How do I say goodbye to what we had? The good times that made us laugh outweigh the bad.
Okay. I leave Boyz II Men to out of this. However Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat have officially said goodbye.
Sigh.
Throughout the regular season, I purposely used images of Bosh in my columns. He did not step foot in the Miami Heat locker room when I was around this season however he was on the roster. He is officially off of it.
The Miami Heat, Bosh and the players’ association have timidly agreed to a resolution that would allow all parties to move on.
Bosh, 33, hasn’t played since February 2016 because of blood clot issues. He has remained on the Heat roster as the sides have worked through multifaceted medical and legal issues in this delicate and unique situation.
The discussion of money and a human being’s livelihood can be a delicate topic when you blur the lines. Heat team doctors declined to clear Bosh to take part in training camp following blood test results at the start of fall 2016.
Bosh is guaranteed $52 million over the next two seasons, though a significant portion of that is covered by insurance. However, he has remained on the Heat’s salary cap, limiting their ability to replace him. This agreement is expected to remove Bosh from the cap and allow the Heat to move on with their team.
The Heat will end up with between $14 million and $37 million in cap room, depending on player options, team options and waiver decisions.
Part of the reason this process has been so drawn out is the sides are caught between two collective bargaining agreements with differing rules on players with potentially life-threatening medical conditions. The new CBA, which takes effect July 1, has new policies for evaluating player health, partially because of Bosh’s situation.
Bosh has opposed the doctors’ views and expressed he still hopes to find a treatment plan that would allow him to return to the game of basketball in the future. Under the current rules, if he were to return and play more than 25 games for another team, his salary cap hit would return to the Heat’s books and they would potentially face luxury tax penalties, leading the Heat to hold on to him. Working that out was part of the motivation from the Heat’s side during the discussions.
The Fugees (now that is a big three!… Wyclef, Lauryn and Pras) might make a comeback but not the Heatles. The Bosh domino officially makes it impossible for LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Bosh to ever play basketball in a Heat uniform. The deal will allow him off the Heat’s cap before the start of free agency, but also give him the opportunity to play again if he chooses another team without consequences on the Heat’s cap.
A source has shared with me, Bosh has had multiple conversations with owner Mickey Arison in the past several months and any resentment against the Heat has dissolute. There have been echoes of Los Angeles as a next stop for Bosh with agent and current General Manager Rob Pelinka pushing the buttons out in LALA. Bosh remains on blood thinners and it is uncertain if any teams will take the risk on his return.
Bosh, at 33 years young, has not played for the past one and a half seasons. My best and arguably funniest moments were with him in the locker room… blessed memories. And I’ll take with me the memories to be my sunshine after the rain. It’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.
Photo/ChrisBosh/twitter
Photo/ChrisBosh/twitter
