It was “surreal,” says Mr. Bosh, 37, over the phone from his home in Austin, Tex. “I was in the best shape of my life.” He seethed as he watched season after season from the sidelines, nudged into early retirement by bad luck. “It’s not like I did anything wrong. It just happened,” he says. He bristled when friends told him he simply needed to find something else to do. “I had given my life to basketball,” he says. “You don’t get to that level without making huge sacrifices.” He had no plans for a second act. In search of something steadying in a disorienting time, Mr. Bosh turned to writing. He found it cathartic to let his sadness and frustration guide his pen, to “get all the crap out” on the page. Scribbling his thoughts also helped him to reach a kind of acceptance, he says, “like going through the weeds with a machete to find the temple.”
NBA Rumor: Chris Bosh Retirement
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Instead of grasping for answers, he found himself asking more thoughtful questions—Who am I now? What else do I enjoy?—and pondering the lessons that have given his life meaning. The result is his new book, “Letters to a Young Athlete,” three years in the making, which will be published by Penguin Press next month. Part memoir, part life manual, the book is something that Mr. Bosh wishes he could have read back when he was an unseasoned rookie, full of bravado and big dreams. He writes about the value of sweat, the importance of humility and the need to cultivate both the brain and the body.
As it turns out, it wasn’t anything internal that led to Bosh calling it a career. His decision actually came forth after seeing Gordon Hayward’s injured his ankle in the first few minutes of his debut for the Boston Celtics in the opening night of the 2017-18 season: “I really knew I wasn’t gonna come back when Gordon Hayward dislocated his ankle,” Bosh said in a recent interview on SiriusXM NBA Radio. “I told myself that year, I said, ‘Man, let me get back in the ball.’ Because I didn’t watch any basketball the year before. I’m gonna work out harder, I’m gonna get back inspired. Cleveland and Boston was playing. First game. Dwyane and ‘Bron. I watched my old friends at Cleveland. Boston’s got this new team. Within the first five minutes of me watching basketball that year, I see a dislocated ankle. And it pretty much knocked all the wind out of my sail. It was already really hard and getting more disheartening the further we were getting away from me not playing. And I knew that as a player. Whatever want that I had at that time, I was like, ‘Man, c’mon.’”
Ira Winderman: In Instagram Live session, Chris Bosh says there no longer are thoughts about a comeback, “Basketball, man, I did it.” Said he worked out as recently a year ago with Juwan Howard and knee swelled up next day. “I have fully expressed myself in the art.”
During an appearance on NBA TV as a panel for Game 3 of the Toronto Raptors-Milwaukee series, Bosh also offered some insights on his transition as a full-time husband and father. “After a while, after a couple of years, I didn’t want to put myself out there and have that letdown again,” Bosh said. “I don’t want to be mad at the game. I don’t want to resent the game. Let me just walk away now causeI haven’t told any doctors.” “I got three boys and my twins were just born. And so as they were getting older, you know, you kinda see how much I realize how much I was going. I remember the first days being home it was so loud in the house. I had to get used to it.”
Wearing a Heat championship ring on both hands, Bosh watched a giant banner bearing his name and No. 1 raised to the rafters of AmericanAirlines Arena on Tuesday night — then delivered an emotional address to the crowd, part of it even in Spanish as a show of respect to the Latin culture of Miami. “My name, my family name up here, that’s something I used to get laughed at for dreaming of,” Bosh said. “So never let anyone tell you that you can’t accomplish your dream. Those four letters on the back of that jersey are my wife’s name, my kids’ name, my father’s name, my grandfather’s name. We’re not just carrying on for another generation. But now, Daddy Jack, we’re up there forever.”
For a time, he and the Heat were estranged. Bosh wanted to keep playing. The Heat didn’t feel his health issues would allow that. Eventually, the sides reached an understanding and then they finally began talking again. Now he’s back in the Heat family, forever. “I feel like I can officially, officially, officially move on,” Bosh said. “It all happened really fast, but we’re here. I’m so happy. And we get to move on into the next life together.”
Tim Reynolds: Bosh, on the thousands of notes he got from Heat fans after the first clot in 2015: “I read those letters. Those letters pushed me to get back on this court. Those letters inspired me to get back up and walk across the room when I didn’t think I had the energy to do it.”
Tim Reynolds: Bosh calls Game 6 the biggest rebound in NBA history. “I feel great. I’m happy. I’m healthy. And I’m ready to explore life outside of basketball.” Says he’s addicted to gold trophies: Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, Tonys. “But nothing will compare to a night like tonight,” he says.
The moment that led to Tuesday’s upcoming retirement of Chris Bosh’s No. 1 Miami Heat jersey came in the form of an epiphany. “You can’t live two lives,” Bosh says with the clarity that had been lacking after he was initially diagnosed with a second round of blood clots in February 2016, the moment his All-Star NBA career was put on hold for a second and final time.
Heat president Pat Riley and owner Micky Arison refused to acquiesce to a risk-accepted return. “It was tough, man. It was stressful,” Bosh says. “And nobody wanted it to be like that. And it’s business. I understood the whole time of where they were coming from and how they felt, but I want to make sure that people understood how I felt, as well. Sometimes that requires confrontation or involves confrontation. It was never confrontational. It was never anything detrimental to our relationship. We always kept it business. We all pretty much disagreed.”
“Micky and Pat — and this is one thing I have to get straight with people all the time — we never not talked. We communicated through this whole ordeal,” Bosh says. “And my message was always the same, ‘I want to play the game. I want to explore more options to be able to play.’ “
Chris Bosh is making a lot of music these days. He drinks beer and thinks about making more beer. He sketches. He paints. He plays with his kids. He has even learned how to use a wrench. He is also happy and healthy. And finally, he’s made peace with the devastating way that blood clots ended his NBA career without warning and when he was still in his prime.
His career is obviously worthy of celebrating. Bosh just hasn’t been in the mood to celebrate, until now. “It’s very awesome,” Bosh said. “I thought I had more time, but in the time I gave it was still worthy enough to have the organization and the great Pat Riley consider this. Pretty cool.”
Bosh got the remaining $52 million on his $118 million contract. In the financial sense, he was made whole. But he never learned why the clots kept happening. And a year ago, at the All-Star weekend in Los Angeles, Bosh’s wife Adrienne had enough — she pulled her husband aside, told him to end his self-described “pity party” and start enjoying being around the game and his friends again. “I feel great now,” Bosh said. “Things are great. Things are really, really good.”
The 11-time NBA All-Star has read the reports, too, but has officially put them to bed. He told Simmons that he will officially retire from the league at the retirement ceremony on March 26 (via The Ringer): “That part of my life is over. That has been a tough thing to deal with but I’m good, which has taken a long time [for me to accept] … I could have kept playing. But man, that time has passed. I’ve made the decision not to pursue it anymore.”
As part of that settlement, which still has Bosh earning $26.8 million this season (it does not count toward Miami’s cap and it is mostly covered by insurance), he is not allowed to return to play for the Heat at any point. But it appears he has settled into life after basketball, although he hasn’t officially announced the end of his playing career. “Chris was going through a lot,” Heat guard Dwyane Wade said of his former teammate and close friend. “He was somebody who was one of the best players in the world, and he had a diagnosis that comes that no one is familiar with, really. It’s just a tough situation. You got a player who was 32 at the time, something like that, and the way the game is going, can play for a long time. It’s just unfortunate.
Chris Bosh: Unless I’m competing at something, I don’t worry about it, trying to fill the void or match that feeling I had. But it is tough. And it is very hard. That’s why I make it a point to try not to pay attention to it or to try and fill the void. Because you can’t. It’s impossible and it won’t happen. The NBA is the best league in the world. It’s no way you’re going to be able to fill the void that the energy of performing before 20,000 people every night gives you. That’s just impossible.
Chris Bosh: I just try and move on from that and let it be a moment in time and leave it alone. I don’t look for that to fulfill me and I’m moving on to different things. Now that’s … if I do play again, I’m not going to say hey, ‘I’m this player that I was.’ I’m going to be a totally different player in a totally different situation and bring all those experiences with me. But looking to fill voids, it’s one of those bottomless pits, man. It’s not a ghost I’m interested in chasing.
Bosh’s NBA career came to a halt after his second blood clot diagnosis in 2016. The first blood clot, which traveled to his lung, was discovered in 2015. He hasn’t played a game since just before the All-Star break in 2016. He won two championships with the Heat, was named to 11 All-Star teams and is an Olympic gold medalist. While he told USA TODAY Sports that he is not retired and interested in playing again, it is difficult to envision a team doctor clearing him for an NBA return.
Chris Bosh will make a final determination on his career by the All-Star break, and he’s open to playing for any team willing to take the gamble – including the Knicks. Visiting MSG on Monday for the Knicks’ preseason game against the Wizards, Bosh told the Daily News he remains focused on a comeback from the blood clots that forced him to retire prematurely.
Still, it’s “complicated,” as Bosh noted. Over a year ago, his clotting issues were ruled by the NBA and the player’s union as career-ending. He was released by the Heat, which are holding his medical records. The fear with blood clots is that contact could result in severe internal bleeding. “It’s up to the team doctors from that team. And then we go from there,” said Bosh, who hasn’t played since the 2015-16 season.
David Fizdale was Bosh’s assistant coach in Miami, helping transform the 7-footer from a back-to-the basket force to a center who could shoot 3’s and spread the floor. The result was two championships with the Heat and four NBA Finals. “He helped me so much as far as dissecting offenses,” Bosh told the News. “Film work. And just mentally preparing for every night challenge. We felt a bond just trying to figure out how I can be effective in a free-flowing offense we had. And sometimes it was just having a beer and talking and leaving all the offcourt stuff to the side.”
You called all these GMs, I’m sure you called the league, the Players Association—I’ve been told there’s almost no hope [for Chris Bosh to continue his playing career]. Jackie MacMullan: I’ve been told there’s no hope, and it’s because the situation is too dangerous, too scary. […] From what I’ve been told, and of course, the records are sealed because of HIPAA laws and because all of his medical records from the Heat have not been seen by other NBA teams, at least that I’m aware of, I should say that, because perhaps someone asked and the Heat obliged, I’m not sure. I didn’t get that sense but I suppose it’s possible. But we don’t really know what else is involved with this. And I get the sense, from talking to GMs around the league, that there’s other things in play here.
Chris Bosh: Don't write me off
Although Chris Bosh has not played in an NBA game since Feb. 9, 2016 because of blood clotting issues, he’s not ready to close the door on his NBA playing career just yet. “That’s still there in front of me,” Bosh said on The Full 48 podcast hosted by Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck. “The window is still open. Once I close the doors, it’s closed. I don’t open it back up. That’s kind of me as a human being. That’s just one of the things about me. … But yeah, for me, I don’t close anything until I’m officially done. So until that day, I will definitely let everybody know when that day comes, if it comes soon. “I still, of course, work out and everything. I’m still doing work on the court. That’s very important to me. I’m still keeping my options open for the future. I know a lot of people don’t know that, but don’t write me off just yet.”
“That’s a fair question,” Bosh said said on The Full 48 podcast. “I would definitely understand and I do understand when my friends ask me or people ask me the same thing. But I think it’s something about the body of work. It’s about what you do and the impression that you leave, the inspiration that you leave with people. And you know, I’ve been playing basketball my whole life. So for people to understand, whatever it is you love doing, just stop doing it today and never do it again and then use that same philosophy. And they’ll probably find it’s not as easy as you would think.”
Although Chris Bosh has not played in an NBA game since Feb. 9, 2016 because of blood clotting issues, he’s not ready to close the door on his NBA playing career just yet. “That’s still there in front of me,” Bosh said on The Full 48 podcast hosted by Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck. “The window is still open. Once I close the doors, it’s closed. I don’t open it back up. That’s kind of me as a human being. That’s just one of the things about me. … But yeah, for me, I don’t close anything until I’m officially done. So until that day, I will definitely let everybody know when that day comes, if it comes soon. I still, of course, work out and everything. I’m still doing work on the court. That’s very important to me. I’m still keeping my options open for the future. I know a lot of people don’t know that, but don’t write me off just yet.”
Chris Bosh on what’s next: “Probably not coaching. It’s always very interesting. I’m always going to be around the game of basketball. I plan to keep my options open as a player moving forward, but that’s not coaching. Maybe front office work, working with teams and spreading the game, maybe teaching the game to young people, that’s something that’s a very big passion.”
Luke Walton said Chris Bosh talked to a few Lakers players today when he visited practice as a “spectator (and) encourager.” Bosh sat next to GM Rob Pelinka, who represented Bosh prior to Bosh’s retirement and before Pelinka joined the Lakers.
He has walked the red carpet at Nickelodeon’s Kid’s Choice Awards and now former Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh is moving up to the NBA’s Players Voice Awards. The National Basketball Players Association announced Thursday that Bosh will host Friday’s social-media presentation of awards voted upon by NBA players.
The Players Voice Awards are voted on solely by NBA players and feature many unique categories — Best Dressed, Hardest to Guard, Player You Secretly Wish Was on Your Team, Clutch Performer and Best Social Media Follow — in addition to MVP, Best Rookie, Best Defender and many others.
What’s next for Chris Bosh? “Basketball and stuff.” That’s what he told TMZ Sports outside Coral Tree Cafe in L.A. moments ago — advising his fans not to close the book on his NBA career just yet. “Health is great, feeling great,” Bosh said … noting that he’s focusing on being a dad while he figures out his next basketball move.
Chris Bosh: Man, losing in the finals is one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had in my life. It was definitely a huge lesson in humility. Losing to the team from my hometown and then experiencing a postponed season the next year was very difficult. I was so embarrassed, I was reluctant to go out in public. It was so hard to face everyone. Coming out of that time, I learned about perseverance. You never really know its true meaning until you have to go—and grow—through tough times. But you stayed positive, Miami. You stayed with us and supported us and reinforced that belief that we could do it—and we did! That’s what makes those moments so special. I saw my teammates, my friends and brothers, shine brightest in the darkest moments of their lives. It wasn’t about coming through with a great play or winning a crucial game on the road. It was the fact that these guys did it with so much on the line. We beat the odds so many times.
Bosh: This community has welcomed me with open arms from day one. The city’s rich tradition and culture is unique and you can feel it from the moment you land in Miami. The fans have always greeted my family with positivity, just trying to put smiles on the kids’ faces. That’s the thing I love about the community. You all have shown appreciation every time we were out for events or just walking through the streets. I’ve met people who have had lifetime season tickets, and I can see the pride in their eyes when they tell me. I’ve also picked up a great deal of Spanish and now have a tool for life to help me communicate with more people around the world. Learning how to order a cafe con leche o ropa vieja on Calle Ocho has become natural to me. That’s amazing!
But in his letter, Bosh chose to reflect more on the good times he had since joining the Heat in 2010 and playing such a huge role in the team going to the NBA Finals in four consecutive seasons and winning two championships. “I’ve been reflecting on my time in this great city and want to thank you for being a constant during a period of change in my life,” Bosh wrote. “I’ve experienced a few finals appearances, a couple of championships, several weddings (including my own), the birth of four kids, bonding with an entire community and a ton of ups and downs along the way.”
Even though he has been deemed to have a career-ending condition , Bosh could play again if he chooses to and if a team gives him medical clearance. Getting such clearance would be, at best, daunting. “I’ve learned how to dream again,” Bosh wrote. “I’ve learned how to appreciate the game of basketball and all the things I’ve experienced even more now. … We went through life together, Miami. You showed me how to stay strong and push through in the toughest moments. And although I didn’t like it at the time, it made all the difference in the long run. It made me a better man, the person I am today. Thank you.”
Ira Winderman: Chris Bosh has cleared waivers and is now a free agent for the first time since July 2014.
Heat waive Chris Bosh
Ira Winderman: The Heat have formally waived Chris Bosh.
Barry Jackson: Pat Riley announces Chris Bosh’s jersey number (1) will be retired. Classy.
The Heat is expected to release Chris Bosh this week, clearing the remaining $52.1 million of his contract off its salary cap and ending a seven-year relationship that including the exhilaration of two championships and the numbing news of multiple blood clots that ultimately ended his Heat career. Miami needs to make the move this week to push its available cap space from $9 million to a bit over $34 million. Players can be signed after noon on Thursday.
In order for Bosh to be cleared from the Heat’s cap, a doctor needed to rule that Bosh’s injury was career-ending or at the very least, would put him at risk if he plays again. That ruling happened in the past two months. But an associate said Bosh has by no means ruled out playing again. Bosh will receive the remaining money on his Heat contract – $25.3 million next season and $26.8 million in 2018-19, with insurance paying a substantial chunk of that.
Turner has had ongoing conversations with Bosh over the years about his interest in broadcasting but nothing definitive fulltime given he was playing. He was part of TNT’s “Players Only” franchise earlier this year during Monday night doubleheader action and did solid work. “Chris has been a contributor with us in the past and we have an open dialogue with him and his representatives,” a Turner Sports spokesperson said on Sunday. “No plans have been finalized for next season at this time.”
Asked Monday by the Sun Sentinel about Bosh possibly moving into broadcasting on a full-time basis, Turner analyst Steve Smith, the former Heat guard, said it would be an intriguing prospect.
“I looked at Chris Bosh even before he did ‘Players Only’ — I got a chance to watch that closely; I was in studio a lot of times, and obviously watched it — the way he’s conducted himself, handled himself in all situations, the way he’s comfortable with the media, you can see he has his pulse on a lot of different things,” Smith said during a break from his coverage of the NBA Finals for Turner Sports.
“In broadcasts, he’s very articulate, got his point across,” Smith said. “I think in broadcasting it’s also great that you can tell, no matter what the situation, he never really got outside of being Chris Bosh. So I think that’s another trait that he has that would be perfect for broadcasting.”
The source said in early May that Bosh had reached a unique agreement that would purge him from the Heat’s cap before the start of free agency but also give him the opportunity to play again, if he chose, without salary-cap consequences for the Heat.
There have been discussions about Bosh’s departure being termed a “medical retirement,” but that is not definite. And Bosh has by no means ruled out playing again. The Lakers would be a natural possibility; Bosh spends his offseasons in Los Angeles and the Lakers’ general manager, Rob Pelinka, is Bosh’s former agent.
“I certainly felt for him,” Allen said of Bosh. “My vote was for him to just not play because I don’t want to hear anything that wasn’t necessary to happen. His life, that was the most important thing. My household was just wishing the best for him and his health. Selfishly, we were saying, ‘Chris, just sit down,’ because we didn’t want him to do anything that was irreversible.”
Sidelined Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh said on a televised webcast Sunday that he believes he could return to the NBA as a player, but also said he respects the Miami Heat’s anticipated attempt to remove his salary from the team’s salary cap. Appearing on “Larry King Now” on the Ora.tv digital network, Bosh, when asked by the long-time broadcast personality whether he believes he ever will return to the NBA said, “Yeah, I think so.”
Bosh expressed mixed emotions about whether he misses playing. “I do,” he said, “but a part of me doesn’t. Yeah. I’ve come to enjoy different aspects of life. There’s a lot of life out there.
The Heat, once it purges Chris Bosh’s salary from its cap in the next couple of months, could have $39.5 million in cap space this summer, enough to sign a max player but not leaving much room for much else significant.
Bosh remains under contract with the Miami Heat, though the team is likely to begin a process of waiving him and getting salary-cap relief from the final two years of his deal. He’ll be owed about $52.1 million for 2017-18 and 2018-19, money he is guaranteed to receive but dollars that may not count against the Heat books. He is reticent to discuss his playing future, though acknowledged again that planning to play this season but not being able to because of a failed physical “was a challenge.” “I’m still a basketball player at heart,” Bosh said. “I can’t help it.”
“I’m a little bit more adjusted now,” Bosh said. “But before, you’re going 100 mph and the brakes are slammed on and now you’re not moving at all. It’s definitely an adjustment, just being able to get used to things and finding that purpose that I think we all need to succeed and have good mental health. It’s been a challenge. Things happen for a reason, I guess.”
The five kids at home, that’s full-time. And they’re used to having their dad at home when they arrive back from school in the afternoon, something Bosh — who is playing some basketball in workouts — has happily gotten used to as well. “People are so concerned and I appreciate it, but I’m doing fine,” Bosh said. “I’m very happy. I’m getting to do other things that I have never been able to do. I’m a beginner in a lot of things. But I’ve learned to like it, and just look at the nice new picture I have of the world.”
The use of blood thinners typically returns a blood-clot sufferer to general health, although the use of blood thinners is contraindicated for those attempting contact sports. The Heat, according to a source close to the situation, in recent days have attempted to reach out to Bosh in hopes of an amicable resolution, without response. Bosh remains with a stall in the Heat locker room at AmericanAirlines Arena, but has not been around the team this season, in contrast to his presence after being sidelined the previous two seasons.
Presuming a doctor agrees with that assessment, then Bosh’s contract would be cleared from Miami’s cap, creating an additional $25 million in cap room this summer and giving the Heat an estimated $38 million in space. But if Bosh makes a comeback with another team, that could be problematic for the Heat. Once he plays in 25 games for another team during any single season (including playoffs), his salary would go back on Miami’s cap.
An NBA-employed associate said Bosh has made no attempt toward playing this season but still has interest in playing again, health permitting. Bosh’s comments come days after he was in contact with the Heat’s medical staff, as the sides are expected to begin the process of a separation at some point in March.
NBA on TNT: Welcome to the family, @chrisbosh!
Chris Bosh mulling retirement?
Bosh, speaking at a CES gadget show in Las Vegas, did not address his health but said he’s still figuring out what he wants to do next. “I’m still learning more about myself and my situation, and really off the court how to function there because I’m kind of getting the taste of retirement now,” Bosh said, via the Associated Press. “Just trying to navigate those waters because it gets a little complicated sometimes. … Hoping one day that the stars align and I figure some things out and things kind of just go my way and I’ll be able to do what I want to do. I don’t know what that is yet.”
Bosh said “there’s still a lot of things” that he has to figure out. “I’m still learning more about myself and my situation, and really off the court how to function there because I’m kind of getting the taste of retirement now,” Bosh said. “Just trying to navigate those waters because it gets a little complicated sometimes. … Hoping one day that the stars align and I figure some things out and things kind of just go my way and I’ll be able to do what I want to do. I don’t know what that is yet.”
Bosh, speaking at the CES gadget show in Las Vegas, was asked how he’s spent time away from the court. “For me, I kind of just follow my passions and follow what I love to do and use my free time to kind of answer those questions and go through my bad moods and maybe a little light case of depression,” Bosh said. “Really, to search for what I’m looking for. And I’ve come to some interesting conclusions. It’s all about following my heart and what made me happy.”
Chris Bosh: Getting to check something off my bucket list by attending @CES ! Great way to start out the year. Who’s out here? #CES2017 #SBlatCES
Salary-cap relief won’t come until Feb. 9 at the earliest, but the Miami Heat are now positioned to receive insurance relief from the balance of Chris Bosh’s contract, General Manager Andy Elisburg confirmed Monday to the Sun Sentinel.
With Saturday’s victory over the Washington Wizards at the start of this four-game trip marking 41 consecutive regular-season games missed by Bosh, who failed his preseason physical after missing the second half of the past two seasons due to blood clots, Elisburg confirmed that insurance on the remainder of Bosh’s contract can now come into play. Bosh, who is under contract for this season and the following two seasons, has been away from the team since the end of last season, currently posting vacation social media from Southeast Asia.
Bosh has already received $9.5 million of his $14 million 2016-17 salary in up-front payments as previously negotiated. Even with insurance kicking in, Bosh continues to receive his payments from the Heat in similar form as previously. “We still pay Chris,” Elisburg said. “Chris is still the employee and we still are responsible for paying the salary.”
The Heat and Chris Bosh are still at odds about his health and when he might be able to play again after missing significant time because of blood clots. League sources said Bosh definitely wants to play again, but it’s likely not to be in Miami. The Heat could waive Bosh, but if he played 25 games this season with another team, they would get no cap relief in doing so. The Heat could trade Bosh to a club that feels he could play immediately and push it to a championship level.
The National Basketball Players Association is monitoring the Miami Heat’s approach with sidelined Chris Bosh, including the possibility of the team keeping the All-Star power forward on the roster long enough to prevent him from becoming playoff eligible for another team. A party familiar with the NBPA’s approach on Friday told the Sun Sentinel that the union is examining the situation, while also remaining cognizant of the ongoing medical and privacy issues with Bosh, who failed his preseason physical after missing the second half of the past two seasons due to blood clots.
The union currently is involved in the delicate stages of formulating a new collective-bargaining agreement, with a more proactive stance on Bosh expected to be taken should the distancing of the Heat with Bosh continue to a point where Bosh could possibly resume his career, the party familiar with the situation told the Sun Sentinel.
Bosh has been away from the Heat since his failed physical in late September. Heat President Pat Riley said he did not expect to have Bosh with the team at practices or games, a role Bosh took the previous two seasons when sidelined. Bosh has not approached the team about returning to the bench or locker room, according to a party familiar with the situation.
Manny Navarro: Yep. @Chris Bosh still has a locker here https://t.co/Ex0HlTj36P
Anthony Chiang: Chris Bosh: “I’m not really thinking about money. I’m just thinking about where my heart is. I love the NBA, I love playing basketball every day.” – RT: UNINTERRUPTED: Chris Bosh’s story continues in Chapter 5 of #BoshRebuilt, now streaming at UNINTERRUPTED.com pic.twitter.com/C5yJ9JbjiA
Ira Winderman: Chris Bosh releases latest video, says, “No matter what, I’m going to play basketball.”
Ira Winderman: Chris Bosh in new video, “I’m just as confused as everybody else.”
What was your reaction when you heard Pat Riley say he believed Chris Bosh likely never will play again for the Heat? Chris Bosh: Before I even focused on basketball my concern went out to CB as a person, as an individual. I have a good relationship with him. I have a good relationship with his family. My wife has a great relationship with his wife. Secondly as a friend you support your friend through the good, the bad, the ups and downs. Regardless of where CB’s career takes him or whatever his situation may be, we’re always going to have a relationship, we’re always going to be friends. I’m always going to be rooting for CB.
Chris Bosh done in Miami?
Miami Heat President Pat Riley said Monday that the team views Chris Bosh’s career with the team as over, that the team no longer is working toward his return. “We are not,” Riley said in his office at AmericanAirlines Arena. “I think Chris is still open-minded. But we are not working toward his return.
“We feel that, based on the last exam, that his Heat career is probably over.” Asked if he felt Bosh’s NBA career was over, as well, Riley said, “that’s up to him.”
Bosh has been sidelined for the second half of each of the past two seasons due blood clots, recently failing the Heat’s preseason physical. “It’s pretty definitive from us, in our standpoint, that this is probably going to be a time where we really have to step back,” Riley said.
Riley said the team has been surprised by Bosh’s comments about the team. “It wasn’t like [gesture of washing his hands of it]. He wasn’t just written off,” Riley said. “That may have been his attitude and his perception of it, because he didn’t want to believe what was out there. That bothered me. He wasn’t written off. “Besides that, we did everything we could.”
Chris Bosh not retiring
Bosh has indicated to associates that he has no plans to retire at this time and intends to play next season for the Heat. He is under contract for three seasons after this one, at roughly $75.5 million. Even if he retired this offseason, the Heat would not receive any salary-cap relief until summer 2017.
According to multiple sources, although the Heat remains supportive of Bosh (he traveled on owner Micky Arison’s plane), they have not all been aligned in terms of the treatment of his condition. The team has been the more cautious party, making it known behind the scenes that, just because an outside doctor clears Bosh, it doesn’t mean the team will be comfortable letting him play. That would be true even with a medical waiver that would in some way limit liability.
Bosh, eager to return, has sought opinions from multiple doctors about whether it was safe to come off the blood thinners in order to resume playing this season. On that issue, there were different opinions among the doctors consulted by Bosh, according to two sources with direct knowledge. But most of the doctors consulted believed Bosh should continue taking the blood thinners for several months, which is common treatment for the condition, even though the clot dissipated several weeks ago. That is ultimately the course Bosh took.
September 28, 2021 | 10:50 am EDT Update
Ben Simmons not interested in playing with Joel Embiid anymore
Yet of all the problem areas to explore, there’s none more unyielding and impossible to ignore than this: People who have intimate knowledge of how he sees this situation continue to insist that he’s done playing with Embiid. There’s nothing personal about this choice, it seems, but the 25-year-old Simmons has clearly decided that his career is better off without Embiid blocking the runways in the paint that he so badly needs to succeed.
“I watched last night a player lead their team to victory where a thousand pounds of digital ink were spilled on how much he would never play for that team again,” Morey had said of the Green Bay Packers star who led a last-second win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night after looking destined for a divorce with the franchise just months ago. “Look, every situation is different, but we have a lot of optimism that we can make it work here. …Ben’s a great player, and we expect him back. We expect him to be a 76er.” Cue the response. “It’s total bullshit,” one source with knowledge of Simmons’ outlook said of Morey’s analysis.
Truth be told, sources say Simmons thought he would have been traded by now. When he met with the Sixers brass at the Los Angeles home of his agent, Rich Paul, in August, telling managing partner Josh Harris in direct fashion that he no longer wanted to play for his club, the goal was to avoid this sort of mess. Sources say the Sixers had come equipped with all sorts of reasons that he should want to stay, and even supported the argument with a statistically based presentation featuring the success of the Embiid-Simmons pairing. But his view, his uneasy feelings about the problematic fit remained unchanged.
Early on last season, when the intel coming the Philadelphia 76ers guard’s way indicated that he’d likely be trading places with then Rockets-star James Harden, Simmons was so convinced that new Sixers president Daryl Morey was about to reunite with his favorite franchise player that he started researching on the real estate front. If you had to pinpoint a moment when emotional ties were severed between Simmons and the only NBA franchise he has ever known, that may have been it.
