Houston Rockets forward Juwan Howard knows firsthand what it's like to have a heart scare. He doesn't think mandatory DNA testing should be used to determine whether a player might be susceptible to heart problems. But he says if there is any family history of heart problems, players should get tested.

The Chicago Bulls traded Eddy Curry, who missed the end of last season with an irregular heartbeat, after the 6-11, 285-pound forward refused to undergo DNA testing this summer to determine whether he might be a candidate for future heart complications.

"I think our trainers and doctors have done a great job to make sure we are in good health, though," Howard says, "but we also have a responsibility ourselves. That's why I encourage all players to get involved with knowing about their health."

An 11-year NBA veteran, Howard was lying in bed one night late last season when he started feeling a shortness of breath.

"I had never felt anything like that in my life," Howard says. "I finally said something to my wife, and she took me straight to the emergency room. I was diagnosed with viral myocarditis, an infection to the heart caused by a virus."

The 6-9, 250-pound Howard says his doctors told him it started when he got the flu three days earlier and the condition then spread to his heart. He wasn't allowed to have any exertion for six months. He didn't need surgery, but, left untreated, the condition can lead to cardiac failure.

"I was very scared and shocked that something like that could happen to me at such an early age," says Howard, who had recently turned 32 when diagnosed with the condition that caused him to miss the second half of the season and the Rockets' postseason run.

"We have a short life here, and we so often take our health for granted," Howard says. "It's important to get everything checked out."