Chris Bosh has been unable to play in the NBA since February 2015, when he was diagnosed with blood clots on his lungs. At first, Bosh seemed to resent the idea that he wouldn’t be able to play anymore. In January, however, Bosh admitted that he was “kind of getting the taste of retirement.” On Monday, Bosh said that he still expects to return to the NBA (h/t Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel):
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.”
…
“At heart,” Bosh said, “I’m still an athlete. That is not how I want it to end.”
Prior to the season, Miami Heat President Pat Riley said that the Heat were not working towards Bosh’s return any longer, and planned on moving on from the power forward. Bosh says that he understands where Riley and the Heat were coming from:
“Yeah, I understand what they have to do as a team,” Bosh, 33, said. “It is a business. I know we — as athletes and owners and people involved with the NBA — never want to say it’s a business, and things like that. It’s is a business. And hurt does come in with that. But as president of the Miami Heat, I understand what he has to do.”
Bosh declined to get into specifics about the state of his health.
“It’s complicated,” he said. “It’s very, very complicated, and that’s why I haven’t been able to play this year.”
Bosh still misses playing, but as he said in January, he’s gotten used to it:
“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.
“I mean only because as basketball players, we do that, and that’s really it. I’ve enjoyed spending time with my kids, enjoyed spending time with my wife, and just kind of relaxing and working on my mind and my soul.”
Bosh won two championships with the Heat in 2012 and 2013. Bosh spent seven seasons with the Toronto Raptors before taking his talents to South Beach for six years. Bosh was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team in 11 consecutive seasons, from 2006 to 2016 (he was unable to participate in 2016).
