It’s been two years since Chris Bosh last stepped onto an NBA court, the final Heat regular season game before the 2016 All-Star break. The blood clotting issue that prematurely ended his final two NBA seasons still exists, he has never been able to shake it to the satisfaction of NBA team doctors (in Miami or elsewhere). Eventually, he and the Heat came to an agreement to part ways.
However, Bosh has never given up the dream of returning to the NBA. He has said it before, multiple times, and he said it again Thursday when he went on ESPN’s Frist Take (hat tip to Ben Rohrbach at Yahoo Sports for suffering through a show I never watch to find this).
“I’ve been in the gym. I can still play basketball. No, I’m not done yet. I’m trying to come back. Man, I see all these guys shooting 3-pointers and not playing defense, I got to get some of it.”
Bosh is 33 years old and will be 34 by the start of next season. He’s right, he was one of the first bigs to evolve his game into the direction the NBA has gone — he could step out and shoot threes, still get buckets and boards inside, and in Miami was one of the best pick-and-roll defending big men in the game. The Bosh of five years ago could still thrive in this NBA.
Will his body let him is another question. The blood clotting health issues are real and life-threatening. NBA teams try to avoid risk on major health issues such as this, it’s hard to imagine a team jumping in without extensive testing and clearances by doctors that may not be forthcoming. Secondarily, Bosh (an 11-time All-Star) been out of the game a couple of years, how much of a step has he lost?
It’s impossible not to admire Bosh’s love of the game and his desire to get back in it, to leave basketball on his terms. It’s also nearly impossible to see him playing in an NBA game again.