Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat are finally on the same page regarding his health.
We think.
Maybe.
The latter part of Bosh’s season was cut short this year due to another blood clot issue. He missed the end of the 2014-15 campaign for a similar issue.
For a while, it wasn’t clear if he would actually miss the end of 2015-16. The Heat didn’t make an official announcement, and reports started to surface that Bosh was hopeful he could play. Miami and Bosh, together, eventually did confirm that he was done for the season. But according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, they butted heads over a potential plan that would have allowed him to get back on the court:
The Heat was adamantly opposed to allowing him to play while taking blood-thinners because it would be very dangerous for someone on thinners who sustained a cut, or fell hard and started bleeding internally, during a game.
According to a team source, the Bosh camp spent considerable time exploring the idea of Bosh continuing to take those blood thinners, but at a time of day (such as early morning) that the medication would be out of his bloodstream by game time.
Someone with knowledge of the situation said blood tests indicated the medication was out of Bosh’s system after 8 to 12 hours, which would significantly lessen the risk for Bosh playing. But the Heat and team doctors rejected that idea.
None of the doctors involved in Bosh’s case is commenting, but Robert Myerburg — an expert on treatment of athletes and a cardiologist at U-Health – said even though some of the newer blood thinners can be out of a patient’s system within 12 hours, “I would not use that strategy [that the Bosh camp explored]. There’s too much at risk.
This figures to be a problem leading into 2016-17.
As Jackson notes, both sides are hopeful that Bosh will be able to return to the court. But will there be issues over how many minutes he plays? How many rest days he gets? Do the Heat really feel comfortable playing him, is there actually a plan in place that will keep him safe, or were they perhaps pacifying him at the time just to avoid any unnecessary drama?
Bosh’s health, outside basketball, is the most important thing here. It’s imperative to remember that.
But even with the supposed assumption that he will be back next season, his last two setbacks, coupled with Miami’s view on the matter, makes you wonder if his career might actually be in serious jeopardy—a harrowing notion, even after all that’s happened.
