By MATTHEW WOODS
Staff Writer
1. Blood Clot Ends Season for Bosh
Miami Heat star forward Chris Bosh will miss the remainder of the NBA season after doctors confirmed he has blood clots in one of his lungs. Bosh was admitted into a hospital on Thursday upon his arrival back from a vacation in Haiti.
Bosh was averaging 21.1 points per game this season, which is the first of the five-year/$118 million contract he signed this summer to stay with the Heat.
Bosh’s departure also comes at a bad time for the Heat, as they traded for former Phoenix Suns point guard Goran Dragic at the trade deadline to put alongside the duo of Bosh and Dwayne Wade.
Bosh is not expected to return to physical activity and basketball for at least six months as he undergoes treatment in Miami.
2. ‘Melo Sides for Surgery Following All-Star Game
As the New York Knicks abysmal season continues, Carmelo Anthony will not. The All-Star forward decided to finally have surgery on his ailing knee which bothered him all season. The surgery was to repair a left knee patella-tendon debridement, according to the team.
With the Knicks maintaining a steady pace at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, there was no point for Anthony to continue and further injure his knee for a team going nowhere. However, Anthony had been facing criticism for playing in the All-Star game despite the bad health.
Given that the NBA All-Star game was held in Brooklyn this year, Anthony was the team’s ambassador and wanted to participate in what may be the only All-Star game in New York for the remainder of his career.
The timetable for Anthony’s return to the court is four to six months. He should be healthy by the beginning of the 2015-2016 season.
3. Alex Rodriguez Delivers Apology
Formerly-suspended New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez delivered an apology this week related to the performance-enhancing drug use that forced him to miss the entire 2014 season.
In Rodriguez’s handwritten apology, he explained how sorry he was to the Yankees organization, Major League Baseball, and the fans for his past actions.
“I take full responsibility for the mistakes that led to my suspension for the 2014 season,” said Rodriguez.
The fact of the matter is, will anyone buy what Rodriguez is saying? As spring training gets underway, the Yankees do not know what to expect from Rodriguez, yet have him projected as their designated hitter this year, barring a setback.
4. Knicks Buy Out Stoudemire
The Amare-Stoudemire era in New York is finally over, as the two sides reached a buyout of Stoudemire’s five-year/$99.7 millon contract. As the Knicks begin a rebuilding process, paying Stoudemire’s large salary combined with his lack of productivity made no sense. Stoudemire was not a free agent for long, as he signed with the Dallas Mavericks only days later.
Stoudemire’s stay with the Knicks was a very unproductive one, as injuries plagued his time on the court. In each of his four years with the Knicks, Stoudemire’s numbers diminished. His points per game average dropped from 25.3 to 12 and as his production declined, so did his minutes, as he went from 36.8 to 24 minutes per game.
Overall, Stoudemire was a failure in New York. He was injured, unreliable, and nearly nonexistent in the playoffs. With Stoudemire’s departure, Carmelo Anthony is the only player left on the Knicks roster who was part of the 54-win team two years ago.
5. Busch Suspended by NASCAR
Former champion Kurt Busch was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR after a Kent County Family Court commissioner determined he had committed acts of domestic violence toward ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll on September 26 at Dover International Speedway.
Stewart Haas Racing will replace Busch with former full-time driver in Sprint Cup Regan Smith until further notice.
Busch is accused of strangling and forcefully slamming Driscoll’s head into the wall of his motorhome five months ago, after the Sprint Cup race in Dover, Delaware.
Busch was slated to race this past Sunday’s Daytona 500. On Saturday, Busch’s garage was defaced with writing that read, “41 Ray Rice.” NASCAR made a statement by suspending Busch indefinitely, as the NFL did not do with Ray Rice in his domestic violence case.
Both of Busch’s appeals for reinstatement have been denied.
