Channing Frye Medically Cleared to Play Again

Phoenix Suns forward Channing Frye says doctors have given him the green light to play hoops again. Frye missed all of last season due to a heart problem, and now the ball is in the Phoenix front-office’s court. Per Bright Side of the Sun: “I’ve been cleared by the numerous doctors I’ve seen,’ Frye said on Tuesday. ‘This whole process has been extremely detail-oriented on both sides – from my side and the Suns side. We both want to do what’s best. I went across country to see the best doctors I could all to make sure they all agreed that I was healthy, that I could do this.’ Just a year ago, the prognosis sounded naive. The Phoenix Suns held a press conference on Friday after the reports regarding Channing Frye’s enlarged heart (dilated cardiomyopathy) were made public. Now that the initial shock has worn off, the prognosis from the Suns seems to be more sanguine that saturnine. ‘There is a very real chance that he could return to normal function and a normal lifestyle and that’s what we all need to be hopeful for,’ said team cardiologist Tim Byrne. When asked if he thought the chance was better than not he responded, ‘Yes. The chance is better than not.’ Frye will be reevaluated in December. What was painted as a hopeful outcome last year may just be coming to fruition after all. ‘When it comes down to it, my health is #1,’ Frye says now. ‘I said [to the doctors last month] I’m just here to get a prognosis from you on my health, and they gave me the okay. Right now I’m excited, but still patient in giving the Suns the information and letting their people go through it. As far as I’m concerned, I’m 100% healthy for any professional athlete. Right now I think it’s just, let [the Suns] assess the information and go from there.’ […] New Suns GM Ryan McDonough commented in July that the latest tests were positive and that the Suns were optimistic Frye could return next season. At that time, Frye was apparently cleared to resume exercising, so the doctors could monitor his progress and see how his heart reacted. Those results just came back in the last week or so. ‘I saw [the doctors] earlier this summer and they said ‘you’re good’, and that I could start to exercise,’ Frye recalls. ‘Saw them a couple months later and ‘You’re better than what you were’. Not only one doctor, but three other ones, maybe four other ones agree with me. Now its in the Suns hands.'”