Hall of Famer Chris Bosh, whose basketball career ended early due to a persistent blood clot issue, states in an interview with Sam Yip of HoopsHype that he nearly died earlier this year. He recounts the experience of a pulmonary embolism that affected him in January.
“I almost dropped dead pretty much and came back to life. I’m not joking,” Bosh said. “Yeah. I had another pulmonary embolism. It was in January. Yeah, yeah, this past year. I was in the hospital for a week. But, take your medicine. So, I’m taking my medicine every day, taking care of myself every day, and watching it. So, I mean, no symptoms came either, you know, so. Yeah, you got to deal with it for the rest of your life. I thought I was past it. I am not. So, you know, it’s just making sure I stay on top of my regimen.”
Bosh was an All-Star during the final 11 seasons of his NBA career before health issues forced him to stop playing. His decision to leave Toronto in 2010 and join LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in Miami created one of the elite teams of the era, as the Heat made four straight NBA Finals appearances and captured two titles.
He opted to remain in Miami after James returned to Cleveland in 2014 and finished out his career with the Heat in the 2015/16 season.
Bosh also offered some advice to Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, who saw his 2024/25 season cut short by deep vein thrombosis. Wembanyama was medically cleared last summer and was able to make it through the past season without a relapse as San Antonio advanced to the NBA Finals.
“Take your medicine,” Bosh said. “Make sure that he’s staying on top of his regimen to make sure that doesn’t happen again because it only takes one more time. It happened one more time for me, it happened twice, and I couldn’t play anymore. So I guess with him, just making sure he does everything necessary to keep that blood as thin as possible and take care of that body off the court.”
Bosh addressed a few lighter topics in the interview as well, such as James’ decision to sign with Philadelphia instead of coming back to Miami, and the Heat’s prospects after trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Bosh has expanded his social media presence with a series of basketball-related videos and has done some work for NBC, Peacock and Amazon Prime. He talked about increasing his “brand awareness” as he looks for a greater role in that business.
“I’m putting out the calling card out there, man,” he said. “Working on my chops even if I’m just sitting and chilling. So I think that’s the best part about social media now. You just turn that camera towards yourself and practice. So getting my message out there, getting the brand awareness so people start getting used to seeing this beautiful face, you know what I mean, and hearing my voice more.”
