MIAMI _ For the first time since the Miami Heat hurriedly scrambled to sign him to a five-year, $118 million contract in the wake of losing LeBron James to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2014 offseason, Chris Bosh again is a free agent.
Amid league-wide concern about the blood clots that have had him away from the game since February 2016, and with salary-cap space having dried up around the league, Bosh cleared waivers at 5 p.m. Thursday.
The Heat already were assured of cap relief in a specially negotiated agreement with the NBA, players' union and Bosh.
With players with lesser resumes than Bosh receiving contracts starting in excess of Bosh's $25.3 million waiver price, the inaction stands as another sign of a league viewing Bosh's health issue as career-threatening, a conclusion the Heat came to before last season, after Bosh failed his preseason physical.
Bosh, through Heat and insurance payments, will receive the full $52 million remaining on the final two years of the contract signed when the Heat had only hours to counter an offer from the Houston Rockets early in the 2014 free-agency period.
Only after Bosh cleared waivers were the Heat positioned to move forward with their free-agency machinations.
Heat President Pat Riley announced Monday that Bosh's Heat No. 1 would not be reissued and that the number eventually will be raised to the rafters at AmericanAirlines Arena.
