LOL!It is unjust to consider Chris Bosh one of today’s NBA superstars because he isn’t one. For the record, even though he desires to be an MVP quality player, Chris Bosh clearly is not in the category of present-day ‘superstar clutch players’ like Kobe, LBJ, Wade, Duncan, Parker, Nash, Kidd, Paul, Iverson and Pierce. These superstar players have consistently risen to the occasion by dominating 4th quarters and single-handedly winning games. They have all earned their superstar status as much by their statistical accomplishments and playoff achievements, as their clutch performances. It is crucial to understand that there are only a handful of superstar players that exist in every generational era. Superstars are rare breeds. They are considered the all-time greats of the game and are forever recognized as NBA Legends.
For a correct comparison, Bosh is in the category of ‘perennial all-star players’ such as: T-Mac, Boozer, Yao, Carter, Gasol, Dirk, KG, Anthony, and Howard. These players can all dominate and carry their team throughout a game; they just have not shown an ability to raise the level of their games during crunch time. These players have all put up great stats, are all recognized as franchise players and even MVP-caliber players. However, they just aren’t clutch contributors down the stretch when it mattered most.
It is fair to say that all championship caliber teams require a pairing of both superstars and all-stars. The anecdotal evidence of past NBA championship teams clearly proves this.
For all of their crunch time shortcomings, perennial all-stars like Chris Bosh are players every team wants and needs to become a legitimate championship contender to win a title. There should be absolute no doubt that every NBA GM would like to have Chris Bosh on their team. Bosh is a legitimate NBA star. And championship caliber teams all have multiple players like Bosh who may never be able to improve their crunch time performances to elevate their legacies from all-stars to superstars. Yet, what often separate a championship caliber team from championship winning team are the clutch playoff performances of superstar players.
As Raps fan-addicts, our dream is for the Raps to eventually become perennial championship contenders capable of competing for and winning multiple NBA titles. We have the highest of aspirations and the loftiest of expectations for this franchise. In terms of actually realizing our dreams, I have no doubt whatsoever that Bryan Colangelo shares our dream. And I’ll even state that I honestly believe that if the Raps ever actually proved that they had a team that was on the cusp of becoming an a title contending team that the MLSE Board of Directors would in fact agree to increase our salary budget and pay the luxury tax, because much as know that MLSE are more concerned with making money, winning titles would earn the team more money. Unfortunately, because the Raptors have never been close to proving that they are among the top 4-6 teams in the league (let alone top 2-3 in our Conference) there is no way to argue otherwise.
I feel absolutely certain that BC is indeed doing everything he possibly can to correct his failed ‘calculated risk’ having acquired JO to improve our interior defense and rebounding and sacrificing the overall talent depth of this team in the process. Such a correction must involve trading JO for a massive expiring contract. Should BC be successful in doing so (and I expect he will), it will give us some hope. There is every reason to think that this coming off-season will arguably be the most important in team history.
With both our long-term goals and short-term goals in mind, Chris Bosh is at the very centre of our thoughts. it is absolutely critical for us to retain Bosh long-term since he is exactly the type of player we’ll need to achieve our championship dream. Realistically, I do feel our chances of re-signing Bosh (him accepting our more lucrative max offer) will depend on whether BC can trade JO in the next two weeks in order to than acquire a perennial all-star player this summer. However, I think Bosh will make his decision stay or go more so on whether he can play alongside a superstar player like Dwayne Wade.
As much as this season has been a huge disappointment, it’ll be completely tragic if BC doesn’t trade JO for an expiring contract(s) because it will essentially determine the likely outcome of our off-season, as well as our likelihood of re-signing Bosh.
Given the fact that Bosh is a perennial all-star, I do not see him as being the reason why we are having a bad year. Nor I don’t feel it is justified to blame him for our poor record since he is having another prototypical Chris Bosh season, statistically. Chris Bosh has proven that he is indeed a franchise player and a perennial all-star (not a superstar) deserving of a max contract.
For the Raps to have a dramatic improvement next season to carry over into the summer of 2010 to have any hope of re-signing Chris Bosh, we will have to somehow add a player as talented as Chris Bosh to play alongside Chris Bosh.
