New York Knicks tell center Eddy Curry to shape up and lose some weight before he can return to team

BY Frank Isola
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER


Patrick Ewing stands a better chance of suiting up for the Knicks next week in Miami than Eddy Curry.

Curry, the team's out-of-shape center who was banished from practicing with his teammates two weeks ago, must meet a certain weight before he will be allowed to rejoin the Knicks. According to a source close to the team, Garden Chairman James Dolan was involved in the decision to keep Curry away from the Knicks until he improved his conditioning.

Curry does not practice with his teammates or attend preseason games. It is unlikely that he will accompany the Knicks to their Oct. 28 season opener in Miami. Curry suffered a leg injury on the first day of training camp, and the club claimed that he would be out three days.

But Knicks president Donnie Walsh later said that Curry wasn't fit enough to practice. Walsh said the plan to ban Curry had nothing to do with the center's weight, which now appears to be a way for the Knicks to protect him.

According to a source, Curry has lost weight, but the feeling is that he will have to get down to between 305 and 310 pounds before he can rejoin the team. Curry, 26, is the Knicks' second highest-paid player this season, earning $10.5million.

The Knicks could conceivably pick a fight with the Players Association to void the last year of Curry's contract. However, it is doubtful that the Knicks would explore that option for several reasons. For one, Walsh believes Curry can salvage his career. Plus, the Knicks probably don't want to pick a fight with Curry's agent, Leon Rose, who also happens to represent LeBron James.

That said, someone will have to pay for the Curry fiasco, which began last summer when the club decided to outsource his offseason workouts instead of using their in-house trainers and coaches. When Curry showed up in Las Vegas to meet with the Knicks' coaching staff, his fitness hadn't improved much. He also angered the organization by failing to bring his sneakers for the workout.

there seriously needs to be a curry clause in the new cba

Posted by coolbeans:

there seriously needs to be a curry clause in the new cba

Sean May had a "Curry clause" in his contract when he signed this year with Sacto. He lost like 40+ pounds by Oct. 1 and got a $100,000 bonus.

Isiah was desporate and had money to burn.

The writing has been on the wall for years and it cumulated with his ephedra episode and the fact the Bulls wanted him to retire.

The guy does not have the "constitution" to be an NBA player.

He needs to save his money cuz he is not going to make big nba money any more.

Posted by jimimou:

boy we need to find some of those old threads where guys were talkin about eddy givin us 18pts, 6boards, 3assists, 2blocks and 4dimes a night....

cough <fishwhack> cough

Gotta get him off the team no matter what. That's why they're hiding him. He is an embarrassment to this franchise and it hurts our image and ou FA chase to be associated with this guy.

I like that Dolan is becoming involved. He's the best person to talk to Eddy about physical fitness.