Risks are too big for Curry to not take DNA test

	Eddy Curry could be the Knicks' best low-post presence since Patrick Ewing left, but could the price ultimately be his life? Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images
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After five long years the New York Knicks finally have their center. Nine players have manned the pivot since Patrick Ewing was traded in 2000, a largely forgettable group that included journeymen centers Luc Longley and Felton Spencer, and power forwards Kurt Thomas and Othella Harrington. Those names are no more than memories now after the Knicks dealt for the Bulls' 22-year-old pivot, Eddy Curry, on Monday night. Gone are the days of trying to fit a power forward into the middle. Curry is a true center with the kind of skills that have been absent from Madison Square Garden since Ewing was last seen firing those baseline jump shots. Isiah Thomas got his man -- and all for the low, low price of agreeing not to submit Curry to a test that could save his life.

But you know what? This is unquestionably the dumbest, most irresponsible move in the history of the NBA.

It was only last March that Curry checked into a Charlotte hospital after noticing some irregularities in his heartbeat during warmups of the Bulls game with the Bobcats. After a battery of tests, Curry was ordered to sit out the remainder of the season while doctors tried to determine what caused his heart to accelerate. Results were inconclusive, but during the exams Curry's doctors found he had a slightly enlarged heart, something not necessarily related to his arrhythmia because the heart can become larger in athletes based on the amount of exercise they put in. It doesn't have to be the result of a viral infection.

As Curry spent the summer flying coast to coast seeking second, third and fourth opinions, the market for the restricted free agent began to dry up. After the Bulls extended Curry a one-year, $5.14 million offer in July, teams had months to bid for the center's services. While far less talented players scored multi-million dollar deals, Curry barely got a second look on the free-agent market. Further complicating matters was the refusal by the insurance company employed by the NBA to provide coverage for Curry given his condition. You want him, they said, you assume the risk --  we aren't touching him.

That led to a series of showdowns between player and team, general manager and agent and doctors in favor of DNA testing and doctors who aren't. Through it all, both sides with the most to lose -- the Bulls and Curry -- remained entrenched in their positions. The Bulls weren't willing to clear Curry to play without the DNA test and Curry wasn't willing to take the test.

Don't talk to me about a player's right to privacy (as Curry's advisors often did). This isn't the Cold War, we're not keeping secrets from the Soviets. Sure, I understand that a handful of doctors say the tests are unnecessary and a host of advisors that say the Bulls could use the test results as a way to extricate themselves from future contracts, but shouldn't Curry and his entourage want to take every effort to ensure that he lives to see age 23?