National Basketball Association

Chris Bosh may not come back this season after all

Published Mar. 11, 2016 4:31 p.m. ET

foxsports

On Thursday, Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh released a statement about his ongoing health issues, revealing that he's blood-clot free and feels "positive" about a return to the court this season.

On the surface, this was tremendous news. Bosh is one of the NBA's most adored personalities, and for him to appear on the road to a full recovery can't be viewed as anything but fantastic.

But the statement was not released by the Heat.

Again, the statement came from PR firm, not Heat https://t.co/2SqoRPqA1P
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) March 11, 2016

And at Miami's shoot around on Friday morning, head coach Erik Spoelstra refused to confirm or deny whether Bosh will return to the floor this season (via Sun-Sentinel):

"He's been able to do workouts, individual workouts with the coaching staff," Spoelstra said. "But it's not about that or a timetable right now. But we're very happy that he's around, he's healthy, spirits are good. We love him." A team spokesman cut off questions regarding Bosh after a second was asked to Spoelstra at Friday morning's shootaround, saying the team's position remains that it will not comment on an ongoing medical issue.

After listening to Spoelstra and the Heat, Bosh's short-term future looks a bit less rosy today than it did a day ago. Aside from the fact that it'd be very sad to see him on the sidelines for the rest of the year—watching him play is fun!—Miami would have almost no chance to upset LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in a potential second-round match-up without their best all-around player.

Hopefully, Bosh is back sooner than later. The NBA is better when he's around.