Irregular Heartbeat Ends the Season for Curry

Chicago Bull center Eddy Curry will sit out the rest of the season because of an irregular heartbeat, but doctors are optimistic that he’ll be able to play again.

Curry, 22, will undergo further tests that will take six more weeks, meaning that he’ll miss the Bulls’ first playoff appearance since 1998. Doctors still aren’t sure what caused the heart arrhythmia, which hasn’t recurred in the last two weeks.

“We’ve been as diligent as we can to rule out anything possible that would put him at risk,” Kathy Weber, a Bull team physician, said at a news conference Thursday night. “We’re going to continue to do that until we feel it’s safe for him to play.”

Curry, sidelined since March 30, was the Bulls’ leading scorer, averaging 16.1 points and 5.4 rebounds. He was shooting 53.8%.

Other NBA players have played through similar conditions without serious complications, including Hakeem Olajuwon, Derrick Coleman and Aaron McKie.

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Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert is tired of the rumors, innuendo and talk about LeBron James possibly leaving the Cavaliers.

“Let’s get it right, LeBron is here for three more years.... We hope he’s here for his whole career, and we’re going to do what we can to make that happen,” Gilbert said.

James, in his second season, has two years left on his rookie contract and can become an unrestricted free agent after his fifth season.

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Saying the team didn’t support him before season-ending ankle surgery, Orlando Magic guard Doug Christie told a Florida television station that “to come back and play under the circumstances I’ve been put through would be very difficult.”

Christie’s unhappiness revolves around General Manager John Weisbrod, whom Christie, 34, says did not support him publicly while he was injured after his January trade from Sacramento.

Weisbrod disagreed, saying, “The organization has done nothing but defend him.”