"Chris Bosh wasn't bullied last season, no matter how the national story line often went.

He wasn't enough of a bully either.

By season's end, the Heat forward had seen and heard enough, then saw and heard some more. He reviewed every NBA Finals game several times to see what the Mavericks did and the Heat didn't. And yes, he heard the cackling commentary, from around the country, about the absence of force in his game.

"I look at all the mistakes that I made, and with all those jokes going on around me, I kind of let that happen a little bit by not being as aggressive as I could be," Bosh said Thursday after an unsupervised workout with James Jones and Udonis Haslem on the first day facilities were open to NBA players. "But I feel like it's in my hands now. And I'll crack some jokes too."

If not a couple skulls, with those bigger biceps of his.

Turns out the rumors were true. In addition to marrying the former Adrienne Williams this summer, Bosh wed himself to the weight room. All season, former Heat enforcer - and current executive - Alonzo Mourning was in his ear, telling him to build more strength.

"He planted the seed," Bosh said.

The shower of mockery made it sprout.

Last off-season, after joining the Heat, Bosh stopped posting on Twitter because of frustration with nasty criticism of his decision. During the season and into the off-season, he cut back on TV time, so he wouldn't stumble across the ESPN know-it-alls.

Or any other comedy at his expense.

"At first, it bothered me, but I think it's funny, I mean, it's hilarious," Bosh said. "If a dude tells a good joke, it's a good joke. And if it's stale, it's stale."

Bosh confronted one tormentor, carnival barker Skip Bayless, debating him on ESPN2's First Take, even relating his objection to Bayless' childish Bosh Spice moniker. Yet he also confronted himself, about output he considered "unacceptable.""