Sean Deveney

Every year, the same rumor pervades the whispers of Chicago's sports media-entsia.

Did you hear Eddy Curry is so big, he's wearing parachute pants? Literally, he's wearing parachutes for pants.

I heard he takes showers by paying neighbors to hose him down.

Yeah, well, I heard someone saw him at Gibson's — he read the whole menu, looked at the waiter and said, "Yes."

Such gossip. Those who have seen Curry around town or at the West Loop Athletic Club report that he is not that chubby. You won't see him on the cover of Ripped Abs Monthly, but we safely can say Curry is able to get himself off his own sofa.

Still, he is a 22-year-old free agent, a center coming off his most productive season (16.1 points per game). The fact training camp is weeks away and the most gripping news about Curry is whether he has done a pushup in the past 12 weeks speaks volumes about the state of the young man's career. He brought this on himself.

Curry has been chronically unwilling to work, and now he is paying for it.

His quest for a new contract has been hindered by the revelation in late March that he has an enlarged heart and an irregular heartbeat. Multiple insurance companies have passed on covering his contract. It doesn't help that the Bulls have been excessively cautious in the process, scaring off suitors. When the Hawks looked into signing Curry in July, they were given dire warnings by the Bulls. But the doctor the Hawks asked to look at Curry's records gave him a clean bill of health.

To blame the Bulls or the heart arrhythmia for Curry's lack of a contract is to give Curry too much absolution. This is his mess. The Hawks were serious about signing Curry -- they had jerseys and specially edited videos made for a two-day visit to Atlanta. But Curry left Atlanta after one day, and his agent, Leon Rose, blamed the early departure on a mix-up.

A mix-up? Children have mix-ups about what time they will be picked up from school. Adults do not have mix-ups when eight-figure salaries are at stake. The Hawks had massive salary cap room, didn't care about the heart problem and were willing to gamble on young talent (remember Joe Johnson?). Curry should have done everything possible to impress them.

The early departure did not hurt Curry's chances with Atlanta, though. The fact that he showed up overweight and looking for a better contract than 76ers center Samuel Dalembert (six years, around $60 million) did.

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Curry's Michelin Man physique is a symptom of a man with an allergy to work. Curry has an embarrassing career rebounding average (4.9). His defense is awful, and foul trouble is his constant companion. His hook shot is nice, but he needs a better countermove.

"I don't think things would be different if there were no heart issue," says an Eastern Conference general manager. "Everyone wonders, 'If this guy didn't work all that hard when he was playing for a contract, how hard would he work after you give him a big guaranteed deal?'"

Last week, Rose reportedly asked the Bulls to explore sign-and-trade options. G.M. John Paxson told reporters, "I've not been contacted by any team."

Translation: "Trade? Uh, who wants this guy?"