Did the "injured" Chris Bosh sit out SIX more games after he was cleared to play? At least he looked engaged, cheering his team on from the bench. Oh wait... (Source: Yardbarker.com)

Some pretty damning comments from Raptors’ GM Bryan Colangelo about how Chris Bosh was healthy enough to play for the team during the final push for a playoff spot, but he bailed on them.  ESPN reports:

“Despite limited swelling and any excessive damage on an MRI, he felt like he needed to sit for six more games,” Colangelo said on 590 The Fan on Monday.

“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.”

Considering the Raptors missed out on the playoffs by one game, that’s gotta be some disheartening news for Toronto fans.  Was he genuinely just nervous that he wasn’t healthy or did he let other issues effect his decision?  He had to know that if the Raps missed out on the playoffs that it would then be incredibly easy for him to depart without seeming like a bad guy (although his Twitter antics did annoy some fans, particularly Toronto-ians).  While many pundits were disappointed in LeBron for leaving a team that’d lead the league in wins for two seasons to choose the “easy” path of teaming up with All-Stars, no one’s really said anything like that about Bosh.  It was clear that he could never be the focal point of a championship contender (which missing out on the playoffs only confirmed) so he definitely needed some help.

Another possibility is that since he probably felt pretty strongly he’d leave town, he didn’t want to follow in Grant Hill’s ill-fated footsteps.  Remember that an injured Hill pushed through his injuries to compete in the playoffs with his then-team, the Detroit Pistons, only to arrive at his new team, the Orlando Magic, injury-riddled and never the same player again.  From a logical point of view, it’s a somewhat understandable choice, but from a competitive player’s pov it’s unfathomable.  Usually injured players are always eager to get back on the court and help their team before they’re even ready, while it’s the team that has to hold them back.  Only after you’ve had tons of injuries (like say a Tracy McGrady) does an athlete tend to get a bit gun shy.

It’s also kinda a funny parallel since LeBron also seemed to quit on his former team too.  Sure, LBJ had the courtesy to wait until the playoffs, but the end result was the same: both teams far underperformed what was expected of them, making an exit “easier.”  As if Miami’s new Super Friends team didn’t have enough hate aimed towards them, this should just bring it up another notch.

Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher celebrate after a game that featured surprising turns and performances from beginning to end. (Source: Yardbarker.com)

Yesterday I wrote how if Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celticsfollowed suit with the rest of the series, there would be more drama before the game than during it.  How happily wrong I was.  The game had surprising twists plus more storylines than a Robert Altman film.  If I didn’t know better, I’d’ve thought this game was shown on cable rather than ABC, ‘cuz TNT Knows Drama (oh wait, didn’t they change their tagline to the even lamer “TNT – Very Funny?”).  There also still was some post-game suspense (which I’ll get to in the end). So now, in honor of the Lakers winning their 16th title, we’ll go over the 16 surprising tales this game created, starting out with the 12 stories that played out duringthe game:

1. The Redemption Of Ron Artest

The 2010 Laker team had one difference from the 2009 team: they swapped Ron Artest for Trevor Ariza.  At the beginning of the year Artest stated that if the Lakers didn’t win again this year that the blame should fall on him.  It was a bold, perhaps fair statement to make.  With his horrendous shooting throughout much of the playoffs and into the Finals, LA fans had the bullseye painted and everything.  However, with Kobe and Pau struggling in the first half (okay, hell, the whole game), his scoring kept the team in the game.  Add to it that he held Paul Pierce to 5-of-15 shooting and this poor maligned, albeit slightly crazy guy, perhaps can finally move on from his Malice At The Palace rep.

To read the rest of my post, go to the main FanSided page here.