National Basketball Association

Chris Bosh on blood clot diagnosis: 'I'm lucky to be alive'

Published May. 5, 2015 1:35 p.m. ET

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Miami Heat star Chris Bosh looks back at the moment he realized there was something seriously wrong with his health and now considers himself incredibly lucky simply to be around to talk about it.

Blood clots were discovered in Bosh’s lungs shortly after playing in the 2015 NBA All-Star Game. Given the gravity of such a diagnosis, the decision was made to shut down Bosh for the season in late February.

While Bosh admitted to suffering abdominal discomfort during the All-Star Game, he now admits that he realized long before that there was something amiss.

He recently explained how things started to become troubling during a Feb. 1 game against the Boston Celtics.

“In Boston, we actually won that game, but I couldn’t breathe,” Bosh said during an interview on ESPN Radio Monday, via the Palm Beach Post. “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.”

Bosh was asked why he didn’t alert the Heat medical staff about the developing issue. He admits that, in hindsight, it was stubbornness and that he’d never again be so irresponsible.

“I know, I’ll never do it again,” he 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.”

Bosh notes that the Heat were trying to remain in the postseason chase, something that prompted him to ignore his worsening condition.

“The last four years, the way we had been competing, there were multiple times I had to do that," Bosh said. "We all had to do that. It gets engrained in you, and we don’t want to admit that we’re fragile. We come with that cape and everything that comes with it. We get in that mind frame. I should have said something. But I’m here and I’m chilling.”

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