Chris Bosh Says He’s Lucky to Be Alive

Basketball isn’t a life-or-death situation at the end of the day, but it almost was for Miami Heat star Chris Bosh. The big man revealed he’s “lucky to be alive” after playing through symptoms that turned out to be the result of blood clots in his lungs that ultimately sidelined him for the rest of the season.

Bosh appeared on Dan Le Batard’s ESPN radio show yesterday to talk about the way his season ended after the All-Star Game and his preparations for returning next year.

Bosh says he first felt the symptoms during a February 1 game against Boston.

“In Boston, we actually won that game, but I couldn’t breathe,” he said. “I was like, ‘Man, I can’t breathe. Something’s wrong with me. I can’t breathe.’ You try to take a deep breath, and I couldn’t do that.”

Despite that, Bosh didn’t take his problems to the Heat’s training staff and continued to play through pain in his back and sides and would continue to practice and play for two more weeks.

“I know, I’ll never do it again,” Bosh said. “It sounds crazy, doesn’t it? I wish I could go back and tell myself not to do those things, but I’m lucky to be alive. I am. I took that as a lesson to stop trying to be a tough guy all the time. That’s kinda how we’re trained, to just suck it up and throw some dirt on it and get back out there."

Indeed, the problems could have led to an early death for the 30-year-old if he had continued to play, but they were caught in time for Bosh to make a full recovery — just not in time to save this season. However, Bosh affirmed he’ll be back full force next season.