Chris Bosh
The unquestionable number one center in franchise history, Chris Bosh is a sure-fire hall-of-famer and one of the best players in his generation. Although Bosh will likely be most remembered for his time in a Miami Heat uniform, he was arguably just as good, if not better as a Raptor.
Bosh was drafted by the Raptors following a horrific 2002-2003 season and was instantly one of the best players on the team. By the end of his sophomore year, with Vince Carter gone, Bosh was the clearly the team’s future.
Bosh responded to that tremendous pressure placed on a 21-year old by becoming even better. In his third season Bosh averaged 22.5 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks. He was selected to the All-Star game for the first time of his career, and was quickly solidifying himself as one of the best young players in the game.
The peak of basketball in the Chris Bosh era was the 2006-2007 season. After a 7-14 start, the team rebounded to finish 47-35, good enough for the third seed in the Eastern Conference (Man, it’s nice to play in the East).
During the 2006-2007 season, Bosh dragged the team to relevancy. The team’s next five leaders in minutes played during the season were T.J. Ford, Anthony Parker, Jorge Garbajosa, Rasho Nesterovic, and rookie Andrea Bargnani.
Ford and Parker are respectable players, but how many wins does that team have without Chris Bosh?
Unfortunately for Toronto, that was the last success Bosh would have with the franchise. The team failed to go above .500 during the rest of his tenure.
After consistently being surrounded by failing talent, Bosh joined LeBron James and took his talents to South Beach. Still, what he accomplished as a Toronto Raptor is great enough to make him the best center in franchise history.