CLEVELAND – Jerome James said he’s close to deciding to undergo knee surgery that would put him out, he estimates, half the season.
James could make the decision next week after he is re-evaluated by team doctors. James needs the surgery eventually because his body is rejecting the screws in his knee from his 1999 ACL surgery.
James missed the preseason and was inactive last night because of knee swelling and pain.
“It’s getting to that point,” James told The Post. “They ask me every day. I keep saying I just want to see if it will get better. Fans can understand, nobody wants to have surgery. It’s not something you wakeup and say, ‘I want to have surgery today.’ You try to do everything you can as far as conditioning, treatment, extra work on the side to prevent it.”
James said he wants to see how the Knicks backup big men play without him. The Knicks don’t have a legitimate backup center. Malik Rose is the closest to it, and Curry is prone to foul trouble.
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The Knicks could have bought out James to make room for new Cav Demetris Nichols, the second-round pick Isiah Thomas wanted to send to Europe for a year. Instead, they wound up cutting Nichols, who signed with Cleveland but will be inactive. “I thought I did well in preseason,” Nichols said. “It was all up to Isiah. He thought there were a couple of better guys there. I didn’t agree with it.”
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Thomas and the Rev. Al Sharpton will hold a joint press conference Saturday, about a month after Sharpton threatened to lead protests against Madison Square Garden for remarks the Knicks’ coach made about using derogatory language toward women.
After Thomas and MSG lost in the trial, Sharpton said his National Action Network would protest Knicks home games unless Thomas apologized. Thomas and Sharpton spoke over the phone, with the coach stressing that the tape was edited in a manner that misconstrued his remarks.