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Since Chris Bosh took his talents to South Beach, we’ve seen more and more of him in the media; whether it be for the good or the bad. It’s just what he wanted – more attention.
Bosh has taken a couple of swipes at Canada. His 1st grumble, was that you simply don’t get enough attention and coverage in Canada. His 2nd dissatisfaction was that apparently you can’t get NBA League Pass in Canada – he’s got it now in Miami though.
I won’t comment on the latter, because it’s pretty obvious that when you have millions of dollars, you’re only one satellite installation away from obtaining NBA League Pass. But regarding the lack of attention players receive in T-Dot; that just isn’t true, and Vince Carter *shrug* proved that.
Obviously, Carter isn’t the most treasured man in Toronto these days; but he didn’t deprecate Canada the way Bosh did – and he even proved that fame and popularity can be achieved north of the border too.
In VC’s prime and youth, his popularity in the States was as big, if not bigger than any other player in the NBA – especially when he won the dunk-off, and then dunked over that 7 foot guy (pardon my ignorance) from France in the Olympics. Carter’s problem was not the location of the franchise, but rather the franchise itself; and the fact that he didn’t want to be part of another rebuilding team.
Before you read any further, please make a note that in no way do I excuse the way VC treated this franchise.
Chris Bosh just isn’t as good as Carter was in his youth, so his desire for attention isn’t warranted. Having said that, he is getting attention now, but probably not the kind of attention he wants. After seeing all kinds of articles in the media on Bosh’s poor performance so far this season, he admits that he feels ‘lost’ out there.
Shaq continued giving attention to the man he once called ‘Rupaul’, taking a small jab at him while giving the city of Toronto some praise:
Folks in Toronto have a sense that U.S. born players don’t want to play in Canada. Is that a general vibe you get?
It’s not that. It’s the double taxes that deter players from going there. Also Bosh obviously couldn’t handle the pressure, so he had to go join two other people to help him out. Listen to what I tell you: Toronto is in the top three NBA cities for every NBA player. Trust me on that, brother.
-Askmen.com
At the end of the day, I wish Bosh all the best. I don’t think he would want to harm the Toronto organization one bit despite his desire for attention. He’s clearly stated that he loves the city and that he misses it.
It’s clear that Toronto is one of the most vibrant and ‘happening’ places in North America (Click here to read why Toronto is the ‘White Vegas’), and if we want to keep our star players, maybe we should take a page out of Mick Gardiner’s book, and discuss what it really takes to build a winning organization.
