Chris Bosh to miss All-Star Game with injury, will be replaced by Al Horford
Alas, the NBA community will regrettably be deprived of the sublime presence of Big Shot Bosh this All-Star Weekend.
Miami Heat big man Chris Bosh has withdrawn his name from Sunday’s All-Star Game according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Friday.
Jeff Zillgitt of USA TODAY Sports reports that a strained calf is what will prevent Bosh from playing.
Strained calf will keep Heat's Chris Bosh out of the All-Star Game, I've been told. @WojVerticalNBA first with news of him not playing.
— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) February 12, 2016
Soon afterwards, the NBA announced Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford as Bosh’s replacement on the team.
Report: @Al_Horford replaces Chris Bosh on East All-Star squad
MORE: https://t.co/I3qRLY3azT pic.twitter.com/guU0cIposX
— NBA.com (@NBAcom) February 12, 2016
Bosh was also slated to compete in the Three-Point Contest on Saturday, where he will now be replaced by C.J. McCollum of the Portland Trail Blazers, per Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
Blazers' CJ McCollum will replace Miami's Chris Bosh in the Three-Point Contest on Saturday.
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) February 12, 2016
Bosh, 31, is averaging 19.1 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game for the Heat this season, appearing in all 53 of the team’s games so far.
It would have been nice to see Bosh participate in All-Star Weekend, which is being held in Toronto this year, the city where Bosh was drafted and where he spent the first seven seasons of his NBA career. But unfortunately, the injury bug always ensures that we can’t have nice things.