Chris Bosh will have to wait to have his jersey retired by Toronto Raptors

Chris Bosh may well have his jersey retired by the Toronto Raptors someday, but he may have to wait for now. Let’s examine the reasons why that may be.

With the Miami Heat set to retire Chris Bosh’s jersey, some Toronto Raptors fans have wondered aloud why the Raptors have not opted to do the same. Bosh served as the face of the franchise for at least five seasons. Chris Bosh arguably deserves recognition down the road from the franchise, but the timing just may not be right.

There are multiple potential reasons in play, but it likely boils down to one, or a combination, of three things: Vince Carter, DeMar DeRozan, and his comments since leaving the team.

Vince Carter

One of the major reasons the Toronto Raptors may have decided to wait to is that there is a player more deserving. Despite the anger that resonated throughout the fan base at the time of his trade, and the package that Rob Babcock ultimately accepted, Vince Carter has once again been embraced by the fanbase he spurned.

The most talented player to ever don a Raptors uniform for more than a single age 39 season, Vince Carter is the man who put the Toronto Raptors on the map. Vince Carter still leads the Raptors with 23.4 points per game, and a 21.8 player efficiency rating.  Vince Carter’s impact goes beyond just the game of basketball, the staying power of the franchise, and his charitable work in the city of Toronto.

He influenced multiple generations of Canadian youth and paved the way for Toronto, the province of Ontario, and Canada as a whole to become a hotbed of NBA talent. Toronto and its surrounding suburbs have already produced two first overall picks, and a fourth overall pick, and will likely see another in R.J. Barrett go in the high lottery in the 2019 NBA Draft.

DeMar DeRozan

Another major reason the Toronto Raptors may have decided to wait on honoring Chris Bosh is that there is another player more deserving than him, and perhaps even Vince Carter. The popular discourse here is that DeRozan, unlike VC and Bosh, never wanted to leave Toronto. He wanted to retire in the city he considered his second home, and the fanbase rightly loves him for it.

DeRozan holds numerous franchise records including points, games played, minutes played, field goals, field goal attempts, field goal missed, free throws, free throw attempts, and more. It is true that many of these numbers are a result of playing more games and minutes than any other Raptor in history, but the fact is that he had to do so at a high level, for a very long time.

Regardless of whether you think DeMar or Vince deserve to get their jersey hoisted to the rafters first, we can likely all agree that Chris Bosh does not deserve to go before them.

Comments since leaving Raptors

Another major reason Chris Bosh may have to wait, or may never see his number retired in Toronto is due to the aftermath of his exodus. Losing another star to the state of Florida was bad enough (Tracy McGrady), but having to contend with Bosh joining a super team in Miami made the cut a little deeper.

However there continued, and continues to be fallout from his departure. Now while it’s doubtful that it has been done intentionally, Chris Bosh’s comments since leaving the Raptors have had a potentially damaging impact on how the team may be viewed by other NBA players.

His asinine comments about not being able to get the good cable, Bell, unlike Rogers (available to everyone in Toronto) at that time did not offer NFL Sunday Ticket for him to watch NFL on Sundays, or NBA League Pass for him to enjoy out of market games) could be taken as gospel by those who thought he was being truthful.

His comments regarding the fallout of the failed John Salmons deal and how free agents don’t really want to come to Toronto did nothing but reinforce an old stereotype that Vince Carter disproved when he convinced a future Hall of Famer to join him north of the border. He equated taking less money to play in a better situation, ‘a better team in the Chicago ‘Baby’ Bulls’, as a slight on the team and country.

John Salmons cited role concerns as his reason for turning down Toronto, leaving Bosh to look like he is once again grasping at straws to validate his decision. It is also important to note that his statement is factually incorrect. John Salmons signed with the Sacramento Kings, not the Chicago Bulls. Furthermore, he took more money (not less) for a larger role.

He has also sounded off about taxes and customs, but we cannot fault him for that. Those are legitimate gripes. Chris Bosh was loved as a Raptor, but that fervor never reached the levels it did with both Vince and DeMar.

In the end, there may be multiple reasons why the Toronto Raptors have decided to wait to retire Chris Bosh’s number. In fact, they may not plan to at all. There are more deserving candidates to be the first player ever to be honored by the Raptors. And if that was not enough he has not helped his case since leaving the Raptors.

Chris Bosh will likely go down as one of the most iconic Toronto Raptors of all time. But like he should have been forced to do in Miami in favour of Dwyane Wade, he will have to wait his turn.