Oh man, this is heartbreaking. After getting debridement surgery on his left knee back in October, taking two months to recover, then taking another few weeks to find his bearing, Amar'e Stoudemire had been playing terrific basketball this season. After a slight increase in minutes recently, we got word this morning that Amar'e was questionable with a bit of right knee soreness, then he had an MRI, and now this:

Amar'e Stoudemire is scheduled to have a right knee debridement this coming week. He is expected to miss approximately 6 week, per #Knicks

— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) March 9, 2013

Recall that "debridement" means there is dead, unwelcome tissue hanging out in the knee that needs to be removed. And so we're clear: This is the other knee.

I just feel sick for the guy. After a good year and a half battling back and knee injuries on and off the court, Stoudemire was finally contributing at a level near how he played back in 2010-2011. A six-week recovery (if that's at all realistic) leaves Amar'e the possibility of returning for the playoffs, though one never knows with these things.

We've already seen the Knicks dominate without Amar'e, but his offense off the bench had been a big boost in recent months, and with both him and Rasheed Wallace out, there's going to have to be some rotational shuffling-- perhaps even roster shuffling-- in response.

Get better, big friend.