Chris Bosh: “I’m not done yet”

The Miami Heat are playing their first season with Chris Bosh not on the salary since 2010. Now, Bosh, who has avoided talking about basketball in the past two years, has said he’s not done yet and he wants to return to the NBA.

Here’s briefly what he said on ESPN First Take on Thursday morning.

Under the previous collective bargaining agreement, this would be a complicated matter for the Miami Heat. If Bosh returned to the NBA and played 25 games in a season, his salary cap hit would return to the Heat. That’s a significant problem for Miami as Bosh was making max money.

Now, that is not the case. Regardless of what happens, Bosh’s salary will not affect the Miami Heat. But they are forbidden to sign him for the rest of his career.

This is not as simple as Bosh wanting to play and a team being willing to sign him. The Heat went through their battles here and did it the “right” way. Bosh was evaluated by a medical team approved by the NBA and NBAPA to determine Chris’ condition with blood clots. They determined his injury was career-ending and thus allowed Miami to remove him from the salary cap.

If Bosh wants to return, he needs to again be evaluated by a medical team approved by the NBA and NBAPA and determine that a significant change has taken place and that he is healthy enough to play and not a risk to anyone or anything involved. That’s complicated because Bosh suffered from this twice. He will have to show substantial evidence that would allow him to return.

It’s more than medicine, because that was the angle he took last time. This is a highly complicated issue. And it is one, in my opinion, that seems unlikely. But I don’t have all the details.

Chris Bosh is a terrific person and we do wish him the best.