Miami Heat’s Chris Bosh hoping new medication allows him to play

A rift remains between the Miami Heat and Chris Bosh on whether or not it’s safe for him to play.

Much of the Miami Heat’s roster is set, but one big question remains: What becomes of Chris Bosh? The Heat and Bosh still haven’t come to a resolution in regards to his recent health problems, one that must be handled carefully as its a threat to both his career and his well-being.

Bosh has missed the second half of the past two seasons with blood clots, and is working to get on the court. The issue dating back to last season’s playoffs has been whether or not he should come off of the blood thinners he’s taking. Once off the blood thinners, there shouldn’t be much risk to Bosh while on the court.

Now, however, Bosh is looking into a new medication that could allow him to take blood thinners as part as his playing schedule, according to the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson.

"But even if he stays on the thinners, Bosh has tried to convince the Heat to allow him to play while taking a new medication that would be out of his system in 8 to 12 hours, or by game-time, thus lessening or eliminating the inherent risks of playing a contact sport while on thinners. As we reported last month, the Heat rejected that idea late this past season, angering Bosh. And it’s unclear if Miami would be receptive to that now.An NBA-employed friend says Bosh very much wants to play and believes he should be cleared. If the Heat fights him on this, it wouldn’t be surprising if Bosh takes this issue to the players union, unless Bosh again relents as he did during last year’s playoffs. Pat Riley said the Heat won’t make a decision on Bosh’s status until August or September."

Obviously, this has to be handled delicately. Jackson asked two independent doctors whether or not they would advise the Heat to allow Bosh to play. Both weren’t definitive on whether or not Bosh would be able to play safely on such medication. The good news is that, according to Bosh, he doesn’t have the gene that makes him predisposed to keep getting clots. If these two clots were a freak coincidence, that makes things easier on both parties.

However, there is a roster building element to this decision for the Heat. If Bosh doesn’t play a single game this season, his cap hit of $25.2 million for 2017-18 and $26.8 million for 2018-19 would come off the books if a doctor selected by both the league and players’ association agree that his condition is career-threatening. There is no doubt that the Heat are a better team with Bosh on the floor, but given that Pat Riley has pivoted to a more youth-oriented direction (at least for now), it could behoove the Heat to clear that money in advance for the vaunted free agency class of 2017.

This dance has reportedly created a rift between the Heat and Bosh, with some in Bosh’s camp becoming “angry and suspicious” of the Heat for the aforementioned reasons. For everyone involved, the best case scenario is a clean resolution.