Chris Bosh, and his 3-point shot, prepare to return to the NBA

Feb. 11 stands as the last time Chris Bosh played in a game that actually counts, as exhibition contests and the All-Star Game don’t really factor in to the standings. Playing against former teammate LeBron James in Cleveland, he notched 15 points in a 113-93 Miami Heat loss.

Soon after, Chris Bosh forced the whole of the NBA to truly think about what “counts,” and what doesn’t.

Following a brief holiday in Haiti in the days after his 11 minute stint in the All-Star Game, Bosh was diagnosed with blood clots, forcing him to sit the remainder of the 2014-15 season. The Heat would go on to miss the playoffs without him, but hardly anybody cared in the wake of the frightening news surrounding one of the NBA’s most-liked players.

Eight months and a week have passed, and Bosh is ready to suit up again. His Heat will attempt to rejoin the playoff bracket with a reformed starting lineup that will no doubt feature Bosh firing away from all angles.

The fight inherent in the long road back isn’t lost on Chris. From the Associated Press:

''I'm at the gym every day, being around the guys. It happened as soon as training camp started,'' Bosh said. ''I was probably the happiest vet in training camp, probably in the league. Just to be around the players, be around the guys, be around the coaches ... I'm going to complain about something so it may as well be basketball.''

[…]

''I'm kind of just really appreciating every moment that I've been given, really, with this whole situation,'' Bosh said. ''It's been back to normal. Wednesday just means they're actually keeping records now. So I'm excited.''

When you stare down a potentially life-altering illness, especially just days following the too-soon passing of Portland Trail Blazers great Jerome Kersey, just getting “back to normal” takes on a whole new significance, especially as one re-addresses what “normal” means in the context of playing a silly game for a living.

Now that 2015-16 has started, and we’re fully committed again to treating this silly game like The Most Important Thing, it’s interesting to scope out exactly what Chris Bosh’s 2015-16 version of “normal” stands as.

The generation, following his lead, has come up around him. Big men are shooting threes now, no thanks to one Christopher Wesson Bosh.

From Tom Haberstroh at ESPN:

Chris Bosh feels like he's getting a taste of his own medicine these days.

"It sucks," Bosh, at his locker in Miami, said on a Wednesday night. "It's not cool. I'm supposed to be the guy doing this stuff."

[…]

"It used to be, 'I'm the 4, I'm the low guy and the 5 is out [in the mid-range],' " Bosh said. "Now they're all over the place."

Chris Bosh shot 25 3-pointers (making seven, in seven games) in the exhibition season alone, eclipsing his combined totals from long range over his first two seasons. Now in his 13th season (''It's 13? Good grief,'' Bosh told the AP), he’s straddled a couple of generations. One that now features Anthony Davis, regarded as the NBA’s top big man, taking (and missing) two 3-point looks during New Orleans’ season opener on Tuesday.

It’s just how the game now works. We’re just happy Chris Bosh is part of it, all over again.