Heightened speculation about another impasse between forward Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat that had been fuelled by social media may have been quelled Wednesday by the same medium.
Two days after Bosh posted videos of his return to the practice court in the wake of the blood clots that had sidelined him for the second half of the past two seasons, Heat owner Micky Arison took the Twitter on Wednesday with a message of his own.
In response to the video Bosh had posted of his ballhandling drilling, Arison replied, “Looking good CB @chrisbosh look forward to seeing in camp.”
It is the first time anyone involved with the franchise has addressed Bosh’s participation in training camp, amid concerns about Bosh treatment regimen potentially precluding a report to contact sport.
Arison ended his tweet with a basketball emoji.
The Heat open training camp September 27, with those sessions expected to be in the Bahamas. All players are required to pass physicals in advance.
Bosh has not been on the court for the Heat since Feb.
9, reaching an agreement with Arison and the team during the 2016 playoffs to bypass a desired comeback during the postseason.
Bosh had been largely silent on the subject of a return until Monday, when he offered a social-media video statement of, “I know I’ve been gone for a moment, but now I’m back.
Everybody is always asking me am I hooping? Yes, I’m hooping.Absolutely. I’m a hooper.”
It appeared tensions regarding the subject had been heightened when Bosh’s wife, Adrienne, later posted on Instagram, “I’ve been watching my husband for over a month working day in and day out and happy to see him giving a glimpse of that hard work to the world on his Snapchat.”
Her post concluded with, “A lot of people ‘say the right things’ but very few follow through in their ‘actions’.Looking forward to seeing his ‘actions’ on a court this season.”
Earlier Wednesday, multiple parties familiar with the process told the Sun Sentinel that they expect the NBA to have input on any approach regarding Bosh going forward.
A return by Bosh would have implications beyond his medical status, including an impact on the Heat’s salary cap and possible salary-cap relief.
Bosh followed his multiple Monday posts with Tuesday post of a workout in California alongside former Heat guard Dwyane Wade, who worked out Wednesday there with former Heat teammate LeBron James.
Bosh remains the lone player yet to join in ongoing workouts at AmericanAirlines Arena other than point guard Goran Dragic, who is competing with the Slovenian national team in qualifying for the 2017 EuroCup.
Dragic on Wednesday scored 22 points on 10-of-11 shooting with eight assists in a 106-66 victory over Kosovo.
The Heat previously had indicated concern about Bosh either playing while on blood thinners, or the All-Star forward moving off anti-clotting medication to return to the court.
The NBA serves a consulting role within the league’s concussion policy, with the uniqueness of the Bosh case likely to eventually lend itself to league inspection as well, regardless of the Heat either signing off on a Bosh return or expressing reservations regarding Bosh.
“This is going to come to a head at some point,” a party familiar with the situation said of league involvement, prior to Arison’s Twitter post.
The National Basketball Players Association was poised to become involved in the situation on behalf of Bosh during last season’s playoffs before the Heat and Bosh issued a joint statement of the parties planning to work toward an eventual resolution.