LINK MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Minnesota Timberwolves guard Fred Hoiberg said he will have heart surgery Tuesday at the Mayo Clinic to correct an enlarged aortic root. Hoiberg told reporters with the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Friday that he should be able to play again, but he will consider retiring if the situation is life threatening. "My world has been turned upside down," Hoiberg said. "That's when priorities get set." Hoiberg has a wife and four children. The technical diagnosis is an aortic root aneurysm. That means there is a bulge in the root, where the artery meets the heart's aortic valve. The size of the bulge has grown since January, when he first got hints that there was a problem. The 32-year-old played the entire 2004-05 season with the condition. "Had I taken a significant blow to that area, it could have caused a rupture," Hoiberg said. "I think back to last year, how disappointing it was for us not to make the playoffs. But for me personally, it probably was a blessing we didn't make the playoffs." Hoiberg said he has been told a full recovery is expected. He said he is confident he can play three or four more years if everything heals correctly. He said recovery could take three months. "His health and his family are the most important things right now, more so than any basketball or any return date," new Wolves coach Dwane Casey told the Pioneer Press. "It's a scary thing."
Good luck to Fred Hoiberg. I've always like him a player, one of those good scrappy guys but who also know how to play smart, and it will be a real loss if he has to retire from this.
i'm 31 with 2 kids...i can't imagine how scary this would be. wow. hoping he'll come out of this great!
