Has Your Perception Of Bosh Changed?

[Own Up]

2 factors that may have changed your perception of Chris Bosh:

1. Colangelo's admission (whether warranted, decent, or not) that Bosh chose to sit out of 6 games because of an ankle injury in which he was cleared to play by medical staff during the playoff stretch...Raptors finish out of the playoffs by 1 game.

2. Bosh states that he will keep discussions open with the Raptors during free agency so that both he and the team can work out the best deals for themselves and then reneges by telling the Raptors brass nothing of his intentions till he signed with Miami.

[Raptor Cowboy]

Short answer: no.

Longer answer: He has been with the organization a very long time. In that time he's not only been fantastic on the court, but off the court as well. I said it from the start that if Bosh decided to leave the whole city would suffer. I just hope he continues some of the charitable work he started here with his foundation.

We as fans sometimes forget that it's much different watching vs playing. As much as we get frustrated by a bad loss or a failed season, it must be far worse for the players, especially when you're the face of the franchise. For seven years he busted his butt for the organization and the city and it's commendable.

I have no problem with him leaving because I think he deserves to play 1) for a winning organization and 2) for a team that will pay to put pieces around him, and i think he's found that. I like Colangelo, and I still have faith in Colangelo. However, I can turn the TV off when I don't feel like being subjected to his decisions. As much as Colangelo wants to say that Bosh was different after the All Star break, one could say a flip argument to the contrary: Why at the All-Star break, just a few short months before free agency, do you not have the confidence of your franchise player?

The way I look at it, the Raptors had at least the last 3 years to show Chris that they could build a winner around him. They couldn't (although, not for a lack of effort) and he left.

I don't know why everyone is so sore about this. If I was in his shoes, I would have left too, and I'm FROM Toronto...

Bottom line, the idea of losing everytime I went to work and having to stay in that situation for FOUR years at a time? No thanks. Especially when you have options like Miami/Chicago/Houston, etc, etc.

All the people here upset about him leaving, would you HONESTLY, in his position, stay? I'm sure half the people upset that Bosh left also complain about Colangelo... which is a tad hypocritical. Or at the least, contradictory.

I'm happy that Bosh found a nice (warm) home. But I'm also looking forward to this next chapter in Raptors history. Let's not ruin it and all the good that Bosh has done for the Raptors and the city by being childish and vindictive. As much as I like Colangelo, his comments on Bosh were not classy at all.

[Maleko]

I appreciate what bosh did while he was here and am not bitter at his leaving. I believe it will be better for him and better for the raptors and I never did think he would stay (be it his decision or the raptors). That said I have seen poor class from him during the process. Yes his resets are overblown, but saying he would be open with team mgmt and then shutting them out. Do what you say man. Pure and simple. If you were always going to leave then just do so. Thanks for the class during your tenure not on your way out.

[Apollo]

I don't think he's worth booing. He left as a FA and accomplished nothing for the team. The off-season proved that he's insecure, self-centered and not a man of his word. I have lost a lot of respect for him. I am glad he's out of Toronto, they would not have won with a guy like that. His priority isn't winning, he's in Miami more for the attention than anything based on what I've seen in the past year. You can't win with that kind of player as the leader.

[insight_tor]

As much as Colangelo wants to say that Bosh was different after the All Star break, one could say a flip argument to the contrary: Why at the All-Star break, just a few short months before free agency, do you not have the confidence of your franchise player?

The way I look at it, the Raptors had at least the last 3 years to show Chris that they could build a winner around him. They couldn't (although, not for a lack of effort) and he left.

This is speculation ... LeBron had 2 seasons with 60+ wins, one trip to finals and still left Cleveland. Is not like Colangelo didn't try to bring players around Bosh, it just didn't work. Also, when you get paid $15 millions to play basketball, you play as hard as you can till the end of your contract. I lost a little respect for Bosh because of the way he choose to leave Raptors, but I don't blame him for leaving.

[Bendit]

Not really.

Chris Bosh is but another very good basketball player (in a league full of such) who as an individual did not rock the boat. Period. He did what he wanted to do when it suited him. If anything he was more preoccupied about the business end (how he could maximize his worth) than in the concept of TEAM. The one non-basketball aspect I commend him for is that he always seemed to treat the media with respect (and by extension the reader/viewer) and chose his words carefully...until his twitter encounters. As a fan of the Raptors I have mostly been ambivalent about him because I never viewed him as extraordinary either on the court or off it.

Ultimately I do believe he followed others to his new team and will be a perennial second banana in Miami which is somewhat a vindication of my belief that he was not an extraordinary player or individual (in a basketball/leader sense). It's amazing to myself that a professional in ANY field finds it just as satisfying to accomplish/win something big that he was NOT most responsible for...in the attaining. Especially after saying that was exactly one of your priorities (being the man). Are the accolades that come after just as sweet if its otherwise? MJ, Magic have it right. I guess I am old school in this regard.

Are John Stockton, Elvin Hayes, Nash or Reggie Miller less of a basketball player and person because they did not win a championship?

[TheGloveinRapsUniform]

Seriously, im really getting fucking sick and tired of everybody always saying bosh played hard, gave it all every night, i mean thats a given, for 17mil a year, youre expected to do that. what he did not do is GO ABOVE AND BEYOND of what he is expected. thats what superstars do, thats what elite players do. and by above and beyond i mean, stuff thats not just on the court but outside as well. as ive mentioned before, bosh didnt even have a house in toronto. for fucks sakes, you know youre going be here for years and years and you dont even bother to buy a house? rasho was here one year and he's already moved his family here. bonner was here for 2 years and he's already marrying a canadian and becoming a citizen here. im not saying bosh should have done all this, but if youre comfortable in a place where you are staying, all these things come naturally. with bosh, i dont think he ever ever intended to stay here. i think he when he signed the extension, he was fully aware that no other player at his level would come here therefore he can own this team and pad his stats and later on keep his options open. i seriously doubt he's thinking the same thing in miami right now. do you think he signed the 6 year contract thinking he will keep his options open after 6 years? i dont think so.

i think if he put forth more effort in solidifying his relationships with the people around him in toronto, he probably would still be here. i worked downtown for 5 years and never even heard that somebody spotted him downtown outside of a raptors event. i went to sacramento one christmas time and i saw artest, kenny thomas, and abdur rahim walking downtown and people walked past them which just means they see these guys in the area on a regular basis so theyre not starstruck anymore.

admired for his hardwork and work ethic - yes. respected - a bit before, less now.

[heinz57]

bosh didn't play hard in toronto. he just played.

he did at his job, exactly what i do at mine... coast through the day and try to get by doing the minimum amount of work with the maximum amount of accolades... and if i can fit in some quality youtube time, it was a good day.

he should excel at his new job of being the highest paid 3rd fiddle in the league

[p3t3ypablo]

Hey everyone,

I've been lurking around here for a month or so, but this is my first post. I've decided I might as well contribute to the conversations because I know I always have opinions about everything being said.

Seriously, im really getting fucking sick and tired of everybody always saying bosh played hard, gave it all every night, i mean thats a given, for 17mil a year, youre expected to do that. what he did not do is GO ABOVE AND BEYOND of what he is expected. thats what superstars do, thats what elite players do. and by above and beyond i mean, stuff thats not just on the court but outside as well. as ive mentioned before, bosh didnt even have a house in toronto. for fucks sakes, you know youre going be here for years and years and you dont even bother to buy a house? rasho was here one year and he's already moved his family here. bonner was here for 2 years and he's already marrying a canadian and becoming a citizen here. im not saying bosh should have done all this, but if youre comfortable in a place where you are staying, all these things come naturally. with bosh, i dont think he ever ever intended to stay here. i think he when he signed the extension, he was fully aware that no other player at his level would come here therefore he can own this team and pad his stats and later on keep his options open. i seriously doubt he's thinking the same thing in miami right now. do you think he signed the 6 year contract thinking he will keep his options open after 6 years? i dont think so.

i think if he put forth more effort in solidifying his relationships with the people around him in toronto, he probably would still be here. i worked downtown for 5 years and never even heard that somebody spotted him downtown outside of a raptors event. i went to sacramento one christmas time and i saw artest, kenny thomas, and abdur rahim walking downtown and people walked past them which just means they see these guys in the area on a regular basis so theyre not starstruck anymore.

admired for his hardwork and work ethic - yes. respected - a bit before, less now.

tbihis, Chris Bosh has a condo in Toronto, and he still owns it. Its called Palace Pier on Lakeshore near that white arcing bridge about 10-15 minutes from the ACC.

As for the whole Bosh situation, I'm pretty upset at the way everything was handled, and he's not helping by constantly adding the little things like Toronto smelling different. Maybe he doesn't mean to offend anyone - I highly doubt he does - but it doesn't feel like he has put much effort into thanking us for the 7 years that we've been so accepting and supportive towards him (other than his website thank you note, which doesn't mean much since it could have easily been a representative of his writing all of it). I have a lot of respect for him for the 7 years he was here, but in the past few weeks every little thing he said or did that was even slightly negative or offensive towards the city or the team has brought the respect level down each time.

If you asked me a month ago "Would you boo Bosh on his return?" I would say hell no, I'll give the guy a big standing ovation. You ask me now and I'll say no, but its tempting. You ask me a month from now, and I might even be saying yes if he keeps everything up the way its going. Especially now that I've heard about his lack of desire to play after the all star break, things aren't going well for him in terms of the respect I have for him.

[TheGloveinRapsUniform]

Hey everyone,

I've been lurking around here for a month or so, but this is my first post. I've decided I might as well contribute to the conversations because I know I always have opinions about everything being said.




tbihis, Chris Bosh has a condo in Toronto, and he still owns it. Its called Palace Pier on Lakeshore near that white arcing bridge about 10-15 minutes from the ACC.

As for the whole Bosh situation, I'm pretty upset at the way everything was handled, and he's not helping by constantly adding the little things like Toronto smelling different. Maybe he doesn't mean to offend anyone - I highly doubt he does - but it doesn't feel like he has put much effort into thanking us for the 7 years that we've been so accepting and supportive towards him (other than his website thank you note, which doesn't mean much since it could have easily been a representative of his writing all of it). I have a lot of respect for him for the 7 years he was here, but in the past few weeks every little thing he said or did that was even slightly negative or offensive towards the city or the team has brought the respect level down each time.

If you asked me a month ago "Would you boo Bosh on his return?" I would say hell no, I'll give the guy a big standing ovation. You ask me now and I'll say no, but its tempting. You ask me a month from now, and I might even be saying yes if he keeps everything up the way its going. Especially now that I've heard about his lack of desire to play after the all star break, things aren't going well for him in terms of the respect I have for him.

sorry, i should have said home instead of house. he probably used that condo twice a year.

exactly what im saying, he didnt do anything above and beyond what was expected of him. our so-called franchise player wasnt even given a chris bosh day, or a key to the city of toronto. he was so transparent in the eyes on non-basketball fans, because he did not do anything beyond basketball that would endear him to the city of toronto.

[Buddahfan]

My perception of Bosh as a player and his impact on the Raptors wins and losses changed over the course of the 09-10 season watching him play during the regular season.

What he did on the Net and signing with the Heat was consistent with his self-promotion for the all-star team a couple of seasons ago. So my perception of his personality has not changed since last fall.

[noxleno]

I respect what Bosh did for this franchise during his tenure here; his numbers speak for themselves, and he did (for the most part) seem to give it his all for the Raptors. Everybody (should) have known he was leaving after seven years of modiocrity.

HOWEVER

Like MJ said: real competitors try to beat the opposition, not join them. Even were this not the case, Bosh always said he planned on being the number one option on his team, an endeavour he abandoned immediately when it became clear he could join the South Beach Dream Team.

Finally, the worst part about this offseason was the manner in which Bosh left BC and the franchise in the dark, when it is clear that he, Wade and James have been considering this for some time. Bosh claimed that if he left, he would cooperate with BC to get a sign and trade done. This did occur, to some extent, but not until AFTER Bosh committed himself to Pat Riley and publicly announced his intentions to join the Heat, thereby putting Colangelo in a position of weakness. THAT was bs, and for that I lost some respect for Bosh. Poor form.

[p3t3ypablo]

sorry, i should have said home instead of house. he probably used that condo twice a year.

exactly what im saying, he didnt do anything above and beyond what was expected of him. our so-called franchise player wasnt even given a chris bosh day, or a key to the city of toronto. he was so transparent in the eyes on non-basketball fans, because he did not do anything beyond basketball that would endear him to the city of toronto.

Actually he uses (used) it quite often. I have family that lives there and they run into him once in a while on the elevator. He's had interviews and made a lot of his youtube videos in his condo as well, so I'd say he used it more than you think.

As for the transparency to the non basketball fans, he did some charity work, but other than I'd say you're right. I've almost never heard of him being at some event that didn't have to do with basketball.

[GameBreaker]

Bosh is a two-faced lying bitch-made dude. Did we all forget the countless times he said Toronto is his home, Toronto is his second home, how he was comfortable here, etc.? Then he turns around and disses the city? His charitable orgs are what EVERY franchise player does. It's for self-reputation and pats on the back. Overall, its EXPECTED. Now everyone is counting us out because of a lack of leadership prick who won't take ANY responsibility for his own shit. If anything he dissed the fans...who paid to see his punkass fail to bring us over the top. He wanted the ball at crunchtime..okay..he got it. Where is his17.5 million dollar game winner? None!!! He played his heart out, yes, but for himself and not for his team. He knew what he was doing and for the team, in my opinion. Too much blame is on BC. These players get paid a pretty penny to get their respective teams somewhere. Also to live out their contracts to the last hour. Also to keep their WORD.

[ovrproof]

sorry, i should have said home instead of house. he probably used that condo twice a year.

exactly what im saying, he didnt do anything above and beyond what was expected of him. our so-called franchise player wasnt even given a chris bosh day, or a key to the city of toronto. he was so transparent in the eyes on non-basketball fans, because he did not do anything beyond basketball that would endear him to the city of toronto.

Charles Oakley lived in a suite in the Royal York Hotel for several years. It did not stop him from playing hard every night. I fail to see how having a home/house in the city contributes to them being better players. You just sound bitter and your nitpicking for things for rag on Bosh about.

Bosh does not owe us anything. Sports now is a business plain and simple. Bosh could have been traded by Colangelo any moment he pleased if he was not impressed by his performance - and Bosh would have had no say. Just like Calderon was shopped earlier this summer. More or less (outside of Miami's signings and Chris Paul) players mostly have no say in regards to trades. Do you think Chandler would have wanted to come play here any more than any other player before him?

Derozan and Weems are playing everybody, they know we are a bunch of heartbroken girls looking to pick up anything that comes our way with a twinkle in his eye. We have turned 3 shitty role players on a half decent team into our saviours. That's how far we have fallen in 15 years. I remember Mr. Bitove and Rob Black unveiling the Raptors on CTV 16 years ago, so I'm not talking out my ass, this is true.

[TheGloveinRapsUniform]

Charles Oakley lived in a suite in the Royal York Hotel for several years. It did not stop him from playing hard every night. I fail to see how having a home/house in the city contributes to them being better players. You just sound bitter and your nitpicking for things for rag on Bosh about.

Bosh does not owe us anything. Sports now is a business plain and simple. Bosh could have been traded by Colangelo any moment he pleased if he was not impressed by his performance - and Bosh would have had no say. Just like Calderon was shopped earlier this summer. More or less (outside of Miami's signings and Chris Paul) players mostly have no say in regards to trades. Do you think Chandler would have wanted to come play here any more than any other player before him?

Derozan and Weems are playing everybody, they know we are a bunch of heartbroken girls looking to pick up anything that comes our way with a twinkle in his eye. We have turned 3 shitty role players on a half decent team into our saviours. That's how far we have fallen in 15 years. I remember Mr. Bitove and Rob Black unveiling the Raptors on CTV 16 years ago, so I'm not talking out my ass, this is true.

Im not sure if Oakley is comparable to Bosh. Bosh was drafted and re-signed by Toronto and was considered as a franchise player, Oakley was traded to Toronto after being with 2 other teams. I didnt say he was required to have a home in toronto, but players who have developed a liking to a particular city they are playing in usually buys a house, and bosh not buying a house here may have been an indication that he really wasnt looking to staying here long term. Clear enough for you?

i guess with your 3 posts here we can clearly say that you havent really read much of the posts here. everybody has already accepted the fact the bosh doesnt owe the raptors anything but it wouldve have been a big courtesy on his part to let BC know what he was going to do a lot earlier than he did.

wow, you probably said that too when VC left and Bosh stepped up as the so-called franchise player. you probably said o this raptor looking guy is just looking like a raptor because he's playing with the raptors to please everybody. but i see you only have 3 posts so you probably didnt post that here a long time ago. maybe somewhere else.

[TheGloveinRapsUniform]

you guys can defend bosh all you want, but bottomline is, BC had nothing to gain saying those things he said about Bosh. he's not like Dan Gilbert who shelled out the money to make lebron happy. what BC did was tell the truth, and at the same time defend himself for getting slandered about last season when Bosh actually contributed in the raptors downfall.

but now what i realize is, after all this free agency bullshit, didnt matter if we made the playoffs anyways, Bosh would have still left. Even if Lebron won a championship in Cleveland, he would have still left. The real genius here is Wade. Forget Pat Riley, if Wade wasnt re-signing, he wouldnt have gotten LBJ and Bosh. If the heat win a championship with these three, it will be Wade's legacy. Wade owns Miami now.

[ovrproof]

Im not sure if Oakley is comparable to Bosh. Bosh was drafted and re-signed by Toronto and was considered as a franchise player, Oakley was traded to Toronto after being with 2 other teams. I didnt say he was required to have a home in toronto, but players who have developed a liking to a particular city they are playing in usually buys a house, and bosh not buying a house here may have been an indication that he really wasnt looking to staying here long term. Clear enough for you?

i guess with your 3 posts here we can clearly say that you havent really read much of the posts here. everybody has already accepted the fact the bosh doesnt owe the raptors anything but it wouldve have been a big courtesy on his part to let BC know what he was going to do a lot earlier than he did.

wow, you probably said that too when VC left and Bosh stepped up as the so-called franchise player. you probably said o this raptor looking guy is just looking like a raptor because he's playing with the raptors to please everybody. but i see you only have 3 posts so you probably didnt post that here a long time ago. maybe somewhere else.

I don't see how having 3 (now 4!!!) posts on a web forum makes me know any less than you. What it does show is how we spend our free time. If you think Derozan or Weems or Amir showed more promise than Bosh did in his first two years I don't know what to say. I'll stop now, I don't want to start pressing on your "e-rep" too much. ez

[TheGloveinRapsUniform]

oh yes it does. youre making arguments on topics thats already been discussed and finalized here. if youve been reading then you wont be making donkey comments.

what you said was "Derozan and Weems are playing everybody, they know we are a bunch of heartbroken girls looking to pick up anything that comes our way with a twinkle in his eye." not sure how interpret that as showing promise, im pretty sure you were referring more to their vocal admiration of toronto and how good it is to play here. like what i said, you probably said the exact same thing about Bosh when VC left, i guess the Raps really cant catch a break huh??
yeah, dont ruin my e-rep. thats all i got. hahahaha. i look forward to your 5th post.

[SirChillyMost]

Bosh gave BC a chance it's not his fault BC can't evaluate talent or held onto Bargnani and never acquired another star player to play with Bosh. BC's recent rants are very self revealing of his true nature as are Boshs' non comments to those scathing, emtionally based remarks. He should have just wished Bosh all the best, thanked him for his time in TO and move on. Exposing dirty laundry looks bad on BC because BC still wanted to re sign Bosh despite all these alleged media hyped issues made by BC in relation to Boshs' dedication to TO last season.

Why didn't BC trade Bosh at the trade deadline? All BC got from Miami was their number 1 pick returned (Banks deal) plus Miami's 2011 1st round pick (most likely number 30) & and a 14 million dollar TPE that has yet to be used- if ever.

BC is ass while Bosh is class.