Chris Bosh was drafted by the Toronto Raptors in 2003. He spent seven years with the organization before ultimately leaving to join LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat in 2010.
Before making his Heat debut, Bosh was a superstar in Toronto. He averaged 20.2 points on 49 percent shooting, 9.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. From 2006 to 2010, he was an All-Star. Clearly he had a good thing going.
So why’d he leave?
During a recent interview on SiriusXM Radio, Bosh revealed the one particular message that ultimately led to his Toronto exit.
“One message in particular stuck out in my head saying, ‘You want to play on the big stage.’ That always stuck with me,” he said. “I wanted to compete for a championship. I wanted to be like Jordan. I wanted to be like Kobe. I wanted to be like Tim Duncan. Those guys elevated their game and got with the Boston (Celtics), and now they’re playing at that level. I wanted to play at that level. That was the most important thing to me.”
Going from being the No. 1 guy with the Raptors to the No. 3 option with the Heat couldn’t have been easy. But for Bosh, it was a sacrifice worth making.
Bosh has been on something of an introspective run in recent weeks. Not long ago, he got brutally honest about the impact Kobe Bryant had on his career. It was really poignant stuff.
Bosh is objectively one of the most talented power forwards to ever play the game. As such, learning more about his story is always fun. Hopefully in the coming weeks, months and years more information comes out that allows folks to fully appreciate what he brought to the table throughout his storied career.
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