MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Minnesota Timberwolves guard Fred Hoiberg said he will have heart surgery Tuesday at the Mayo Clinic to correct an enlarged aortic root.

 

Hoiberg told reporters with the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Friday that he should be able to play again, but he will consider retiring if the condition is life threatening.

 

``My world has been turned upside down,'' Hoiberg said. ``That's when priorities get set.''

 

Hoiberg has a wife and four children.

 

The technical diagnosis is an aortic root aneurysm. That means there is a bulge in the root, where the artery meets the heart's aortic valve. The size of the bulge has grown since January, when he first got hints that there was a problem.

 

The 32-year-old played the entire 2004-05 season with the condition.

 

``Had I taken a significant blow to that area, it could have caused a rupture,'' Hoiberg said.

 

``I think back to last year, how disappointing it was for us not to make the playoffs. But for me personally, it probably was a blessing we didn't make the playoffs.''

 

Hoiberg said he has been told a full recovery is expected. He said he is confident he can play three or four more years if everything heals correctly.

 

He said recovery could take three months.

 

Hoiberg was drafted by the Indiana Pacers in 1995. He joined the Timberwolves as a free agent in 2003.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-t...ov=ap&type=lgns

Edited June 26, 200520 yr by qwerty

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-t...ov=ap&type=lgns

 

I love Freddy Hoiberg, I certainly hope all goes well with his surgery.

that is pretty shocking that a professional basketball player would need heart surgery

Don't get me started on the Mayor. The one reason I fell in love with Iowa State (that and the parents).

Wish Freddie nothing but the best in his recovery. He's a class act.

He's also gonna make a hell of a coach someday.

Fingers crossed for the Fred and the Hoiberg family.