Isola: Amar'e Stoudemire will seek a second opinion on his knee injury. (Updated 7:15 PM)

As is the case every time I leave my computer for a few hours, some new, weird shit is going on with Amar'e Stoudemire. So far, this is only coming from Frank Isola, so do with the information what you will, but here's the report:

Stoudemire is consulting with Phoenix Suns orthopedic surgeon Dr. Thomas Carter, according to a Suns source. Dr. Carter performed microfracture surgery on Stoudemire's left knee in 2005. It is customary, and in some cases encouraged by teams, that players get a second opinion from an independent physician.

The Knicks team doctors discovered that Stoudemire suffered a ruptured cyst on his left knee during last week's exhibition game against the Toronto Raptors. The timetable given by the Knicks for Stoudemire's return is two to four weeks but the same source says a more plausible timetable is four to five weeks.

A four or five week recovery doesn't really faze me-- I presumptively double any timetable the Knicks announce anyway. What's slightly ominous is the prospect of Stoudemire reconvening with the man who, when they last met, poked a hole in Amar'e's knee and sidelined him for a year. (Well, maybe that's not the last time they met. Maybe basketball players go rock climbing with their orthopedic surgeons in the offseason).

(Oh, and a side note: Just hire that doctor. Amar'e Stoudemire is under contract for three more seasons. If there exists on this planet a knee expert better than anyone the Knicks employ, just buy him.)

Oh well. This still has the potential to be nothing, or at least nothing more than what we already knew. Historically, though, things involving Amar'e's knees tend not to be nothing. You know?

Update: Ian Begley:

I can confirm that Amare Stoudemire will go for a 2nd opinion on his left knee injury. Timetable for return uncertain. Daily News had it 1st

Update (7:15 PM): Marc Berman makes this sound way less scary:

Source says Stoudemire not visiting Phoenix. Suns orthopedist he knows just checking out his MRI picture. Done quite a bit.