Chris Bosh gave an eye-opening quote about adjusting to life without basketball after a medical condition abruptly ended his career
- Chris Bosh's career abruptly ended two years ago after two bouts with blood clots.
- In a recent interview, Bosh said he misses the NBA life and has struggled with a sense of purpose since he finished playing.
- Though Bosh hopes for one more shot in the league, teams are reportedly wary of signing him because of his health condition.
It's been over two years since Chris Bosh last played an NBA game.
Bosh's career was put on hold when it was revealed that he had a blood clot that traveled to his lungs. After returning in the 2015-16 season, he once again was found with another bloodclot, essentially ending his career.
Bosh's contract was eventually bought out by the Miami Heat, and though he's a free agent, it seems unlikely teams will take a chance on him with what could be a life-threatening condition.
Though Bosh has picked up an array of hobbies off the court, he told ESPN's Jackie MacMullan in an eye-opening piece how much he has been affected by life without basketball. Bosh told MacMullan that basketball was his one true passion, and without it, he has missed the camaraderie, schedule, and attention around him.
In particular, Bosh gave a blunt description about how he lost his confidence and sense of purpose when everything he knew suddenly fell away.
"You go from being with the guys all the time, in the locker room, in practice, having a militarized brain in terms of this schedule, and then all of a sudden you are on your own. You lose a sense of purpose, you lose a sense of yourself. And you lose confidence. You find yourself saying, 'I was the best at this and now I'm not the best.' You have to deal with not being very good. You have to deal with people no longer catering to you.
"You start feeling forgotten. You don't get as many phone calls. You don't stay at the forefront of people's minds. It's natural, it's life, you have to understand what's happening, but I definitely see why the divorce rate is so high, and why players go broke.
"Guys spend all their money trying to capture that feeling again. You can't eat at Prime 112 [Restaurant] every night anymore. There's this never-ending search for that feeling that you once had, and it can cost you."
Bosh said he has lost touch with several teammates and friends in the league. Though they tried to keep in touch, the distance and hectic schedules became too much.
In 2017, Bosh told Business Insider that it's a daunting, but exciting challenge trying to find what to do next.
"I have to be extremely creative, more creative than I've ever been in my life, because that's such a tough question to ask ... I think that's such an exciting thing. I felt like I was chosen to play basketball when I was younger. I've had to ask myself [what's next] over and over.
"And that's the things I think about as far as my legacy as a man and the things I accomplished, what I meant to my family. And that's, like, totally up in the air. It's kinda cool."
Bosh told MacMullan he's still hoping for one more shot in the league, but according to MacMullan, four different GMs that spoke to ESPN expressed hesitancy about signing and playing Bosh after his blood clots.