Bosh can keep sad story from becoming a tragedy
It ends here, right?
Chris Bosh doesn’t need to thank doctors for possibly saving his life again, or hug the Miami Heat for treating him as a father of five rather than a commodity to victories.
He can still believe there’s some sort of medical and basketball conspiracy against him, like some Oliver Stone script, if he wants.
But after being diagnosed with a third blood clot in less than three years, according to sources, it’s time for the Heat veteran to call it a career. A good career. A great one, even.
He’d walk out the door at 32 with two championship rings, a certain Hall of Fame bid, more than $76 million still guaranteed to him, and a wife and young family to further enjoy his lottery life.
Just let him walk out the door
now. Please let it end here. This isn’t a tragedy, as some are calling it. It’s a sad story. It’s unfortunate considering theway it’s fallen for him the past few seasons.
But a tragedywould be Bosh ignoring yet another blood clot, fighting to get back on the court, believing he still has good basketball in him and then us realizing at some point that the life-threateningwarnings doctors gave himwere right after all.
It’s been likewatching a divorce court between Bosh and theHeat in recentmonths, with each side making subtle arguments, each side delicately drawing on medical information, each side trying to get its point across.
In someways, it is odd that Bosh fought this so hard, considering his moneywas guaranteed and his healthwasn’t. He always has been a player who saw more than the game, who learned Spanish in the offseason and read books about genetic science or Japanese samurai.
Howcould someone who realizes it’s just a game deny medical evidence so completely?
That’s the easiest question to answer of all: He loves basketball. He found people who said the health
risk is minimal. There’s something admirable in that, consideringwe’re in an age when so many players are accused of just playing for money or celebrity.
Here is someone saying in the loudest ofways how much he loves the game, and to what ends hewants to keep playing it, even if it seems a bit foolhardy to the rest of us.
Bosh suggested in an online video thisweek how hewanted to play in the playoffs last spring and the Heat refused. The implicationwas that the Heat wanted to get his rich contract off the salary-cap books.
There’s no doubt the Heat willwant that contract off the books in February, if that’s howeverythingworks out. But they’d rather have a healthy Bosh than that.
Hewould have helped them reach the Eastern Conference Finals last year. They can’t buy a better player than him with that money.
There are so many questions with answers only Bosh and theHeat know. Medical questions. Privacy questions. Blood-clot questions. Beyond all that, there’s the truth, which can be harder still to get your
arms around.
Four of five dentists recommend a certain toothpaste. But what of the fifth? Is that dentist dismissed? Does his advice mean nothing? That’s what seems to be happening with Bosh and theHeat.
TheHeat apparently have the proverbial four dentists sayingBosh’s issues mean it’s too risky to continue his basketball career. Bosh apparently has the fifth saying otherwise.
At least thatwas the case until this latest blood clot found thisweek during Bosh’s pre-training-camp physical. This is three blood clots in less than three years.
Bosh didn’t respond immediately Friday to the Heat’s statement about his failing the physical. He didn’t respond to reports a new blood clot has been found in his body.
He didn’t respond to the report of him going to the league offices inNewYork and receiving a second medical opinion supporting theHeat’s doctors. By now, it’s clear this isn’t about salary-cap money or roster building or some grand conspiracy against him.
It’s about his life. And, unfortunately, it’s time for him to go live it without basketball.