PHOENIX – The Phoenix Suns today announced that forward Channing Frye will be sidelined indefinitely for medical reasons. Frye has developed a dilated cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart. The condition was discovered during a screening echocardiogram conducted as part of a routine preseason physical by Suns team cardiologist Dr. Tim Byrne.
Frye will be followed closely by his team of medical specialists. He will not participate in basketball activities and will be re-evaluated in December.
“Nothing is more important to us than the health and well-being of our players,” said Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby. “Channing and his family have the full support of our organization. His health is our primary concern and we are committed to helping him in any way he needs.”
A St. Mary’s High School product who grew up in the Phoenix area and attended the University of Arizona, Frye originally signed to play for his hometown team on July 14, 2009. His time with the Suns has been the most productive of his career; in three seasons with Phoenix, Frye has averaged 11.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.00 blocks in 222 games, after joining the Suns with career averages of 8.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 0.47 blocks in 278 games with the Portland Trail Blazers and New York Knicks, who selected him eighth overall in 2005. Frye has averaged double-digit scoring in three consecutive years with the Suns after doing so once in his first four seasons, but scoring is just one facet of his game that has grown immensely in the desert. Frye has set a single-season career high in double-doubles in three consecutive seasons and has averaged a career best in blocks in three-straight campaigns.
Frye, who had made 20 three-pointers in four seasons before signing with Phoenix, has developed into one of the best-shooting big men in the game. Not only has he led the Suns in three-pointers made in three-straight seasons, but he has made a combined 434 threes since joining the Suns, the third-most of any NBA player in that span (Jason Richardson, Danny Granger). He owns a share of the Suns’ franchise record for threes made in a single game, and for the most made in a game played at US Airways Center.
