Armed holdups rattle NBA

Sunday night I discussed the story about the robbery of Eddy Currie in Burr Ridge. After this and another robbery of an NBA star, it has been in the news the past few days that the NBA is issuing alerts for NBA players living in the Chicago area. From the Chicago Tribune...

The Chicago Bulls and the NBA are warning players living in the area to take extra precautions after armed robbers stormed the homes of two local basketball stars in the last month.

Though basketball officials said Tuesday they know of no evidence that links the robberies of Eddy Curry and Antoine Walker, the similarities are alarming enough to prompt the warning, they said.

"Any time something has happened multiple times you want to take precautions to be sure everyone is educated," NBA spokesman Tim Frank said. "We have had two players reportedly held at gunpoint. You can't get more concerning than that."

The NBA's security office is contacting Bulls players and players on other teams who live in and around Chicago, Frank said.

Former Bull and Chicago-area native Curry, his wife, other family members and an employee were robbed early Saturday morning in Curry's home in Burr Ridge. Curry, 6-foot-11 and 285 pounds, was traded before last season to the New York Knicks.

Burr Ridge police spokesman Cpl. Tim Vaclav said the robbers, their faces covered with bandannas, are believed to have entered the home through the garage. Two carried handguns and one had a semiautomatic rifle. The victims were bound with duct tape, but no one was injured.

Contrary to published reports, he said, the home did not have surveillance cameras, and no video exists of the robbers or robbery.

Sources close to the investigation said Curry's children were not home during the robbery. Walker, a former NBA All-Star who plays for the Miami Heat, was robbed July 9 in his River North home, with masked, gun-toting men entering through the garage and binding the 6-foot-9, 245-pound victim with duct tape. He was not injured and reportedly has moved.

Chicago police have questioned a man and woman caught the next day with some of Walker's jewelry after officers stopped their car for running a stop sign on the Southwest Side. They were carrying two watches and a diamond necklace, which Walker identified as his, police spokeswoman Monique Bond said.

Detectives do not believe the man and woman participated in the robbery, she said.