"Take your medication": Chris Bosh's warning to Wembanyama
The former NBA champion, who was forced to retire at 32 due to blood clots, revealed that he almost died in January and warned the San Antonio star: "It happened to me twice, and then I couldn't play anymore."
When a blood clot was discovered in Victor Wembanyama's shoulder in February 2025, his season ended on the spot. The Frenchman, who had managed to participate in 46 games, returned the following season and recorded 64 appearances out of 82 regular season games. Now, former star Chris Bosh, who knows from personal experience how dangerous the situation can be, chose to send him a message.
Bosh revealed in an interview with HoopsHype that dealing with blood clots returned to his life last January:
"I almost died, actually, and I came back to life. I'm not joking. I had a pulmonary embolism again. I was in the hospital for a week, so I take my medication every day, take care of myself, and monitor the situation. Right now, I also have no symptoms."
The medical issue has accompanied Bosh for over a decade and led to the early end of his NBA career. In February 2015, during the All-Star break, a blood clot was discovered in his leg that moved to his lungs, and he had to be hospitalized. Despite this, Bosh managed to return to the courts and recorded 53 appearances in the 2015/16 season, which was his last in the league.
A year later, another blood clot was discovered in his leg, and Bosh was sidelined for the rest of the season. In his documentary film, "Rebuilt," he said that the Miami Heat doctors told him after the second incident that his career was "probably over." He tried to return to the court, but did not pass the medical exams in the preseason and was released from Miami in 2017. In 2019, he officially announced his retirement.
Bosh, who won two NBA championships with Miami alongside LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and was selected 11 times for the All-Star, clarified that this is a struggle that does not end:
"I thought I had overcome it, but no. You have to deal with it for the rest of your life. It's just a matter of sticking to my medical routine."
This personal experience was behind the warning he gave to Wembanyama:
"Make sure to take your medication. Make sure you are sticking to your treatment plan so that it doesn't happen again, because sometimes it's enough for it to happen one more time. It happened to me once, it happened to me twice, and then I couldn't play anymore."
The former star added that even after Wembanyama's successful return to the courts, he must continue to take care of himself: "He just needs to make sure he is doing everything required so that his blood flows in the best way, and that he is taking care of his body even off the court."
