Amare Stoudemire To Have Knee Surgery, Will Miss Six To Eight Weeks

New York Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire will have surgery on his left knee and is expected to miss six to eight weeks. This will be the second straight season Stoudemire will miss a significant amount of playing time due to injury.

Stoudemire was initially expected to only miss two to three weeks after suffering a ruptured popliteal cyst. That estimate has tripled now that he will be undergoing a debridement, a procedure to remove tissue.

Knicks coach Mike Woodson said:

“It’s tough. I mean, Amare’s a big piece to our puzzle, man. I don’t care how you slice it. We’ll be here when he gets back, that’s for sure. We’ve just got to hold the fort down until he’s able to get back in a uniform and on the floor playing.”

Stoudemire missed the first two preseason games due to a bruised knee. He then scored 18 points in 27 minutes against Toronto on October 19. After being bothered by more pain in his left knee, the Knicks announced that he had a ruptured cyst and would be sidelined for two to three weeks.

Teammate Carmelo Anthony said about Stoudemire’s injury:

“It’s disappointing. I definitely thought this was going to be the season that we had a chance to go out there and play together in a full season, no injuries or things like that. But at the end of the day, you can’t control that. You can’t control what happens to your body, you can’t control injuries.”

Anthony then said the team just wanted Stoudemire to be healthy, and that they’ll be ready for him when he’s ready to come back.

The Knicks may decide to have Anthony play power forward while Stoudemire is out.