Eddy Curry – dealing with an injured right knee and a tragic January – was spotted briefly at Knicks practice yesterday before he ducked into a back room. But Curry still isn’t able to participate and coach Mike D’Antoni admitted the longer the big man remains inactive, the harder it’ll be for him to play any kind of role this season.
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“He’s not able to do anything yet,” D’Antoni said. When D’Antoni was asked if he was confident the center would be able to help the team at some point, he wouldn’t say.
“That I don’t know,” D’Antoni said. “Obviously, as it goes further on it makes it tougher.
“I don’t know where his pain level is or exactly what the doctors say. They keep telling me it’s not long. I don’t know what that means. So until we see it . . . I don’t know obviously at this point. Hopefully it’s not long, but I don’t know.”
Curry, whose only appearance was a three-minute cameo on Jan. 8 in Dallas, suffered through an emotional month: His ex-chauffeur, David Kuchinsky, filed a sexual harassment suit against Curry on Jan. 12 and his ex-girlfriend, Nova Henry, and their 9-month-old daughter, Ava, were found murdered 13 days later.
“We’ve been talking to him,” Al Harrington said. “He was at the game. He didn’t get a chance to come and sit on the bench. He was in the back. He’s doing all right. The stuff he’s been going through . . . I don’t know if I’d be in here laughing, talking period. But he’s a strong dude. We’re going to keep praying for him and wishing him well.”
Curry had promised earlier that he definitely would be back before the All-Star break, but that seems all but impossible with that deadline fast approaching next week. And though it’s becoming less and less likely Curry will get in the Knicks’ rotation this season, Harrington held out hope.
“Hopefully, as soon as he gets his mind right and gets in shape,” Harrington said. “We definitely can use him. We can use as many bodies as we can get. He’ll definitely be a force in the paint for us.”