He wasn’t wearing his “I Love New York” T-shirt yet. But Eddy Curry is ready to give his heart, the one he says beats strong for his new team, to the big city.
“I go out there knowing and feeling I am not at any more risk than anyone else,” Curry said late Friday after his trade to the New York Knicks became official when the Knicks and the NBA cleared him medically to resume full basketball activities after a months-long debate about whether he might have a serious heart problem.
“I’m more worried about breaking a finger or something like that. I’m not worried about my heart.
“At this point,” Curry added, “I’m just glad [the Bulls] made the decision they did. It puts me in an even better position here. It’s over now. I’m just glad that part of my life is behind me.”
With the medical approval, Curry joins the Knicks along with Antonio Davis, whom team President Isiah Thomas said he expects to remain with the Knicks. Tim Thomas, Michael Sweetney and Jermaine Jackson go the Bulls along with a conditional No. 1 draft pick in 2006 and the right to swap No. 1 picks with the Knicks in 2007, plus two second-round draft picks. But the medical issue, legal questions and moral judgments that broke up the Bulls’ towering front line pairing of Tyson Chandler and Curry are not likely to go away even as the Knicks said Curry suffers from no medical problems and will not even be taking medication.
“After hearing from our doctors . . . I’m extremely confident in what was done, and Eddy is going to be playing in the NBA and living a healthy life for a long time,” Thomas said. “From what I understand, there is nothing wrong [with him or his heart]. He’s a healthy person, a healthy player. It really didn’t come down to soul searching because you’re dealing with a healthy player.”
It raises a question that figures to be debated further about the DNA testing the Bulls insisted upon to ascertain whether Curry suffers from a potentially fatal heart ailment that the Bulls suspected after Curry suffered an irregular heartbeat last March 30 and missed the rest of the season.
Did the Bulls overreact on the side of caution along with the NBA’s insurer, which refused to indemnify Curry on the heart issue? Are the Knicks looking the other way to acquire a potentially prized center, or have they exercised due diligence and taken advantage of the Bulls’ caution?
Curry, wearing No. 32 and drenched in sweat, stopped to recover at times during Friday’s practice because he isn’t in basketball shape. But he participated in drills at the College of Charleston here with the Knicks for about one hour after the team received the positive medical results. The results then were forwarded to the NBA doctors for approval. It was an extra step the league office requested considering the controversial questions and potential implications.
After practice Curry met a room filled with reporters and TV cameras, along with Thomas, coach Larry Brown and a Knicks doctor who declined comment on specifics. Thomas said he believed the differences between the Knicks and Bulls methodology regarding Curry was merely a matter of seeking more opinions.
“We are all taught at a young age, if a doctor gives you an opinion, you seek a second opinion,” Thomas said. “Our research came to the conclusion where we are today”–that he is at no more risk than anyone else playing in the NBA today.
The addition of Curry has raised optimism in New York that the team is on the road back to championship contention, as it did after the acquisition of Patrick Ewing. Despite the off-season signing of center Jerome James, Curry now is expected to start along with former teammate Jamal Crawford, Stephon Marbury, DePaul’s Quentin Richardson and perhaps Maurice Taylor or Malik Rose.
Questions of defense, passing, teamwork and consistency now will be analyzed in New York, as they were in Chicago. When the two teams meet, first Nov. 30 in New York and later Jan. 18 in Chicago, the games will take on added significance because they figure to be among those in the East battling for the bottom playoff spots after Detroit, Indiana and Miami.
While every sprained ankle or bruised knee that sends Curry to the floor motionless will be accompanied by a hush in the arena, Curry remains convinced his health is good and his heart is strong.
“The Bulls had to make a tough decision, the Knicks took a chance and now we’re having fun,” said Curry, who appeared relaxed, joking with reporters he recognized and answering without rancor. “At this point I’m not looking at what the Bulls have done. I know I can go out there and not have any worries. It wasn’t scary. I felt all along I was a healthy player from Day 1. I felt it was only a matter of time before everyone started thinking like I did.”
Curry said he never would have taken the DNA test the Bulls requested, had not taken it secretly and won’t take it now that he has a guaranteed contract worth about $60 million. He insisted the DNA test was unreliable and even could provide false results.
“I knew under no circumstances would I take the DNA test for that organization,” Curry said. “At the same time, if it came to the point where I had to take it for my own health to feel comfortable with myself on the court, I would have. If they say they felt it was a risk keeping me there, so be it. I’m extremely peaceful in the fact I can go out there and play and nothing is going to happen. It’s over with now.”
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sasmith@tribune.com
