Bulls VP of Basketball Operations John Paxson Has Heart Surgery

In his postgame press conference on Sunday after the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Chicago Bulls, Sixers coach Doug Collins sent well wishes to John Paxson, who is the Bulls vice president of basketball operations and who also played under Collins when he coached the Bulls from 1986-1989

"I want to send my prayers out to John Paxson," Collins said. "(He) had a little bit of a heart surgery, he's not going to be able to be at Games 4 and 5. He's like a son to me. They've been hit with a lot of stuff, but Pax is so much the guts of that organization, I want to send out prayers to him. I hope you guys will too."

(via ESPN Chicago)

The only problem was that Paxson never intended for the news of his heart surgery to become public, but he was forced to issue a statement through the Bulls on Sunday. Here is that statement:

I have an arrhythmia issue I'm trying to get corrected. It is something I've had before and planned this procedure over one month ago. Nothing more to it than that and had not intended for it to be made public.

(via Blog a Bull)

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