Knicks – Clippers trade saves Cuttino Mobley
I have never known a trade to be such a win-win situation for the players and the teams involved. The trade that sent Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas to the Knicks for Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins did just that. With this trade, the Clippers got another scorer and rebounder in the lowpost that could help them win now. The Knicks, however, got a player who will be forced to retire due to a heart disease called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Despite Mobley failing the physical, the Knicks still went on with the deal to be able to unload Randolph’s huge contract.
If it weren’t for the trade to the Knicks and the physical exams done to him, who knows what would have happened to Cat on the court. The sickness he has had caused the death of Reggie Lewis and Hank Gathers and it forced him to retire, which was a wise decision.
“The specialists I’ve seen made it clear that my heart condition has gotten worse and I couldn’t continue to play professional basketball without putting my health and life in serious danger,” Mobley said. “As much as I want to keep playing in the NBA, I have no choice but to follow the advice of my doctors and step away from the league.”
Mobley has had a wonderful 11 year career with the Rockets, Kings and the Clippers where he averaged 16 points per game with 1.2 steals and 1.5 threes a game. He was someone who every team would love to have because of his defense, leadership and shooting. He would have been a perfect fit for the Knicks style of play and would have scored a lot and increase his threes made per game. But he did what’s best for his health and his family.
“I thought this would be the perfect trade with him in it, but I would never put a player out there that’s at the risk he would be at,” Knicks president Donnie Walsh said. “None of this is as important as somebody’s life.”
This was really the perfect trade for everyone especially him. Although he has done a lot of physical exams every year during training camp, no one found out about his heart condition until this trade happened. It will be very tough for him to walk out of the game at the age of 33 but I’m sure that he’ll be back in the game whether as an assistant coach or a personnel for a team. Whatever he does I wish him all the best and thank him for all his contributions in the league.
Here are some of Cuttino Mobley’s highlights found on youtube.
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