Chris Bosh explains why he left the Raptors for the Heat

It's been four years since Chris Bosh committed to a sign-and-trade that saw him join the Miami Heat, where he's since won two championships as the possibility of a third quickly looms.

The move marked yet another instance of the Toronto Raptors being unable to hold on to a star player. Five years earlier, Vince Carter, who seemingly wanted out of Toronto, had been traded to the New Jersey Nets. And four years before that, the Raptors were unable to re-sign Tracy McGrady, who instead joined the Orlando Magic.

All three players obviously had their own reasons for discontinuing with the Raptors, and in a recent conversation with Kirk Goldsberry, Bosh outlined why he chose to do so in 2009.

Per Grantland:

I could have been like, Hey, I’m gonna take more money and stay here, and they’re gonna dump it down into the post to me 20 times a game. I’m gonna get 20 shots. I’m gonna get 20 and 10 every night. Or I could go to Miami, to a less certain future.

It's not exactly a shocking development. Most people are already aware that Bosh preferred a "supporting actor" role on a championship-competing team to a face-of-a-franchise role on a struggling team. But it's still interesting to hear how he processed the decision.

Bosh also spoke of how he had to get used to being partnered with the likes of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade after playing for a Raptors team where he was the reference point of almost every play.

You realize how much you give up when you’re in certain situations — when it’s late [in the] game and I’m like, ‘Give it to me in the post, I know I can score.’ But instead it’s like, ‘No, we gotta get Dwyane goin’. It was a tough pill to swallow.