Better late then never? Raptors GM Colangelo rips Chris Bosh

It been 3-weeks to the day that Chris Bosh went on National TV and told us all that he, along with Dwyane Wade, would be signing with the Miami Heat.  The following day, LeBron James went on the same network (ESPN) and let the country know that he was leaving Cleveland to join up with Bosh and Wade in Miami. 

It didn't take long for the people of Cleveland and members of the Cavs organization to let everyone know exactly how they felt about LeBron and his decision.  Hell, it took their owner like ten minutes to send out his infamous letter to the fans of Cleveland.

For some reason it took Toronto Raptors president and general manger  Bryan Colangelo until yesterday to make his feelings about Chris Bosh known.  During an interview with FAN 590, Colangelo decided to criticize his former star player for several things.

First it was Bosh apparently taking more time then necessary when coming back from an injury towards the end of the season.  Toronto and Chicago were battling for the 8^th and final playoff spot, and the injuries to Bosh kept him from playing in several games down the stretch. 

"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.  The fact that our season was spiraling downward and we were hoping he'd come back sooner and we were also dealing with a few other things at that point ... we were really struggling there."

Bosh has always been very passionate about winning, and his actions this off-season in signing a smaller contract in order to be the best position to win directly contrast Colangelo's ‘injury milking' accusations.  But it easy to take a situation, especially one that happened several months ago, and turn it on its ear to look how you want it.. 

Bosh was slowed by injury, and injuries are often paired with speculation and secrecy.  An easy target for an angry former coach or GM to attack; it's been done many times before and will continue to happen in the future. 

Colangelo's next comments show that he is grasping for something that just isn't there.  He attacks Bosh's commitment to his team and to winning and blames it again on the injury. 

"Whether he was mentally checked out or just wasn't quite into it down the stretch, he wasn't the same guy.  I think everybody saw that, but no one wanted to acknowledge it."

Finally, he chooses to imply that Bosh is not a good teammate and that no team can win with him regardless of what pieces they place around him.  I find this particularly funny and I'll get to why right after you read the comments for yourselves:

"We tried in vain to put pieces around Chris.  Different pieces, different styles.  It didn't work out.  No matter what type of player we brought in, it didn't seem to have the right mix with him as that centerpiece."

I looked at the Raptors rosters from every season that Bosh was in Toronto to see who these pieces were they tried "in vain" to put around Chris were.  Now that I've seen the work Colangelo spoke of, I find it amazingly hard to believe that he opened himself up to such scrutiny. 

I'll just go down the list and let you guys judge for yourself.  Bosh started out on a team with Vince Carter and Jalen Rose; Carter left after the 04-05 season and Rose was gone after 05-06.  Now for the additions; the ‘pieces' Colangelo put in around Bosh to build winning teams. 

04-05: Rafer Alston.  05-06 he drafted Jose Calderon.  06-07 he drafted Andrea Bargnani and brought in Anthony Parker and Rasho Nesterovic.  07-08 saw the additions of Jason Kapono, Carlos Delfino and Primoz Brezec.  08-09 was probably when the biggest addition was brought in.  Toronto acquired Jermaine O'Neal from Indiana during the off-season. 

At the time it was thought to be a huge move for the Raptors but turned out to be a big ‘whiff' by Colangelo.  Toronto would trade O'Neal mid-way through that same season and get the high-energy Shawn Marion in return.  Like O'Neal, Marion was only with the Raptors for half a season. 

The final move during Bosh's tenure with Toronto was the signing of Hedo Turkoglu.  Need I say more?  Looking back at the comments made by Colangelo, I can't believe he is questioning Bosh as a teammate when that's the list of ‘help' that was brought in to play around Chris.

So while it seems dumb that Bryan Colangelo would wait 3 long weeks before venting about losing Chris Bosh, the comments he made are just as silly.  I understand the concept of defending your team and trying to portray confidence in yourself and your organization....but (and maybe I'm bias) doesn't this fall under the same ‘sad and depressingly angry' category as Dan Gilbert's letter? 

Obviously the letter is much worse but this is still just being petty and trying to do nothing but shine a negative light on the player(s) who choose not to sign with your team.  They didn't demand trades or ridiculous contracts, they were FREE agents who did what they thought was best for their careers.