On July 1 of every year since 2011, former Major League Baseball player Bobby Bonilla has collected a check for $1,193,248.20 from the New York Mets as part of an agreement that was reached when the ballclub agreed to buy out the remaining $5.9 million on the former slugger’s contract in 2000.
The first Bobbly Bonilla Day came in 2011, six years before former National Basketball Association player Chris Bosh reached a similar deal (that has received much less fanfare) with the Miami Heat on the date of an actual holiday.
On Independence Day in 2017, Bosh and the Heat agreed to terms on a pact to settle up the remaining $52 million on the five-year, $118 million contract the two-time champ signed with the Heat in 2014. Two seasons after signing that massive deal with the Heat, Bosh saw his playing career come to an end because of blood-clot issues.
Bosh, 38, told The Wall Street Journal that it was “surreal” to see his career come to an end so quickly. “I was in the best shape of my life,” he said. “It’s not like I did anything wrong. It just happened. I had given my life to basketball. You don’t get to that level without making huge sacrifices.”
As a result of Bosh’s forced retirement due to blood clots, the Heat, NBA and the 11-time All-Star’s camp worked out a deal to cover his contract with funding for the payouts coming from both the team and an insurance policy. The deal, which started in November 2017 and ends today, called for Bosh to receive twice-monthly installments of $434,393, 120 in all.
“We can’t wait to someday hang his jersey in the rafters. He is, without a doubt, one of the greatest players in the history of the franchise,” Miami team president Pat Riley said when the creation of Chris Bosh’s version of Bobby Bonilla Day was announced on July 4, 2017. “Chris changed his life and basketball career when he came to Miami. And he changed our lives for the better, in a way we never would have imagined, when he joined the Miami Heat. We will forever be indebted to CB.”
Not anymore.
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