Former Chicago Bulls Player Has Reportedly Died

Former Chicago Bulls forward Michael Sweetney has died at 43, the team confirmed Thursday as tributes arrived from around the NBA.

Sweetney’s wife, India, announced the news in a Facebook post. No cause of death was given. He died Wednesday at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in New Jersey.

The Bulls issued a statement the same day.

“Our Bulls family extends our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of former Bull Michael Sweetney, who has passed away at 43.”

Sweetney spent two of his four NBA seasons in Chicago after arriving in a multiplayer trade in October 2005. The deal sent him, Tim Thomas, Jermaine Jackson and four draft picks from the New York Knicks to the Bulls in exchange for Eddy Curry, Antonio Davis and a pick.

He appeared in 114 regular-season games for Chicago over the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. In 2005-06 he started 44 of 66 games and averaged 8.1 points and 5.3 rebounds.

Across his entire NBA career he played 233 games and started 73, averaging 6.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in 15.5 minutes.

The Knicks selected Sweetney ninth overall in the 2003 draft out of Georgetown. He played two seasons in New York before the trade.

The Knicks released their own statement: “The Knicks are saddened to hear about the passing of Michael Sweetney. Michael was an incredible person who will be missed by many. Our thoughts are with his family.”

At Georgetown, Sweetney played 96 games over three seasons and averaged 18.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 29.0 minutes. He was a two-time All-Big East selection and led the nation in field-goal percentage at .567 as a sophomore.

He averaged 19 points and 10 rebounds as a sophomore and 22.8 points and 10.4 rebounds as a junior. He ranks fifth in Georgetown history in career rebounds with 887, seventh in blocks with 180 and ninth in points with 1,750.

Sweetney last appeared on an NBA roster during Boston Celtics training camp in 2011. The Celtics cut him on Dec. 22, 2011. He then played four seasons overseas.

He later worked as an assistant coach at Yeshiva University and as a head coach at high schools in New York and New Jersey.

Sweetney attended the Knicks’ alumni homecoming game on Jan. 17 at Madison Square Garden and received applause from the crowd.

The 6-foot-8 big man was born Oct. 25, 1982, in Washington, D.C., and starred at Oxon Hill High School in Maryland before college.

His final NBA game came in the 2007 Eastern Conference semifinals with the Bulls.