After dealing with life-threatening blood clots since the All-Star break, the Miami Heat have officially shut down their star forward, Chris Bosh.
It comes on the heels of their Game 1 victory over the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Semifinals which Bosh didn’t play in. That game was preceded by a 4-3 series win over the Charlotte Hornets. Again, Bosh didn’t play. The blood clots were so bad that Bosh didn’t play in the final 29 regular season games, either. Imaginably, after being cleared by team doctors, Bosh was itching to get back on the court and help his team advance to a possible NBA Finals appearance.
Talks were intensifying, and the Miami Heat decided not to have Bosh play despite what the doctors said; discussions were so intense, in fact, the NBA Players Association nearly got involved. Both the Miami Heat organization and Bosh compromised and agreed that Chris would be shut for the rest of the season because the talks of his return were distracting the team.
Dwyane Wade, fresh off his 24-point performance in Toronto, told reporters that “it’s not a distraction at all.” He continued by saying, “it’s not our focus. This has been going on since February. All we know is that he’s taking care of himself, health-wise, and that’s all we care about. Anything else is out of our control and there’s no reason for us to worry about it.”
Although he won’t be playing, Chris will be supporting his team however he can. It’s been noticed that he’s been heavily involved in team huddles during timeouts.
Being the Heat’s leading scorer at 19.1 points per game, and having a unique skill set, Miami’s chances of winning would skyrocket with him being on the court. They would most likely oust the Raptors, but more importantly, they’d compete furiously with Cleveland for a bid to the NBA Finals.
However, there’s so much more to life than basketball — especially in Bosh’s case as he has a wife and four children.
