Just when you thought the hype surrounding the Miami Heat was starting to cool off, someone tosses a log back into the fire to spark some controversy. This time, however, the spotlight has shifted from LeBron James to focus upon the third member of the South Beach Big Three, former Toronto Raptor Chris Bosh.
Taking a page out of Dan Gilbert's notebook, Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo dropped some harsh criticisms of Bosh's attitude and play toward the end of his tenure with the team.
According to Yahoo Sports, Colangelo appeared on a Canadian sports radio show, FAN 590 with Bob McCown, on Monday and had some choice words to say about Bosh and his lack of devotion in the last half of the 2010 season. Colangelo even stated that Bosh nursed an injury, claiming he was medically cleared to play, but the forward chose to sit out six more games than necessary.
"Despite limited swelling and any excessive damage on an MRI, he felt like he needed to sit for six more games … I'm not even questioning Chris' injury. I'm telling you he was cleared to play subject to tolerance on his part, and the tolerance just apparently wasn't there and he chose not to play," Colangelo told McCown.
Colangelo didn't stop there, he went on to say that Bosh not only checked out physically, but mentally as well. The Raptors were within one game of making the 2010 NBA playoffs but lost the eight-seed opportunity to the Chicago Bulls. Had Bosh decided to participate in those six games when he was healthy, Toronto could have made a bid toward postseason play. It's speculated Bosh, James and Dwyane Wade were already plotting their trip to South Beach during the season, and Colangelo believes Bosh's head was already there during crunch time.
"Whether he was mentally checked out or just wasn't quite into it down the stretch, he wasn't the same guy," Colangelo said. "I think everybody saw that, but no one wanted to acknowledge it."
Similar to James, Bosh was also accused of failing to serve as the team's centerpiece, and couldn't handle the weight of being the face of the franchise.
"No matter what type of player we brought in, it didn't seem to have the right mix with him as that centerpiece," Colangelo stated.
A centerpiece no more, Bosh falls into rank behind Wade and James in Miami, and in the process frees up a lot of money for Toronto to regroup for the 2010-11 season. While he may be angry now, losing the forward who pulled the plug on his franchise may be a blessing in disguise for Colangelo and the Raptors.
