Gugliotta Released, Goes Home

Tom Gugliotta of the Phoenix Suns was released from a Portland, Ore., hospital Saturday and was returning to Arizona for further tests to determine what caused his seizure on a team bus Friday night.

Gugliotta, who turns 30 today, underwent a series of tests at Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland and none showed any cause for the incident, which occurred about 45 minutes after the Suns defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, 110-102, in a game in which Gugliotta had 17 points and 14 rebounds in 39 minutes.

“All of the tests that he’s had, which are the typical, routine tests you have for someone who’s had a seizure--the CT scans, the EKGs, the lab work--everything is completely normal at this time,” Sun team physician Richard Emerson said during a news conference Saturday night in Phoenix. “So the good news is that Tom is feeling very good, although somewhat fatigued.

“What we can’t tell you is what caused it. Sometimes you never know what causes these things.”

Gugliotta was flying home with his wife, Nikki, and assistant trainer Aaron Nelson on Saturday night. Emerson said he planned to examine Gugliotta at the player’s home later Saturday night, with further tests planned in the coming days.

Gugliotta does not have a history of seizures or any other health problems. He had started all 22 games this season and was second on the team in minutes played.

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John MacLeod, coach of the Suns for 13 1/2 seasons in the 1970s and ‘80s, returned to the team as the top assistant to new Coach Scott Skiles. MacLeod, 62, was fired as coach at Notre Dame after last season. . . . Chauncey Billups of the Denver Nuggets will be sidelined for at least three weeks and possibly the rest of the season after suffering a dislocated left shoulder against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night. The veteran guard said he injured the shoulder when King forward Predrag Stojakovic’s elbow accidentally came down on it in the third quarter.