ESPN wrote:CHICAGO -- Bulls center Eddy Curry will miss the rest of the season because of an irregular heartbeat, a source close to Curry told The Associated Press on Thursday.
That includes the team's first playoff appearance since 1998, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The team called a news conference for later Thursday to discuss Curry's condition.
A call to Curry's agent, Darren White, was not immediately returned.
The 22-year-old player has been sidelined since March 30 with the heart ailment. He was a late scratch from the Bulls' game in Charlotte that night with what was listed as flulike symptoms, but the Chicago Tribune reported that he'd spent the game hooked up to a heart monitor.
Curry returned to Chicago on April 1 and was admitted to Rush University Medical Center for further tests. When those were inconclusive, he saw specialists in Boston and Minnesota.
The Bulls initially hoped to have Curry back for the playoffs but said they would be cautious with his return. They're 6-3 without him but have lost their last two.
"Our first priority is Eddy's health, and we are going to be absolutely certain we have all the answers we need before he returns to the court," general manager John Paxson said last week.
The ailment ends what had been a breakout season for Curry, who will be a restricted free agent this summer. After losing more than 30 pounds last summer, the 7-footer has become the inside force the Bulls envisioned when they drafted him fourth overall in 2001. He led Chicago with 16.1 points a game and was shooting 53.8 percent, fourth best in the NBA. He was averaging 5.4 rebounds. He had scored at least 25 points in his two previous games before being sidelined.
Curry's development has been a big factor in the resurgence of the Bulls, who have gone from NBA laughingstock to one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. At 44-34, Chicago has the third-best record in the conference and has clinched a playoff spot for the first time since the Michael Jordan era.
With four games left in the regular season, Chicago is still fighting for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Curry's absence means the Bulls will be without two starters in the playoffs. Rookie Luol Deng, who averaged 11.7 points and 5.3 rebounds, had surgery Tuesday to repair on a torn ligament in his wrist. He's expected to be in a cast for six to eight weeks.
I hope Eddy still makes it but Luol Deng is definetely out of it unless they make it at the Conference Finals.
