New York Knicks' Eddy Curry: the Final Year of a Contract, and End of a Career?

Looking in the eyes of New York Knicks big man, Eddy Curry, you wonder if there's any fire, or spark left in the NBA center. Watching Curry on the bench, where he's been for most of the past two NBA seasons, he seems uninspired. Originally drafted by the Chicago Bulls with the 4th overall pick , the former high school player was expected to be the answer to the Bulls problems at center, but when an irregular heart beat was detected, the Bulls asked Curry to get a DNA test to determine the extent of his condition, he refused. Unwilling to take a chance on the centers health, the Bulls dealt him to the Knicks.

Curry's Knicks career started off well, and he produced for almost three years before injuries, off season problems, and weight seemed to slow him down. There was the murder of his daughter, and the mother of two of his children, the lawsuit by a former employee accusing Curry of sexual harassment among other things, and a foreclosure on his home. Forced to deal with so many off the court issues, Curry's play began to suffer.

In the past two years, Curry's only played in 10 games. This year he's entering the final year of his contract, and will earn 11.3 million dollars. As the Knicks begin the season with their newly improved line up, Curry is absent, recovering from yet another injury. With an injured hamstring, and his battle with his weight, Curry's NBA career is in jeopardy. With rookie center, Timofey Mozgov, and Ronny Turiaf, who was brought over in the David Lee trade, the Knicks are prepared for life without Eddy Curry.

With his time in New York almost up, Curry will have a year to audition for future employers, and show them he's ready to contribute to an NBA team. In order to do this, Curry must get in shape, work his way into the line up, and produce when he's on the floor. If he's unable to do these things, the bright lights of New York will go out on his career.

Curry can walk away from the game knowing he took more then he gave, if that's the legacy he wants to leave. While there's been periods of good play by Curry, he's also been a disappointment, especially in New York. Looking back, maybe Curry wasn't ready to make the jump from high school, to the NBA. Maybe if Curry had gone to DePaul University as planned, his career, and life, would be different, but that doesn't matter now. Eddy Curry can still play basketball, the question is, and always has been, does he want to?

Sources:
http://www.nba.com/playerfile/eddy_curry/career_stats.html
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/410537-10-teams-that-could-be-willing-to-take-on-eddy-curry
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/404357-the-unfortunate-tale-of-eddy-curry