http://www.suntimes.com/output/sports/cst-spt-bull09.html
Curry: Bulls put bad spin on his heart
October 9, 2005
BY LACY J. BANKS Staff Reporter
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Although happy to have his NBA career back on track with the New York Knicks, center Eddy Curry said Saturday he was "very disappointed'' in the Bulls because he thinks somebody in the organization leaked information about his heart tests to the media.
"I certainly didn't tell nobody anything about what the doctors were doing and what they were finding,'' Curry said after his first full practice with the Knicks at the University of Charleston. "I didn't even know what they were finding. All I knew is that I was healthy and I was waiting and hoping that the truth would eventually come out like it's finally doing.''
Curry, who missed the last three weeks of last season and the playoffs after experiencing an irregular heartbeat, refused the Bulls' recent demands to submit to a DNA test for a potentially fatal heart condition. A sign-and-trade deal between the Bulls and Knicks last week resulted in Curry signing a six-year, $58 million contract with an escape clause after four years. The Bulls then traded Curry and forward Antonio Davis to the Knicks for forwards Tim Thomas and Michael Sweetney, guard Jermaine Jackson and draft picks.
"When the Bulls told me to be quiet and don't say this and don't say that, I did it -- not knowing that they wanted me to be quiet so that they would be the first ones to tell it,'' Curry said of the stalemate over his health. "Somehow, details still got out. And since me or nobody from my family was giving out information, it had to come from the Bulls. I don't think that was fair. If I was in their position, from a business standpoint, I could understand why they did some of the things they did, but not all of the things.
"But at this point, I'm just so happy that things turned out the way they did. By them leaking the stuff out to the press, it drew the interest of pretty good doctors around the country who were able to look at my reports and give their professional opinion. Plus, it helped me to end up in a better situation. We got a lot of young talent on this team, and I know I'm going to be a better player under coach [Larry] Brown.''
Curry is now focusing on the positives.
"Unfortunately, [the Bulls'] negative suspicions about my health and the insurance [the refusal by the league's insurance company to indemnify his heart] definitely scared away some teams from making substantial offers,'' Curry said. "But I'm not really all that mad with the salary I'm getting now because after four years I can go in and get the money I should have gotten in the first place.''
'Eddy Curry is a healthy player'
If forward Tyson Chandler could get a six-year, $63 million contract from the Bulls, center Zydrunas Ilgauskas a five-year, $60million deal from the Cleveland Cavaliers and center Samuel Dalembert a six-year, $60 million deal from the Philadelphia 76ers, it would seem Curry's fair market value should have been higher as a restricted free agent.
"Given his position, his talent, his age [22] and his upside, if not for the medical suspicions, Curry could have maxed out,'' said Isiah Thomas, the Knicks' operations chief. "Unfortunately, no other clubs were willing to bid and raise his market value because the medical reports and the insurance problems scared them off. As far as we are concerned, all the money we're contracted to pay him is guaranteed because we're talking about a healthy player. And I can't stress that enough. Eddy Curry is a healthy player.
"We did our homework and we studied the whole situation closely from the start, and what people fail to realize is that not one doctor -- I repeat, not one doctor -- has said that something is definitely wrong with Eddy Curry. The closest a doctor has come to saying something is wrong is that his diagnosis is 'inconclusive.' Even the doctor recommending the DNA test simply suggested that the test might help find out if something is wrong. And even if [Curry] had tested positive on a DNA test, it would not be reliable because the test is not considered to be accurate.''
Enough with dollars, doctors
Curry said it doesn't bother him that Chandler and Dalembert, who have been less productive, have signed for more money.
"It's not even about that for me because when you were in the situation I was in, you don't think about things like that,'' he said. "You pretty much become grateful for anything that happens that enables you just to go somewhere else and start over brand new for a good team and a great coach. Sometimes that's more valuable than money. I could have ended up on a bad team with a bad coach.''
Curry says he wants to put all the negative experiences from the last six months behind him.
"I must have had over 20 doctors to actually have their hands on me at some point or another and more than 50 doctors talked to me or studied and seen my heart in some form or another,'' he said.
He said he felt he had a good relationship with Bulls GM John Paxson and coach Scott Skiles.
"If the deal had fallen through, I felt I could have come back and still played for the Bulls,'' he said. "For me, it was deeper than how I felt about Paxson or coach Skiles or the higher powers in the organization. It was my love for that team that would let me come back and deal with whatever I had to deal with to play with those guys. I knew that eventually the Bulls would trust my heart and I could go out there and perform the way I'm capable of performing. But it didn't turn out that way.''
'I never got an e-mail'
Curry disputed Paxson's claim that he refused to answer e-mails and return telephone calls or accept invitations to meet with him.
"Me and Paxson have already been through this,'' he said. "If I would have gotten an e-mail from Paxson, I would have responded. I never got an e-mail from Paxson. If he had called me, I would have called him back. But I felt that since we were in negotiations, that wasn't the time for me to be calling him back or meeting and getting personal with him.
"But like I said, that's all over with now. Four years with the Bulls taught me that this can be a cold business and you have to learn how to separate your personal feelings from the business side of the game or you can go crazy. I wish the Bulls well. And each evening, I will be turning on the television to see how well they did.''
Curry: Bulls put bad spin on his heart
October 9, 2005
BY LACY J. BANKS Staff Reporter
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Although happy to have his NBA career back on track with the New York Knicks, center Eddy Curry said Saturday he was "very disappointed'' in the Bulls because he thinks somebody in the organization leaked information about his heart tests to the media.
"I certainly didn't tell nobody anything about what the doctors were doing and what they were finding,'' Curry said after his first full practice with the Knicks at the University of Charleston. "I didn't even know what they were finding. All I knew is that I was healthy and I was waiting and hoping that the truth would eventually come out like it's finally doing.''
Curry, who missed the last three weeks of last season and the playoffs after experiencing an irregular heartbeat, refused the Bulls' recent demands to submit to a DNA test for a potentially fatal heart condition. A sign-and-trade deal between the Bulls and Knicks last week resulted in Curry signing a six-year, $58 million contract with an escape clause after four years. The Bulls then traded Curry and forward Antonio Davis to the Knicks for forwards Tim Thomas and Michael Sweetney, guard Jermaine Jackson and draft picks.
"When the Bulls told me to be quiet and don't say this and don't say that, I did it -- not knowing that they wanted me to be quiet so that they would be the first ones to tell it,'' Curry said of the stalemate over his health. "Somehow, details still got out. And since me or nobody from my family was giving out information, it had to come from the Bulls. I don't think that was fair. If I was in their position, from a business standpoint, I could understand why they did some of the things they did, but not all of the things.
"But at this point, I'm just so happy that things turned out the way they did. By them leaking the stuff out to the press, it drew the interest of pretty good doctors around the country who were able to look at my reports and give their professional opinion. Plus, it helped me to end up in a better situation. We got a lot of young talent on this team, and I know I'm going to be a better player under coach [Larry] Brown.''
Curry is now focusing on the positives.
"Unfortunately, [the Bulls'] negative suspicions about my health and the insurance [the refusal by the league's insurance company to indemnify his heart] definitely scared away some teams from making substantial offers,'' Curry said. "But I'm not really all that mad with the salary I'm getting now because after four years I can go in and get the money I should have gotten in the first place.''
'Eddy Curry is a healthy player'
If forward Tyson Chandler could get a six-year, $63 million contract from the Bulls, center Zydrunas Ilgauskas a five-year, $60million deal from the Cleveland Cavaliers and center Samuel Dalembert a six-year, $60 million deal from the Philadelphia 76ers, it would seem Curry's fair market value should have been higher as a restricted free agent.
"Given his position, his talent, his age [22] and his upside, if not for the medical suspicions, Curry could have maxed out,'' said Isiah Thomas, the Knicks' operations chief. "Unfortunately, no other clubs were willing to bid and raise his market value because the medical reports and the insurance problems scared them off. As far as we are concerned, all the money we're contracted to pay him is guaranteed because we're talking about a healthy player. And I can't stress that enough. Eddy Curry is a healthy player.
"We did our homework and we studied the whole situation closely from the start, and what people fail to realize is that not one doctor -- I repeat, not one doctor -- has said that something is definitely wrong with Eddy Curry. The closest a doctor has come to saying something is wrong is that his diagnosis is 'inconclusive.' Even the doctor recommending the DNA test simply suggested that the test might help find out if something is wrong. And even if [Curry] had tested positive on a DNA test, it would not be reliable because the test is not considered to be accurate.''
Enough with dollars, doctors
Curry said it doesn't bother him that Chandler and Dalembert, who have been less productive, have signed for more money.
"It's not even about that for me because when you were in the situation I was in, you don't think about things like that,'' he said. "You pretty much become grateful for anything that happens that enables you just to go somewhere else and start over brand new for a good team and a great coach. Sometimes that's more valuable than money. I could have ended up on a bad team with a bad coach.''
Curry says he wants to put all the negative experiences from the last six months behind him.
"I must have had over 20 doctors to actually have their hands on me at some point or another and more than 50 doctors talked to me or studied and seen my heart in some form or another,'' he said.
He said he felt he had a good relationship with Bulls GM John Paxson and coach Scott Skiles.
"If the deal had fallen through, I felt I could have come back and still played for the Bulls,'' he said. "For me, it was deeper than how I felt about Paxson or coach Skiles or the higher powers in the organization. It was my love for that team that would let me come back and deal with whatever I had to deal with to play with those guys. I knew that eventually the Bulls would trust my heart and I could go out there and perform the way I'm capable of performing. But it didn't turn out that way.''
'I never got an e-mail'
Curry disputed Paxson's claim that he refused to answer e-mails and return telephone calls or accept invitations to meet with him.
"Me and Paxson have already been through this,'' he said. "If I would have gotten an e-mail from Paxson, I would have responded. I never got an e-mail from Paxson. If he had called me, I would have called him back. But I felt that since we were in negotiations, that wasn't the time for me to be calling him back or meeting and getting personal with him.
"But like I said, that's all over with now. Four years with the Bulls taught me that this can be a cold business and you have to learn how to separate your personal feelings from the business side of the game or you can go crazy. I wish the Bulls well. And each evening, I will be turning on the television to see how well they did.''
