[Chicago Sun-Times]After licking heart ailment, Howard has empathy for Curry

http://www.suntimes.com/output/bulls/cst-spt-juwan01.html



After licking heart ailment, Howard has empathy for Curry

July 1, 2005

BY LACY J. BANKS Staff Reporter

Houston Rockets forward Juwan Howard paused from his fourth annual basketball camp at the West Loop Athletic Club to send out best wishes to Bulls center Eddy Curry, whose current predicament strikes close to Howard's heart.

Curry visited a Los Angeles cardiologist Thursday to undergo a heart examination that is expected to clear him to return to basketball.

''I wish him well because I know what he's been going through these last [four] months,'' said Howard, a Chicago native and 11-year NBA veteran who formerly starred at CVS and Michigan. ''I went through the same thing. It scared me real bad. But thank God that with the help of my wife [Jenine] and doctors, my problem was caught in time after I suffered a mild heart attack.

''I was in the hospital for about a week and then put on a strict rest schedule. I didn't even have to take any medication. Just rest. Then last week, I was finally cleared to resume play. I was examined, took a treadmill test, and they said I was fine. I'm hoping the same for Eddy. I know him. He's helped me with my camp. He's a nice guy with a good career in front of him.''

Coincidentally, both players were sidelined around the same time. Howard was placed on the injured list March 19 with a sprained right knee, and a week later he came down with viral myocarditis, a potentially fatal infection of the heart muscle that shelved him for the rest of the season. Curry experienced an irregular heartbeat that left him dizzy and light-headed March 30. He has been out ever since, undergoing tests to determine the severity of his condition.

Howard admits he was stubborn to respond to symptoms because he wanted badly to play in the playoffs and help Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming take the Rockets as far as they could advance.

''One day, I felt sharp pains in my chest, and my left arm went numb,'' he said. ''It was real scary. I never felt anything like that before. But I shrugged it off because it only lasted for an hour. The next day, it happened again. But this time, I could not shrug it off because the pain was more severe and it lasted for hours. Like all good wives, my wife refused to let me be stubborn anymore. She rushed me to the emergency room of the hospital. That's when they determined that I had a case of viral myocarditis.''

Howard is cleared to resume playing. He has four years left on his contract with the Rockets and a ton of options because he has a degree in communications, is a promising broadcast analyst, knows basketball well enough to coach and wants to get involved with the business of building and managing teams. But he says he always will reach back to the community to help inner-city kids get the opportunities he did not get.

''When I was growing up, we didn't have but a couple NBA players coming back into the Chicago community and giving free basketball clinics,'' Howard said. ''But with the help of sponsors like the Chicago Public Schools, Gatorade, Brand Jordan and Wilson, I am able to serve 300-something kids who earn their way here by being good students.

"We not only teach basketball fundamentals, but we teach computer skills and we encourage the kids to stay away from drugs, gangs, too much junk food and anything else harmful to wholesome development.''

 

Juwan Howard is ready for new season!!!!!