For an organization that has had bad luck with back injuries in recent years — including Quentin Richardson's herniated disk and Danilo Gallinari's laminotomy — the news of Stoudemire's prolonged absence stings. And point guard Baron Davis is still dealing with his own reacclimation process after a herniated disk.
Before leaving Saturday's game against the Pistons with a sore lower back, Stoudemire had been enjoying a mini renaissance after some months in which it seemed like he might not have been fully healthy after a pulled back muscle kept him off the court for seven months.
Stoudemire attended Wednesday's victory against the Orlando Magic at Madison Square Garden, but he did not speak with reporters before the game.
Stoudemire's back specialist in Miami, Dr. Barth Green, treated Richardson in 2007 when he had his herniated disk surgery. Richardson, now coming off the bench for Orlando, was at the Garden on Wednesday.
"I kind of know what he's going through on the level of the discomfort," Richardson said before the game. "Some days you feel good, and some days you don't. Tough to ride in cars and stuff like that. It's good that it's just bulging and it's not herniated."
Dr. Andrew Hecht, chief of spinal surgery at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, clarified the difference between a bulging disk and a herniated disk, equating a bulging disk with jelly pushing against the wall of a donut and a herniated disk with jelly coming out of the donut.
Hecht said Stoudemire's treatment plan, which includes an epidural, a steroid injection to reduce inflammation around the nerves where the disk is, was the common, conservative approach.
"This is where we start with a lot of athletes," Hecht said.
"Most people get better without surgery," he added.
Hecht said a bulging disk was the most common spinal problem in elite athletes.
"Almost the overwhelming majority of the time they get better with conservative care," he said.
Hecht, who advises the Jets and the Islanders, emphasized that he could speak in only a universal way because he had not treated Stoudemire or seen the results of his magnetic resonance imaging exam.
Once the pain subsides and the inflammation goes down, Stoudemire is expected to be able to increase the intensity of his rehabilitation process. Indeed, his recovery is dependent more on the reduction of pain than anatomical change in the bulging disk. The disk can become less swollen, but many people live every day without the knowledge that they have herniated or bulging disks, Hecht said.
Before the game, Knicks Coach Mike Woodson said: "I don't have any information I can give you right now on Amar'e. I really don't."
Woodson said he hoped the Knicks could get Stoudemire back early enough that they did not have to search for chemistry on the fly as the playoffs approached.
"But right now," he said, "first things first is getting him back healthy and us taking each game at a time with the guys that are in uniform, pushing them to play at a high level to help us win. Because that's all we can do at this point."
Richardson said: "You know, you got a sprained ankle, you can kind of play through that and it's cool and it's not that big a deal. But your back, it's more delicate. It's central to everything."
Howard Beck contributed reporting.
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