Latest Raptors all-star nears extinction

The best and the worst thing about social media is how it removes the barriers between fans and athletes. There is little – if any – buffer between the two which means there’s no room for error.

That’s why when Chris Bosh sent out two tweets a few evenings ago asking if he should leave and where to go, they quickly become infamous. They were followed by changes to Bosh’s account: he removed any reference to the Raptors or the city of Toronto.

More than anything else, these seem to be a sign that Bosh will not be back in Toronto next season.

In a city where the best Raptors seem to have left a sour taste in the media’s mouth, the reaction should have been somewhat predictable – comparisons to Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady have been all over the GTA’s sports sections.

One report, written by the Toronto Star’s Chris Young, said that it’s dj vu for Raptor fans, who watched the teams previous stars leave under similar circumstances.

But is it really? “Not at all,” said James Borbath of Dino Nation Blog. “Bosh is leaving based on the organization’s failure to surround him with talent I think the most significant point he has made was the fact that championship teams are tax teams.”

“While MLSE has always dangled the carrot of being willing to go into the tax threshold, in the Bosh Era they have not,” continued Borbath. “The fact is the last three major moves by this franchise (Jason Kapono, Jermaine O’Neal, and Hedo Turkoglu) have failed Carter left for some of the same reasons but in the end demanded a trade and made it hard as a result to get fair value for him. ”

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Indeed, when Vince Carter left the Raptors, he was on a Toronto team that was bottoming out and rebuilding and wanted to be on a contending team. When Bosh leaves, he’s leaving a team that fell out of the playoff race in the final days of the season and feels in disarray.

If it resembles anything, it’s the McGrady situation (almost). T-Mac left the Raptors in a sign-and-trade, going to an Orlando team that had also picked up Grant Hill. There’s a common rumor that Bosh and LeBron James may sign to play for the same team.

But even in that situation there are major differences. McGrady had only been on the Raptors for three seasons and had quickly been overshadowed by Vince Carter as the team’s star player. Bosh has been with the Raptors for the better part of the decade and has been their marquee player. Both are leaving in similar ways, but for entirely different reasons.

Still, the whole thing feels a little contrived. Perhaps more than any other athlete, Bosh knows the power of social media. And when he tweeted his questions, he likely knew it was going to make waves.

“It would seem one of two things are possible,” said Borbath. “Bosh is just having fun with the media speculation and just doing this for personal amusement. That or he is just further positioning himself that he is available to drive up his value for various teams.”

But Bosh has never said he was planning to stay with the Raptors, either. As recently as last month, he turned down a max offer to stay with the team. Fans shouldn’t be too surprised to see that he’s weighing all his options.

So if there is a wave of cynicism among Raptor fans, what’s to blame? Maybe it’s the history of the Raptors, argues Borbath.

“When the Raptors decided to market and make a big deal of their 15th season in the league,” he said, “I think fans reflected back on 15 years and thought about it and came to the conclusion ‘what have we actually accomplished?'”

It’s a great point. In the past 15 seasons, the Raptors have made the playoffs five times and only advanced past the first round once. For most of their history, the team just hasn’t been good: they’ve only finished above .500 five times. No wonder fans may be turned off by the Raptors management.

Losing Bosh will only add to this cynicism, argues Borbath. “(Bosh) is the face the casual fan identifies with the Raptors. Honestly no Sign and Trade deal is bringing back a player that can replace him.”

“This team is a team without a franchise player.”

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