/3 which is well above Randle in the same time frame. 

Have we mentioned that Randle is barely a third of the way through this season? And this is the only time his stats have come anywhere near Bosh’s. 

Talk about getting ahead of ourselves huh? 

Let me put this argument more simply… outside of stats and numbers and importance to their individual team: 

Would there ever be a universe that Julius Randle would be an integral piece of a Big 3 or the foundation of a super team? Would there ever be an ESPN special, tracking where Julius Randle would be taking his talents in free agency? 

If you answer yes to this… You are either delusional, under 25 or a die hard Knicks fan. 

Anyone having this debate must have forgot that Toronto Raptors Chris Bosh ever existed. Because that man was a MONSTER. That man changed the center position into what we know it is today. That man, if he was in his prime now, in 2021, would be DESTROYING the league. 

This is a 6’11” big who won the shooting skills game at the NBA All Star game three years in a row, he had quickness, high basketball IQ, could play lock down D, had an insane post game and could pass. He was an 11 time All Star while Randle has only made it to one… this year, ⅓ of the way through one great season. 

During his 7th year, the same year Randle broke out, Bosh’s Player Efficiency Rating was surpassed by three players in the NBA: Kevin Durant, DWade, and Lebron.

Think about that.

Has Randle’s name ever been mentioned in the same breath with anyone of this caliber, other than when Lebron had him run out of L.A.? 

Brandon Tierney is jokeville. This take in the universe of NBA takes is not even close to being debatable. I understand the desire to drive engagement because I too have controversial opinions that I lean into for clicks and views… Shit, it’s the Barstool way. 

But this is a bridge too far. 

You want a hot and spicy take? If Chris Bosh were healthy RIGHT NOW, at age 36, (almost 37) he’d still be as effective or more than Randle is at age 26. 

Listen, that’s FOR SURE debatable too, but at least it’s in the realm of possibility. 

After all, Chris Bosh is a sure-fire Hall of Famer, and Julius Randle has had a third of a great year under his belt. Give it a few more consistent years of dominance, Brandon, before we start this type of debate. 

After all, remember it was Knicks fans who jumped on the Linsanity bandwagon after about 30 games of excellent play. Some even called him the next Kobe. 

So yeah, I don’t trust any media member or Knicks fan to prognosticate how great any NY Knick player is or could be just because of how desperate they are for a panacea to a franchise that has been in a bad spot for a very, very long time.