Chris Bosh’s future with the Miami Heat remains unclear.
His future in the NBA might even be in jeopardy.
The Heat still haven’t cleared Bosh for a return after he suffered his second blood clot issue within a year midway through the 2015-16 campaign. As of now, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says there is no clear plan in place that would ensure Bosh takes the floor to start 2016-17:
With the Heat remaining non-committal about whether Chris Bosh will be cleared to play, one issue that has been discussed is whether Bosh should come off blood thinners or continue taking them, according to a person briefed on the matter.
If Bosh comes off the medication this summer, there’s no reason why he couldn’t play.
But even if he stays on the thinners, Bosh has tried to convince the Heat to allow him to play while taking a new medication that would be out of his system in 8 to 12 hours, or by game-time, thus lessening or eliminating the inherent risks of playing a contact sport while on thinners. As we reported last month, the Heat rejected that idea late this past season, angering Bosh. And it’s unclear if Miami would be receptive to that now.
The easy stance to take here: The Heat are just being extra wary of Bosh’s health. Blood clots are no joke, and as a doctor explained to Jackson, those who suffer a second one are at a higher risk than most of incurring others.
But some people close to Bosh don’t share in that view, per Jackson:
Some in the Bosh camp remain angry and suspicious of the Heat’s intentions, wondering if Miami was motivated by clearing cap space. A Heat source insists this is not the case, that Miami wants him to play if doctors are comfortable with it.
If Bosh doesn’t play a single game this upcoming season, his $25.2 million salary for 2017-18 and $26.8 million for 2018-19 would be cleared this summer from Miami’s cap only if “a doctor that is jointly selected by the league and players association agree his condition is career-ending, or severe enough to put him at risk if he continues playing.”
But if Bosh pursues a grievance through the players union, the matter would become much more complicated.
It’s equally easy to say the Heat are looking for a way to get out from under most of the $75.8 million that remain on Bosh’s contract. But the process by which they would recoup much of that flexibility is complex. Plus, a healthy Bosh remains pivotal to any chance the Heat have of returning to contention in the imminent future.
This clearly isn’t the last we’ve heard of this situation. Bosh and the Heat bought themselves transient optimism, along with perceived collaboration, when they released a joint statement declaring he wouldn’t return last season. But, for the time being, it still seems as if they’re on different pages, with the looming possibility that neither side is even reading the same book.
