After it was initially thought he would miss the rest of the NBA season and possibly have to end his entire career, Miami Heat power forward Chris Bosh has announced that he has no active blood clots and hopes to return before the end of the season.
This was the statement he released: “I know there have been many questions regarding my health and when I will play again. My situation this year has never been life threatening. I am feeling great and currently I do not have deep vein thrombosis. Together with the Miami Heat, I am working with doctors, exploring the best precautionary treatment options and taking every necessary step to make sure I am healthy for myself, my family and my team. I have been working out, training with the team, watching film of the games, walking through plays, and have attended home games despite not being visible to the public. I will continue to support my teammates in every way possible. I remain positive that I will be able to return this season. I truly appreciate everyone’s concern and support.”
At the time of his injury, Bosh was averaging 19.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, which ranked first and second on the team, respectively. Since then Dwyane Wade has taken over as the team’s leading scorer while Bosh has remained the team’s second leading rebounder.
“Losing Bosh hurt the team, but once he comes back they’ll be as good as they were once again,” said junior Alaz Sengul.
Bosh was selected to his 11th all-star game but was unable to participate with what was initially listed as a calf strain. However, once he began to miss more games, it was evident that it was more than that. The Heat never confirmed nor denied his condition, so there was a lot of speculation as to what he was dealing with.
“Now that Bosh is back, I think the Heat has a good chance at making the playoffs,” said junior Joseph Zanzuri.
In the 23 games that he has missed since the all-star break, Miami has gone 15-8, including winning streaks of three and five games. As of Apr. 5, they are second in the SouthEast Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 44 wins and 32 losses.
Ever since signing with Miami as a free agent in the summer of 2010 and then resigning with the team in the summer of 2014, Bosh has been a key player for the team. With the Heat he has won two championships and been selected to six all-star games. He has also appeared in 384 regular season games while averaging 18.0 points and 7.3 rebounds (from basketballreference.com).
