A star is born: Remembering Chris Bosh's time with the Toronto Raptors

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The Toronto Raptors selected Chris Bosh with the No. 4 pick in the 2003 NBA Draft

On Sept. 11, 2021, 16 individuals will be inducted into The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

In addition to Paul Pierce, Chris Webber and Ben Wallace, that group includes Chris Bosh, an 11-time All-Star who started his career with the Toronto Raptors.

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The Raptors selected Bosh with the No. 4 pick in the legendary 2003 NBA Draft. He spent seven seasons with the franchise before joining the Miami Heat, averaging 20.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 blocks per game in a Raptors uniform.

Bosh earned five All-Star selections as a member of the Raptors, as well as an All-NBA Second Team selection in 2007.

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A star is born

Bosh made an immediate impact in the NBA. He appeared in 75 games (63 starts) in his rookie season and posted averages of 11.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per contest. He earned a spot on the All-Rookie First Team alongside LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Kirk Hinrich.

Bosh built on those numbers in his sophomore season (2004-05), but it was his third season (2005-06) when he broke out and earned the first of 11 straight All-Star selections. He's one of only 44 players in NBA history with 10 or more All-Star selections in their career.

Bosh led the Raptors to a 47-35 record in the 2006-07 season, which was tied for the best record in franchise history at the time and earned the first of seven division titles for Toronto. In addition to being voted All-NBA Second Team, Bosh finished in seventh place in MVP voting behind Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, LeBron and Tracy McGrady.

The Raptors faced the New Jersey Nets in the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs and fell in six games.

The Raptors returned to the playoffs the following season (2007-08) off of another strong campaign from Bosh, only to suffer the same fate with another first-round loss, this time to the Orlando Magic in five games.

That was Bosh's last trip to the playoffs with the Raptors. He averaged 23.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.0 blocks per game in his final two seasons in Toronto.

In 2010, Bosh joined forces with LeBron and Wade on the Heat. He went on to earn six more All-Star selections with the Heat and won two championships.

"People forget how good Chris Bosh was before he went onto Miami," wrote NBA.com's Carlan Gay, who ranked Bosh as the sixth-greatest Raptor of all time. "He was an All-Star in the last five years he was with Toronto.

"Three of his last four years he posted 20-and-10 campaigns and he was able to lead some pretty lean Raptors teams to the postseason. For seven seasons Bosh did everything he could do for the Raptors. They just were never really able to get him the help he needed to take the team to the next level."

Bosh's most memorable games with the Raptors

On Nov. 19, 2003, Bosh blocked a career-high six shots in an 81-75 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

On March 25, 2005, Bosh pulled down a career-high 22 rebounds in a 103-101 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

On March 23, 2008, Bosh dished out a career-high nine assists in a 109-100 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

On April 26, 2008, Bosh scored a playoff career-high 39 points (16-26 FG) in a 106-94 loss to the Orlando Magic.

On Jan. 23, 2009, Bosh recorded a career-high seven steals in a 114-94 win over the Chicago Bulls.

On Jan. 20, 2010, Bosh scored a career-high 44 points (15-26 FG) in a 113-107 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Where Bosh ranks in the franchise record books

Bosh ranks third in points (10,275)

Bosh ranks fifth in games played (509)

Bosh ranks third in minutes played (18,815)

Bosh ranks second in field goals made (3,614) and fourth in field goal attempts (7,346)

Bosh ranks second in free throws made (2,997) and second in free throw attempts (3,767)

Bosh ranks first in offensive rebounds (1,369), first in defensive rebounds (3,407) and first in total rebounds (4,776)

Bosh ranks ninth in assists (1,115)

Bosh ranks eighth in steals (397)

Bosh ranks first in blocks (600)

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Author(s)
Scott Rafferty Photo

Scott Rafferty is a Senior NBA Editor for The Sporting News