IN THE LANE
DREAM ON: When it comes to his NBA career, Chris Bosh isn’t ready to let go quite yet. Appearing on Fox’s “Undisputed,” the former Heat big man said even after missing the past two-plus seasons due to blood clots, the desire to play remains. “It has always been my dream to play basketball,” he said. “The further I’ve been removed from the game, I understand how special it is. … I miss it.” By rule, because of the unique negotiated settlement that removed his hit from the Heat’s salary cap, Bosh, 34, is ineligible to return to the Heat if there is a comeback attempt.
WAITING GAME: For now, Udonis Haslem continues in the role that best defined his 2017-18 season — as team captain. That has meant keeping an eye on the likes of Bam Adebayo, James Johnson, Wayne Ellington and Tyler Johnson, even as Haslem deliberates his own future. “I’m just enjoying the summer,” he said during an appearance last weekend, as he mulls his upcoming free agency and potential retirement. “I talk to my guys. I just talked to Bam yesterday. I talked to JJ, talked to Wayne and Tyler. I keep in touch with all the guys. We’re still family. We’ll see what it is. I got time.”
STAYING ON: Former Heat aide Pat Delany, who left the team in 2014 to join Steve Clifford’s coaching staff with the Charlotte Hornets has moved on with Clifford to the Orlando Magic, having received overtures from former Heat assistant David Fizdale with the New York Knicks. Fizdale will keep his Heat ties by bringing former Heat assistant Keith Smart to his New York staff. Also, Antonio Lang, who briefly played for the Heat, has been promoted on Quin Snyder’s Utah Jazz coaching staff.
CULTURE CLUB: Fizdale instantly became ingrained in the Heat’s culture when he joined Erik Spoelstra’s staff and has made a similar commitment the Knicks’ culture of their championship era, appearing at a Bill Bradley tribute gala that featured Earl Monroe, Willis Reed, Walt Frazier and Dick Barnett. “I know my history, that’s the one thing I know,” Fizdale told the New York Post. “I’ve watched all of their old teams. That’s part of why I wanted to be here. I want to have an unselfish ball club, just like them.” He also stressed an appreciation of a later Knicks incarnation driven by the physical approach of current Heat president Pat Riley.
MEMORY LANE: A Muggsy Bogues’ charity golf tournament in Charlotte had several former Hornets lamenting about what could have been had the team never traded Alonzo Mourning to the Heat in 1995. “I honestly think if they would have kept that team together, we would have been playing the Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals,” former Hornets forward Kenny Gattison told the Charlotte Observer. “We were right there, probably two player moves away. Back in those days you needed two All-Stars and a great bench. We had two All-Stars [when counting Larry Johnson] and a great bench.”