MIAMI – Pat Riley has never been afraid to take the heat for his decisions. But his latest decision to move on from Chris Bosh ever playing again for the Miami Heat is the correct one.
Make no mistake about it, Riley can come across as cold when defending the franchise he runs.
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He's not perfect, no matter how much fans and members of the media (me included) can often make him seem.
Riley did not handle the Dwyane Wade situation properly, and he's admitted as much since Wade left.
Wade should still be in a Miami Heat uniform. That was a miscalculation by Riley and it will hurt the team in the short term.
But Riley is absolutely making the correct call by saying that Chris Bosh's Heat career is probably over.
The franchise can't take that medical risk.
Bosh was able to return from his first health scare. That was a near-death experience. Yet Miami was receptive to having him come back and feeling confident that his issues were behind him.
Sadly, Bosh had the reoccurrence last season. The team was understandably more skeptical about having him come back.
After making a deep playoff run, Riley and the team said they would reconsider having Bosh return, but he had to prove he was healthy.
Bosh is not healthy.
At least he's not healthy enough to be cleared to play basketball at an NBA level.
I'm not sure what else the Heat can do. They've been supportive of Bosh and his family and willing to have him play, if healthy.
But there's no way that I can fault a team for looking out for the well-being of one of its players. With his latest failed physical, that makes three blood clot scares, that we know of, in two years.
When is enough, enough?
For Bosh's career, he can only answer that question with his family. Like every fan and everyone around the Heat, I want nothing but the best for him.
He truly is one of the kindest and most genuine athletes I've ever covered.
But this isn't about personality and this isn't about basketball. This is about health.
If the choice is telling Bosh he can't play or risk him dropping dead on the court, I think Riley will take having to look like he's the cold one 100 percent of the time.
Riley is far from perfect, but he's making the right call here.