The Knicks Fix

I'm tanner, more rested and slightly fatter after a five-day break with my family. Three of those days I spent away from anything internet. I barely read the newspaper.

And I come home to this?

I love Star Wars. Naturally, considering my last name, Han Solo is my favorite character. I consider one of his classic lines as I step off the plane at Long Island-MacArthur Airport and pick up a copy of Newsday:

Luke? A Jedi? I'm out of it for a little while and everybody gets delusions of grandeur.

Yes, I know, it's not really relevant. But it came to mind.

And so vacation time is cut short. Kevin Garnett is apparently going Green. The Tim Donaghy story has come to a grinding halt now that the FBI no longer needs the media to help them smoke out any more accomplices. And Eddy Curry just went through something that every husband and father fears the most: the helplessness of being robbed at gunpoint in your own home.

When the news first broke, someone sent me an email suggesting Eddy had finally met Zach Randolph.

Yes, flag on the play. That's definitely a flag. That's a five-minute major. Now I'm mixing my sports metaphors. (In mid-summer form, I am).

I'll get to KG and the new Celtic dynasty. Curry's situation demands immediate attention:

Curry is one of many Knicks who chooses not to remain in New York during the offseason. He is an Illinois native and he and his wife Patrice moved into their $6 million home (I obtained the photo from our sister-paper, the Chicago Tribune) there in Burr Ridge two years ago. They call it their dream home. It's on a cul-de-sac in a private area. As you can see from the photo, it's a beautiful house, but certainly not secluded. In fact, one report I read said Curry has more cars than he can fit in the driveway, so often there are cars parked in the street. His neighbors don't complain. In fact, one report I read quoted a few that spoke highly of him and his family.

According to the Tribune, Burr Ridge is known to have been the hometown of several well-known sports celebrities, such as Bo Jackson, Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura and Blackhawks legend Stan Mikita.

Right now, it seems Curry and his family are content with keeping their permanent residence in Burr Ridge. But I wonder if he'd consider moving his family to Westchester when he starts the season in October.

I had been trying to hook up with Eddy all month to do a story with him. He requested some privacy for the offseason. I don't take it personal, Eddy's a family man. But I was hoping to hook up with him in Chicago around this time in July to do a little feature on the big fella's offseason. Now it seems clear there's no chance of that happening.

Isiah Thomas is away and not available for comment about Curry's situation. You have to believe there was great concern and then great relief once the news broke.

Eddy, of course, is not talking and I don't blame him. He has told the Knicks the situation was traumatizing. Bulls guard Ben Gordon told the Chicago CBS affiliate that he checked on Eddy after the incident.

"He's doing all right. I asked him if he's okay, said he was and obviously authorities are handling the rest. Like I said before, the main thing is that nobody got hurt," Gordon said.

I know what some of you may be thinking: the dude is 6-11 and nearly 300 pounds. How come he didn't he go all Blade on these thugs for ransacking his crib? How could he allow himself - not to mention his family, his wife - to be tied up by these punks?

Bro, let me tell ya, 300 pounds of flesh ain't bullet-proof. Curry did the right thing by not engaging, not trying to be a hero. Curry was protecting his family. He does little good for them while being peppered with hot lead into his torso.

The thieves got away with what is being reported as $10,000 in cash and jewelry. Material stuff. The jewelry is likely insured. The cash? It's a lot to you and me, but not to a man who is making $8.9 million this season with about $31 million left on his contract after that.

It takes a smart man to recognize that situation and play it cool.

I've put in the calls for updates and a copy of the police report, which is public information. I'll update the situation as I learn more, but, as you know, the police in the area believe there is a link between the Curry home invasion and the Antoine Walker hold-up in nearby River North.

Again, the good news is, no one got hurt.

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Can I get back to you all on the KG thing tomorrow? I don't want to discuss it until the deal is done and we know who is coming and who is going.

The biggest question I have is: who will be the PG? You are definitely going to need a floor general with Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and KG all on floor at the same time.

It's got to make you a little furious to see former teammates Danny Ainge and Kevin McHale work out a trade of this magnitude. Clearly Glen Taylor wanted KG out of the West, otherwise the Lakers would have had a bigger shot at getting KG and pacifying Kobe.

For the Knicks, it's certainly not great news.

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Tidbits:

- David Lee has been asked to join a select team that will go to Las Vegas in two weeks to scrimmage against Team USA basketball team. The good news about that is it suggests that David is 100 percent ready to go. My concern is that he could re-injure his leg before the season. I'd rather see him rest, but the experience of going against that level of competition is awesome for him at this stage of his career.

- The moratorium on trading Dan Dickau and Fred Jones has expired, but it's not like you can expect either to be shipped out anytime soon. Isiah will hang on to those tradeable assets for as long as he can to see what he can make happen. Ron Artest is very much still out there and, man, it's hard not to notice how much he's trying to clean up his public image these days. Though I did read one publication called him "flaky" after he was kind enough to take time out of playing with his kids at a hotel pool just to talk with this publication "exclusively." I guess when you don't need someone anymore, it's easy to take shots at them. I wonder, however, if when this "flaky" Artest becomes a Knick, will he remember this?

- If any of you have a daughter out there (like I do..she's 6 going on 16), Billy Ray Cyrus' song, "Ready, Set, Don't Go" is a must-download. I've already got it banked in the "Homesick" playlist on my MP3 player, along with "Home" by Daughtry and, of course, Eminem's "When I'm Gone."

More tomorrow...let everyone know I'm back like the mohawk haircut.