Miami Heat Receive Best News All Year: Chris Bosh Will Return Next Season

MIAMI — Cloud after cloud has rolled into South Florida over the past nine months, halting to hover over American Airlines Arena. From departures to injuries to ailments, it's been difficult for the Heat to keep from getting downcast amid the downpour.

Finally, Monday night, the sun peered through. 

First came the team's release—in coordination with Chris Bosh's doctors—that the All-Star forward, sidelined for the season with a blood clot, will start strength training next month with the intention of resuming full basketball activities in September.

Then came a familiar smile, from a familiar place, behind the microphone in the arena's interview room.

"Good afternoon, good evening," Bosh said, looking slimmer, but otherwise no worse for wear. "First off, I just want to thank everybody for the continued support and prayers. It truly has kept me uplifted through this trying time, and I feel that all the love and energy has really allowed me to be back here. Not under the circumstances I want to be. But beggars can't be choosers. I'm very happy to be here. And I'm doing a lot better. So thank you." 

When Bosh, bothered by a sore lower back for several weeks, checked into the hospital on Feb. 19 and then was diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs, it wasn't entirely clear whether he would play basketball again. Now, there doesn't seem to be any doubt. Bosh has been spending his days at home with his wife and three kids, walking for exercise and recently driving around the block. 

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"I just take time to reflect, and just sit outside and enjoy the beautiful weather and appreciate it," Bosh said. 

There's been plenty to reflect upon. 

He knew something was wrong for a while, but wasn't sure what, and now suspects that he might have been playing with the clots for three weeks or more. But he didn't want to become a burden to a team that had been burdened enough, fighting for a playoff spot with key cogs regularly out of the lineup. 

"You know our situation," Bosh said. "It's been tough this year. I didn't want to continue to add to the snowball that was already going on. So I just wanted to do my best and go out there and try to get a win. That's all I was thinking about." 

After the All-Star Game, he told Bleacher Report that he was hurting, but wasn't injured. Then he went to Haiti for a quick trip with his wife, Adrienne, as well as Dwyane Wade and Wade's wife, Gabrielle Union. When he came back, he was feeling worse. Adrienne pushed him to see a doctor.

Does he believe Adrienne saved his life?

"Yeah, she saves my life on a daily basis," Bosh said, laughing. "I was in a lot of pain. And it got to the point where I had to swallow my pride a little bit. It's kind of like an athlete thing, where we're always trying to go be superheroes out there all the time. I had to put my pride to the side, and usually the woman is going to be the first to tell you to do that. I went ahead and bit the bullet and went to the doctor."

The doctor sent him to the hospital. 

He said he wasn't scared, though he can't explain why. Just surprised. 

"It just didn't come as a scary thing at the time," Bosh said. "I had to process a lot of information. All these different things were coming at me. I just kind of settled down. I was thinking more so about basketball at the time, actually. I had to really come to grips with that and hear what the doctors were saying after that."

Was he concerned that he might not play again?

"Yeah, for a short period of time," Bosh said. "But I'm a huge fan of positive thinking. That subject did come up. But that was only a possibility. We wanted to make sure we took all the precautions, of course, with the doctors doing the work that they have to do. I knew I was going to play basketball again. It was just something that I had to cope with quickly and then just move on after that, and I was able to do that." 

He won't play again this season, and Monday, he returned to a team much different from the one he left three weeks ago. Pat Riley was finalizing the deal for former Suns guard Goran Dragic when he learned the news about Bosh's health. Bosh said he and Dragic had texted but hadn't met. Bosh hadn't met new teammate Henry Walker—he called Walker by the forward's former name, "Bill"—either, and hadn't had a chance to reconnect with Michael Beasley, who has since been added to the roster for a third time. 

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If all goes as planned, Bosh and Dragic will get to know each other well next season, after Dragic re-signs a long-term contract, something Dragic keeps suggesting he hopes to do. And certainly, the elimination of some of the uncertainty surrounding Bosh's situation will aid Miami in convincing Dragic to stay.

They could form one of the league's most dynamic pick-and-roll combinations.

And the sun could stick around for a while.

Certainly, Bosh will enter next season with even more appreciation. 

"I've always respected the game," he said. "I've always loved the game. And I've never been able to not play. This is the first time in my life. The game has given everything to me. I'm just making sure that I stay patient, making sure that I'm not getting too ahead of myself and trying to get back too soon. But I've just come to appreciate everything about basketball. Just being in the grind of doing this special job that we have. It's something that I love. And will love forever." 

An hour after his press conference, Bosh addressed the crowd—on hand to watch the Heat play the Celtics—and received a loud ovation. 

"We need your support in this push for the playoffs, every night," Bosh said. 

It now seems more likely that, next season, the Heat can push for something more.