Ball above all?

What would you do if your employer forced you to take a DNA test?

I look at the Eddy Curry situation and I think its a very difficult situation for both parties. For those not in the know, Eddy Curry is a basketball player for the Chicago Bulls. He missed the tail end of last season because of an irregular heartbeat. This was also the final year of his contract.

Before the next season started, both sides wanted to negotiate a new contract. The Bulls had 7 different doctors check him out, but the results were inconclusive. But they still wanted to resign him on one condition. The Bulls (the employer) wanted Eddy (the employee) to take a DNA test.

To show and prove if there was a continuing condition and if it was life threatening. If the test was positive and showed no future ailments, he would recieve a $10million per season contract. If he failed.....

.......the Bulls would give him $500K installments for the next 10 years. That's not the worst part though. Its the fact that he would never play again as no team would have signed him. It would be too big of a risk to sign a player with a life threatening injury. The DNA test would also bring up other possible conditions he might have.

For the Bulls - it was pure "business never personal"decision. The organisation didn't roll the dice without knowing the risks. As a Bulls fan, I think John Paxson made the right decision not to resign him. By offering him the guaranteed payments, they showed they wanted to protect Eddy's future too.

For Eddy - it was a pure "ball above all" decision. He didn't want to know the hand that God had dealt him. As a lawyer, I believe he had every right to refuse the test. As a human being though, I think he made the wrong decision for himself to refuse the test. For him, it was to play basketball or nothing. To give up the only thing that had given him relevance, that had brought him fame and fortune, that had taken him from the 'hood to the NBA.

At the last minute, the New York Knicks came in and offered him a contract for $60m, guaranteed.The Knicks have traded for him and have encouraged him to take the test, and will honour their contract even if the test is negative.

But does all that matter? If you have a life threatening condition, you need to get it checked out. For some people, like Eddy, they don't want to know the truth. They don't want to know what is wrong with them. The cost of knowing might be too great.

Or is it? An athlete reaches the peak of their profession by the physical gifts that God has blessed them with. It is in their bodies and in their mind, that they feel invincible. As Scoop Jackson says, he feels like he has no choice but to keep playing. Remember that Eddy's only 22 years old.

Let's hope that Eddy learns the most important lesson in his life.

That "Ball is not above all".