First Jiri Fischer and now Zeljko Rebraca:
LOS ANGELES (Ticker) - The Los Angeles Clippers announced Monday that center Zeljko Rebraca, who was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat following a game last week, will undergo a procedure Wednesday to help correct the condition.
After scoring four points and committing four fouls in 11 minutes of a 103-100 win over the Toronto Raptors last Wednesday, Rebraca was admitted to Centinela Hospital and released one day later when his heartbeat returned to a normal rhythm.
Rebraca will travel to Detroit and undergo an ablation of the accessory bypass tract at University of Michigan Hospital.
Dr. Fred Morady performed the same procedure on Rebraca in August 2003 after he missed 50 games for the Detroit Pistons during the 2002-03 campaign due to a recurring irregular heartbeat.
The 7-foot Rebraca has averaged 4.6 points and 2.4 rebounds in 11 games off the bench for the Clippers (9-4), who lead the Pacific Division. He is expected to miss at least one month.
A second-round pick of the Seattle SuperSonics in 1994, Rebraca has averaged 6.1 points and 3.3 rebounds in 197 games, including 20 starts, for Detroit, Atlanta and the Clippers.
I hope he's alright. On a complete sidenote, I honestly didn't know he was a second-round pick by the Sonics. All I remember was that he was a rookie with the Pistons in 2001. From his NBA.com bio:
Selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the second round (54th pick overall) of the 1994 NBA Draft....Draft rights traded by the Sonics to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a 1996 second-round draft pick on 6/30/94....Played in Italy (1995-96 through 1998-99)....Played in Greece (1999-2000 and 2000-01)....Traded by the Timberwolves with Micheal Williams and a 1999 or 2000 first-round draft pick to the Toronto Raptors in a three-way deal in which the Raptors also received a 1999 first-round draft choice from the Denver Nuggets, the Timberwolves received Dean Garrett and Bobby Jackson from the Nuggets, and the Nuggets received Chauncey Billups and the draft rights to Tyson Wheeler from the Raptors on 1/21/99....Traded by the Raptors to the Detroit Pistons for a 2002 second-round draft choice on 7/18/01...
There was honestly a time that I though Rebraca would develop into one of the better centers in the Eastern Conference. Why is it that I'm just fascinated by these Serbian centers?
Clippers C Rebraca to undergo procedure Wednesday [SportsTicker]