Stuck in health limbo for most of the last few years, we've all been waiting to see what Chris Bosh's next move would be. As far as the Miami Heat are concerned, Bosh's chapter with the team on the court is over, after Miami officially waved Bosh on Tuesday evening.
But the announcement on the team's website was accompanied by a bit of a plot twist. Team President and basketball lifer Pat Riley explained that the Heat would no longer allow players to wear Bosh's jersey number, and the franchise promised to hold an official retirement ceremony to take No. 1 out of circulation in Miami for good.
“He changed our lives for the better, in a way we never would have imagined, when he joined the Miami Heat," said Riley. "We will forever be indebted to CB for how he changed this team and led us to four trips to the NBA Finals and two NBA Championships. He is, without a doubt, one of the greatest players in the history of the franchise. The number '1' will never be worn by another player and we can't wait to someday hang his jersey in the rafters."
Bundling this in with the release was a pretty extraordinary step, especially when you consider how divisive Bosh's Heat career was among casual NBA fans. A lot of hoop heads celebrated him as an integral piece of a back-to-back title winner, though others constantly berated him with labels like "soft" and diminished his role in the success of the "Heatles."
Thankfully, the former group was the loudest when news broke, and a chorus of supporters including LeBron James and Dwyane Wade came out to salute Bosh's career.
🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾💍💍 https://t.co/z3iZcgYVS5
Thank you, @chrisbosh, for being a pillar of professionalism. Honest. Vulnerable. Graceful. Giving. Patient. Kind. And excellent.
Not even waiting to announce that they're retiring Chris Bosh's No. 1 is outstanding.
On top of the nice tribute to his career, Bosh is going to be rolling in the dough when he decides to officially retire. He won't quite be the Bobby Bonilla of basketball, but the payments will reportedly continue through the year 2022.
Chris Bosh will be paid the $52.1M left on his contract in 120 twice-monthly installments of $434,393 – staring 11/15/17 and ending 11/1/22.
Though it's a shame Bosh's career had to end the way it did, he (probably) leaves the game with excellent numbers, a couple of rings, and a likely path toward the Hall of Fame. It's pretty tough to top that.
