MIAMI — As the Heat stare at a rebuilding project this season, the team’s biggest battle stands to be against Chris Bosh and whether he ever will agree he is medically unfit to resume his career.
The Heat want to waive Bosh on Feb. 9 — the one-year anniversary of his last game — under a career-ending injury clause. Hence, Miami would get the remaining three years, including this season, and $75 million wiped off their salary cap. Insurance would kick in to pay for a percentage of the pact.
Nevertheless, Bosh and the Players Association must agree to Miami’s diagnosis.
On Sept. 22, the Heat failed Bosh on his physical, preventing him from attending training camp in late September, without disclosing precise reasons. It cited a clause in the collective bargaining agreement prohibiting the team from releasing certain medical information.
Two sources familiar with the situation told The Post that Bosh’s failure of the physical stemmed specifically from a blood-clot matter, as many have speculated.
Bosh had two previous blood clots — in February 2015 and February 2016. It is standard in cases such as Bosh’s to undergo a sonogram, to make sure the legs are clot free, and a chest CT scan for the lungs. It is unclear if the sonogram or CT scan showed the old blood clot still had not dissipated enough despite blood thinners — or if a third clot had formed.
After the failed physical, Bosh said “little setbacks happen,” but Heat president Pat Riley said the 11-time All-Star’s “Heat career is probably over.”
“There is not a next step for us,’’ Riley added.
Bosh has not been working out at the Heat facility, team officials said. Bosh stated in October in a streaming video on the website Uninterrupted.com that he still is hoping to continue his career.
“[This] does not mean my NBA career is over,’’ Bosh said. “There [are] 29 other teams, there’s a whole league. One team does not make up the opinion of everything.”
A source said Bosh still is evaluating options. A compromise would be the sides reaching a buyout. The Heat declined comment on all matters Tuesday.
According to medical experts, multiple blood clots can mean a patient suffers from an auto-immune blood condition making someone prone to clotting. Lifetime blood thinners are normally prescribed. Bosh has done commercial spots for an increasingly popular blood thinner, Xarelto.
Medical experts say an athlete should not play “contact sports’’ on blood thinners, but the science of blood clots is inexact and open to varying opinions.
According to a source, the Heat don’t want to deal any longer with the uncertainty and threat of Bosh’s blood clots, and wish to be done with it. The Heat can waive Bosh at any point and take the cap hit if he searches and finds a new team willing to work with his goal of playing again.