Eddy Curry was basketball-famous when he was 16, he was a franchise cornerstone of one of the NBA’s marquee teams when he was 18, and an NBA washout by 25. Drafted directly out of high school to his hometown Chicago Bulls in 2001, Curry showed flashes of All-Star promise at times during his too-brief career, but his role as an everyday player was just about done by 2008, as he played just 26 games between 2007-08 and his last stint with the NBA in 2012.

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Chaos and off-the-court woes followed Curry from his peak as a pro in late 2004-05 until the end of his run, with a since-dismissed sexual harassment suit, the frightening murder of the mother of one of his seven children, and all manner of on-court frustration regarding his underachieving play in the pivot for (mostly) Chicago and New York.

Curry is attempting to make a comeback of sorts with the Champions Basketball League, a traveling collection of ex-NBA semi-stars set to hit the pine in 2017. Until then, he’s decided to act as a motivational speaker, and he recently sat in front of a group of high school athletes from Metea Valley High School in Aurora, IL to discuss some of the drawbacks that come from being too good at too young an age.

From Suzanne Baker at the Naperville Times:

He said his only regret was not attending college and participating in the rites of passage, like living in a dorm, or experiencing the growth and maturity so many NBA players received as college athletes.

“It would be super dope to have a college diploma,” Curry said.

[…]

“I was a kid coming out of high school, literally,” he said.

“When I was in Chicago, they babied me in Chicago. They really kind of sheltered and kept us kind of concealed and didn’t let us get into a lot of stuff. Then I went to New York and it was total opposite. It was like boom,” he said.

While he hinted that his lifestyle got a bit wild, Curry shied away details.

Things never really got on track for Curry once he left the comforts of his Chicago home.

This isn’t to say his first few years with the Bulls went swimmingly, either. Drafted No. 4 overall in 2001, Curry was immediately used as a scapegoat of sorts by then-Chicago general manager Jerry Krause for the subsequent deal that sent 20-and-10 man and 1999-00 co-Rookie of the Year Elton Brand to the Clippers for No. 2 pick Tyson Chandler. Brand’s low post game wouldn’t work well alongside Curry’s, Krause argued, while Chandler’s all-around gifts would fit well alongside Curry’s offensive-minded approach.

It wasn’t a terrible plan in the slightest, as Chandler’s continuing long NBA career (working alongside all manner of frontcourt partners) would suggest. Tyson’s first few years, however, were hamstrung by back injuries and timing issues, while Curry was immediately identified as one of the league’s worst defenders, a lacking rebounder (when asked what he could do to improve at that end, then-coach Scott Skiles infamously replied, “jump”) that was terribly foul and turnover-prone.

This was all apparent to anyone who scouted Curry in high school, where he barely averaged double-digit rebounds during his senior year, but Chandler’s presence was supposed to mollify these shortcomings. That idea finally took hold in 2004-05, with Krause since let go by the team, when Chandler (fully healthy, though coming off of the bench) and Curry helped contributed mightily to a Bulls turnaround that saw a team that started 2-13 finish with a 47-35 record and the franchise’s first playoff appearance since Michael Jordan’s retirement.

Curry was sidelined with an irregular heartbeat just before the end of the regular season, though, missing the postseason (Eddy would retire without ever playing an NBA playoff game) prior to his turn as a restricted free agent in the offseason. Chicago, worried about Curry’s health, offered him several life-long contract options that would pay him nearly in perpetuity should his heart issues sideline Eddy for good, while Curry (quite understandably) refused to submit to DNA testing that would help determine if his heart issues were a genetic condition.

Champing at the bit from afar, hardly swayed by former Bull Jamal Crawford’s underwhelming first year with the Knicks and his recent signing of center Jerome James to a free agent deal, was New York president Isiah Thomas. With the Bulls and Curry at an impasse, Thomas structured a sign-and-trade for the center that sent draft picks to Chicago that later turned into LaMarcus Aldridge (immediately dealt for Tyrus Thomas) and current Knick Joakim Noah.

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