Written by Matt Fitzgerald at BleacherReports.com
Miami Heat president Pat Riley held a press conference Saturday in which he touched on the precarious future of star forward Chris Bosh’s career.
A recurring blood clot, which prevented Bosh from appearing in the second half of the season and the playoffs, has cast doubt as to whether he can play basketball anymore. Riley addressed Bosh’s outlook regarding the 2016-17 season, per the Palm Beach Post‘s Jason Lieser:
It’s a positive environment right now with Chris, and I think his doctors and our doctors are constantly communicating. I know what Chris wants. I know he wants to play. Obviously, we would be open to that.
But this is still a very fluid situation. On this day, there’s not an answer. I wish I could give you one. Let’s just let this process move on down the road and go from there.
Lieser noted long flights and the traveling demands that accompany anNBA schedule can be “problematic” for Bosh. Riley addressed that element of the situation, too:
I think all those things will come into play and there’ll be a discussion. There are many players in different sports that do play with that condition, and they’re on-and-off programs with blood thinners and stuff. But I think when it comes down to a final protocol, or a formula for how this has to be done, then that’s what we’ll deal with.
Bosh has missed the second half of each of the past two seasons because of blood-clot issues. The Heat still managed to advance to the second round of the postseason without him last year, but they then proceeded to lose longtime face of the franchise Dwyane Wade to theChicago Bulls in free agency.
Even without Wade in the fold, Riley has built a solid squad in Miami in the post-LeBron James era. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been able to fully realize its potential because of Bosh’s medical issues.
“From a basketball standpoint, I’ve been told we’re sort of put on hold here,” Riley said, per Lieser. “We know what Chris is capable of and…you just never know what you could have done as a team. That’s what kills me. That we put together a good team right after (LeBron James) left, but we never had an opportunity to see it as its full.”
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