Michael Sweetney’s NBA career was brief, but Chicago was the place where he played his most substantial professional basketball.
Sweetney, the former Georgetown star and 2003 lottery pick who spent two seasons with the Chicago Bulls, died at 43. His wife, India Sweetney, announced his death Thursday in an emotional Facebook post shared Thursday, describing him first as a husband, father and friend rather than as a former NBA player. No cause of death has been announced.
“With the heaviest hearts, we are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our beloved Michael,” she wrote. She said their children “were the light of his life” and described Sweetney as her best friend of 30 years and husband for nearly 20.
The message brought a deeply personal layer to the death of a player remembered in Chicago as part of the Bulls’ mid-2000s frontcourt rotation.
Michael Sweetney Had His Biggest NBA Role With Bulls
Sweetney arrived in Chicago in 2005 after the Knicks traded him as part of the deal that sent Eddy Curry and Antonio Davis to New York.
His first Bulls season became the most significant of his four-year NBA career.
Sweetney appeared in 66 games in 2005-06 and started 44 of them, averaging 8.1 points and 5.3 rebounds while playing 18.5 minutes per game. He also blocked 56 shots, the highest single-season total of his career.
That season gave Sweetney a much larger role than he had maintained in New York.
He returned for the 2006-07 season, appearing in 48 games before his NBA career ended. Across two years with Chicago, Sweetney played in 114 games with 44 starts, averaging 6.0 points and 4.1 rebounds.
Those numbers do not capture how physically imposing Sweetney could be.
At 6-foot-8 and well over 250 pounds, he gave the Bulls a bruising interior presence at a time when the roster was built around young guards Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon and a rising core that was beginning to push back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
Sweetney’s Career Took a Difficult Turn
Sweetney’s NBA career ended much earlier than expected for a player selected ninth overall.
Years later, he spoke publicly about depression, emotional eating and the personal struggles that contributed to his weight issues and shortened career. He eventually became an advocate for mental health and tried to help others facing similar battles.
That part of his story became as meaningful as his basketball résumé.
For Bulls fans, Sweetney is remembered as a former first-round pick who got his best NBA opportunity in Chicago.
For his family, basketball was only a small part of who he was.
India Sweetney wrote that he was “the best son, brother, family member, friend, father and husband ANYONE could ask for.”
That is the part of his life his family is asking people to remember now.
And in Chicago, where Sweetney had the longest and most productive stretch of his NBA career, his death closes a difficult chapter for a player whose life after basketball ultimately became about something much bigger than the game.
Former Bulls Starter’s Wife Shares Heartbreaking Message After His Death at 43