Tyson Chandler, the New York Knicks’ all-star center, with a small bulging disk in his cervical spine, a blow to a team already decimated by injuries.
Chandler underwent an MRI on Tuesday that revealed the injury to his neck area. He has already missed two games with the injury. He also suffered a bone contusion in his left knee during a Knicks’ recent loss to the Denver Nuggets.
Chandler is the backbone of the Knicks’ defense, a shot-blocker and strong rebounder . He averages10.7 points and 11 rebounds per game.
There was more painstaking injury news complied onto Chandler’s injury for the Knicks. A MRI revealed that 40-year-old Kurt Thomas has an acute stress reaction surrounding a chronic stress fracture in his foot. Thomas suffered the injury Thursday night against the Portlanta Trail Blazers and is expected to miss up to four weeks.
Despite suffering the injury, Thomas was able to play in the Knicks’s next two games. He had six points, three blocks and three rebounds in 26 minutes in the Knicks’ win Monday over Utah.
The front line of the Knicks had already taken a hit a week ago when the team announced that Amar’e Stoudemire would miss up to six weeks following surgery on his right knee. Stoudemire was forced to sit out the first two months of the season due to arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. The team does not expect him to return until the beginning of the playoffs. Veteran reserve forward Rasheed Wallace broke his foot and will be out i until the first round of the playoffs.
The team may look to sign another big man, as it did Kenyon Martin several weeks ago.
