Heat's Chris Bosh: 'I'm lucky to be alive'

Chris Bosh is using his recent diagnosis as a life lesson.  

After struggling with chest pain and shortness of breath in early February, the Miami Heat center's season was cut short after he was diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs in February.

Bosh rehashed some terrifying moments on the Dan Le Batard radio show on Monday, recalling that he had played with the condition for weeks before undergoing emergency surgery on his lungs. 

"In Boston, we actually won that game, but I couldn't breathe," Bosh said of the Feb. 1 game at TD Garden. "I was like, 'Man, I can't breathe. Something's wrong with me. I can't breathe.' You try to take a deep breath and I couldn't do that."

Bosh would not let himself be sidelined after that episode, and went on to see action in five more regular-season games and the NBA All-Star Game before he was put out of commission by the life-threatening situation. 

"I'll never do it again. It sounds crazy, doesn't it?" said Bosh on his decision to keep going. "I wish I could go back and tell myself not to do those things, but I'm lucky to be alive. I am. I took that as a lesson to stop trying to be a tough guy all the time. That's kinda how we're trained, to just suck it up and throw some dirt on it and get back out there."

Bosh is back to lifting and running, though was reportedly still taking blood thinners as of mid-April. The Heat said in February that Bosh would not resume full basketball activities until September, or just in time for training camp. He produced his highest scoring output this season of his five years in Miami, posting 21.1 points in 44 games,

Bosh now regrets not seeking help when he first was struggling. 

"The last four years, the way we had been competing, there were multiple times I had to do that. We all had to do that. It gets ingrained in you, and we don't want to admit that we're fragile. We come with that cape and everything that comes with it. We get in that mind frame. I should have said something. But I'm here and I'm chilling."