Chris Bosh’s career ended due to blood clots on his lungs, but the power forward was a part of the first Super Team in NBA history with LeBron and Wade.
Chris Bosh is officially retiring and will go down in NBA history as the all-important third leg of the NBA’s first official Super Team (Big Three) along with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Bosh was the No. 4 overall pick in that 2003 Draft, one spot before Wade and three spots after No. 1 overall pick King James.
Chris Bosh plans to officially retire during his Heat ceremony in March (via @ringer)
♦️ 2x champion
♦️ 11x All-Star
♦️ 19.2 PPG | 8.5 REB pic.twitter.com/m5RK0ut1qQ— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 12, 2019
He never complained about being the least-appreciated member of Miami’s two championships squads. He is the epitome of a team player who gave up his superstar status as the man in Toronto to carry King James’ bags up the playoff stairs to NBA supremacy.
Bosh had a sterling 13-year career with the Raptors and Heat, which ended prematurely in 2015 after blood clots were found on one of his lungs. If it hadn’t been caught, it may have killed the 30 year old who was struggling with pains in his side and back. It’s the same disease that went undetected in former NBA player Jerome Kersey, causing his death at age 52.
This condition, known as a pulmonary embolism, creates a clogged blood vessel, blocking blood from being pumped. Bosh held out hope that he would return to the NBA one day, but now he is facing the reality of his condition and can reflect on his Hall of Fame career with no regrets.
Bosh will have his jersey retired by the Miami Heat on March 26th against the Orlando Magic, reported first by Bosh himself on the Bill Simmons Podcast:
“That part of my life is over,” Bosh said. “That has been a tough thing to deal with but I’m good, which has taken a long time [for me to accept]. … I could have kept playing. But man, that time has passed. I’ve made the decision not to pursue it anymore.”
Being a part of the iconic Heatles will always be Bosh’s claim to fame. The way he sacrificed his game so that LeBron James could win his first two championships won’t be acknowledged in history, but his unselfishness was well rewarded as Bosh was an All-Star for the last 11 years of his career, not to mention All-NBA in 2006-07.
Bosh averaged 19.2 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per game in 893 career games.
One of the more unheralded superstars of a star-studded era, B0sh’s impact on the game is understood and lauded by contemporaries, and today’s young stars who watched him on television as kids.
