In another installment in his continuing series for Uninterrupted, sidelined Heat forward Chris Bosh said he fully intends to play again and said it’s a case of simply following his dreams and has nothing to do with money.
Bosh will be paid the remaining $76 million of his contract whether he plays or not, with insurance covering part of it.
The video was released on Tuesday but Bosh indicated it was taped Sept. 23 or 24.
“I’m going to try to play basketball,” he said. “We’re going to go everywhere and do everything it takes to get back out there. If people can’t understand that, you don’t understand being a winner. I just choose to follow my dreams.”
Bosh failed his Heat physical three weeks ago after evidence arose of another clotting episode – his third in less than two years.
Heat president Pat Riley said it’s unlikely Bosh would ever play again for the Heat.
Bosh said playing basketball is “what I’ve been placed here to do. You really have to fight for the things you want to do and the things you really love. When does that stop?
“When we first started this whole process, with the filming of this, I had total confidence it was going to be routine. I would get my checkup and do my physical and we would be in camp. Unfortunately, with the news I found out yesterday I won’t be in Miami, I’m trying to figure things out. I’m just as confused as anybody else. I’ve been playing basketball my whole life. I feel I have so much more to give.
“People who see the money and see my situation and say, ‘Hey just walk away.’ I totally get it. I understand it. But I’m not really thinking about money. I’m thinking about where my heart is. I love the NBA. I love playing basketball every day for a living.”
Bosh then became introspective in the video.
“That’s the part that makes me confused,” he said. “It’s right there. All I have to do is leave. You will never hear from me. I will do other things and I’ll be fine, and that makes it confusing because I know where my heart is.
“I would feel like I would be giving up if I just walked away easily like that. I know the love for the children I have, the wife I have. I don’t want to disappoint them. But I also want my children to know daddy was a fighter and he didn’t give up very easily.”
“It’s kind of the thing: Am I on the right path? Am I on the wrong path because it’s hard? Am I on the right path because it’s hard? It’s really confusing because this is my livelihood and career we’re talking about. Our mentality as athletes and competitors as people is to defy the odds.”
It’s questionable if a doctor with another NBA team would ever clear Bosh after another clotting episode.
Riley indicated recently that Bosh was on course to be cleared to play if he hadn’t failed his physical.
For a look at some interesting things that TNT’s Reggie Miller, Kevin McHale and Grant Hill said about the Heat in my discussion with them today, please click here.
For my post with UM football news from today, please click here. And please follow me on Twitter: @flasportsbuzz
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