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2010 Villain: Hedo Turkoglu
Illustration by Brian McLachlan/Torontoist.
Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains—Toronto’s very best and very worst people, places, and things over the past twelve months. From December 13–17: the Villains! From December 20–24, the Heroes! And, from December 27–30, you can vote for Toronto’s Superhero and Supervillain of the year.
“Oh man, don’t ask about Toronto,” Hedo Turkoglu pleaded in a recent interview, a welcome display of tact from a basketball player who spent most of his off-season whining about the Toronto Raptors. The Turkish-born small forward arrived in Toronto in the summer of 2009 amid much fanfare, signed to a five-year, fifty-three million dollar contract. But he lasted only one disappointing season in Raptor red, averaging 11.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in seventy-four appearances.
After a banner year the previous season with the Orlando Magic—where he played a key role in that team reaching the NBA Finals—he under-performed in Toronto. Maybe the team expected too much and overpaid. But in the eyes of fans, Turkoglu was a loafer, an under-achiever, and a passive player who didn’t hustle or have a sense of purpose on the court.
At one point, he even blamed coach Jay Triano’s system for his poor production—that his talents weren’t used properly. It was a lame excuse that sportswriters, like Dave Feschuk, lost patience for quickly. “Turkoglu,” Feschuk wrote, “took a $53 million contract from the Toronto Raptors, and he essentially took a season from them, too.”
It all came to a head when, after sitting out a game on March 28 this year claiming a stomach ailment, Turkoglu was spotted at a Yorkville nightclub. He later tried to defend himself, arguing that he’d been at home, around the corner, when teammates telephoned. Again, he refused to take responsibility, claiming it was someone else’s fault. The team fined him and made him a healthy scratch for one game as punishment.
Hedo called it “the most embarrassing moment in my life” and became openly critical of the organization and management. By the end of May he was venting to Turkish television.
“When the circumstances turned against me,” he said, “I lost my enthusiasm for this city.” Then he added: “Honestly, I do not want to go back to Toronto.”
Mercifully, as the he-said-she-said made his return to wearing a Raptors uniform untenable, a July trade landed him in Phoenix. Even on the way out the door, he showed a lack of class. “People have to realize something is wrong with that organization and nobody wants to go there anymore,” he said in a later interview. “It’s not just the players who see this.”
When the Suns played their first exhibition game in Toronto in October, he’d been nicknamed “Turkaboo” and was jeered loudly by disheartened fans. He deserved it.