For Chris Bosh, it has been trending this way for more than a decade.
So here he was, on a recent afternoon in Wilton Manors, meeting his destiny: 6-foot-11 used-car salesman.
To appreciate this moment with the former Miami Heat championship power forward in his partnership with CarMax and the National Basketball Players Association is to appreciate how it all began, not with this test drive with former Broward schoolteacher Ella Hightower or even with the blood clots that suddenly ended his career in 2016.
Instead, it was back in 2008, while with the Toronto Raptors, when Bosh produced his own YouTube video, as a mock used-car salesman, seeking votes for that season’s All-Star Game.
“Hurry up folks,” Bosh implored in that self-produced spot, replete with cowboy hat and Bolo tie, “’cause time is up and these things are moving fast.”
Now, on this afternoon, the 35-year-old father of four found himself taking a bit more reserved approach, as he continues to expand his horizons beyond the game. The assignment was to arrive unannounced for a pre-scheduled delivery of a test drive.
“Honestly, you don’t really know what to expect when you surprise somebody like this,” he said, “because there are a bunch of things that could happen. My size is alarming. I’ve come to know that. And I don’t know why people do, but they always ask me, ‘Are you Chris?’ Ella was cool, she handled it well and you could tell she was very excited.”
Bosh said the moment was so disarming he nearly forgot about the talking points for the video that was released Wednesday.
“She was a big Heat fan. She was a huge Heat fan. You see it in her eyes,” he said. “The whole conversation goes quick and then they have to snap back in, and then actually have talking points.”
Instead of talking cars, Bosh said they found themselves talking retirement, with both having moved into that phase in 2016.
“I get excited over the stars, but I usually only ask for a picture and then I go on about my business,” Hightower, 65, said, with the video with Bosh filmed on side streets in Wilton Manors. “So to be able to talk to Chris was amazing. It was so natural. I wanted to have dinner with him, ‘Come on over Chris, and I’ll fry you some chicken.’ “
Bosh, who most recently served as an NBA ambassador during exhibitions in Japan, said the diversity of recent experiences have eased the transition from the sudden end of his career.
“I’ve got to do something,” he said. “I do enjoy loafing every now and then, an occasional loaf.”
And, no, there was no hard sell this time.
“I have my one or two go-tos and then that’s it,” he said of his vehicles. “I’m past all that. That’s that young-boy stuff. I’ve burned enough money.”
Bosh’s previous attempt at a car commercial left him shy of the needed votes to make the 2008 All-Star Game as a starter, although he wound up in the opening lineup as an injury replacement. This time he proved to be quite the pitchman.
“A little easier because I just show up and they have the talking points and they have the cameras set up,” he said. “I had to do all that stuff myself on the last one. But you know, it’s kind of like when I was growing up, I always dreamed of certain things that people up here do in this profession. You do these things. Being an athlete or ex-athlete in my case, car commercials fit in there. It’s not a very foreign thing.
“Different opportunities come up to work with different brands. It’s a lot of fun.”
As for Hightower, only one thing — actually two more things — could have made the experience better.
“I’ll take all three of the Big Three delivering the car next time, please,” she said, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade absent for this moment.
Per CarMax: CarMax offers a range of innovative services as part of its new personalized experience available in South Florida, including the option to complete the entire car-buying experience from home and have the car delivered. The offering also includes the ability to test drive prior to purchase.
