Oklahoma City Thunder guard Kevin Durant, right, attempts to drive around Los Angeles Clippers guard Cuttino Mobley, left, last month.

AP / Sue Ogrocki

GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — New York Knicks guard Cuttino Mobley retired from the NBA yesterday because of heart disease that he said has gotten worse.

Mobley, a former star at the University of Rhode Island, said doctors told him he faced significant risks if he kept playing. The 11-year veteran said by walking away now, he could live a long life.

Mobley announced his decision at a press conference at the Knicks’ training center, where he confirmed he has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The condition causes the heart muscle to thicken, making it harder to pump blood, and the 33-year-old Mobley said he had no choice but to end his career.

“The specialists I’ve seen made it clear that my heart condition has gotten worse and I couldn’t continue to play professional basketball without putting my health and life in serious danger,” Mobley said. “As much as I want to keep playing in the NBA, I have no choice but to follow the advice of my doctors and step away from the league.”

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in people younger than 30, and was linked to the deaths of former Boston Celtics forward Reggie Lewis and Loyola Marymount star Hank Gathers.

The Knicks acquired Mobley last month from the Los Angeles Clippers — a trade that may ultimately have saved his life. An EKG during his physical showed an irregularity of the heart, which Mobley already knew existed. The Knicks decided to perform an MRI exam, which showed the more serious condition that had gone undetected.

Mobley then saw four specialists, who performed additional tests and provided him literature about the disease that persuaded him to stop playing.

“The doctors said to not chance it, and I feel as though they’re right, having an eight-year old son, having a long life ahead of me, it’s the smart thing,” Mobley said. “It’s a tough thing to swallow, but things in life happen, but you have to keep going.”

Mobley averaged 16.0 points in 11 seasons with Houston, Orlando, Sacramento and the Clippers. He was expected to become the Knicks’ starting shooting guard after the Nov. 21 trade.

Mobley said he’d thought about the scene of Gathers collapsing on the court during a game. Mobley said it factored into his decision.

“Say if you were to play, the (worry) of people watching you, if you were to fall, or it’s just an elbow or just an ankle, that’s scary. And then every single day just being scared for you, I think that’s a selfish thing, also,” he said. “Even though you love something so much, … sometimes you have to get a divorce.”