NBA

Amar’e vows return ‘to help lead the Knicks to fight for a championship’

SAN FRANCISCO — Amar’e Stoudemire sent a message to his fans last night to not count him out. Ever.

On the verge of undergoing right-knee debridement surgery as soon as today, Stoudemire posted on his Twitter account: “To my true fans who understand my heart…This is the life that the most high chose for me. I have to keep my faith in him. I will return again & again & again to help lead the Knicks to fight for a championship.’’

Stoudemire was last seen in the Knicks locker room late Thursday night after their loss to Oklahoma City, wearing a bright red sports jacket, a brooch he bought in Paris, a black fedora, and a long chain with a large Star of David charm. He looked like $100 million and said he felt that way too, despite the added minutes.

Suddenly, after an MRI exam on Saturday, he is out six weeks, which would coincide with the first round of the playoffs. However, Stoudemire needed eight weeks to return from left-knee debridement surgery to clean out particles from a ruptured Baker’s cyst.

This procedure may be more serious, as medical experts believe Stoudemire will have fragments of articular cartilage cleaned out. When enough articular cartilage is worn away, microfracture surgery is needed. Stoudemire already underwent microfracture surgery on his left knee.

The medical staff put Stoudemire on a 30-minute cap to protect his knees, but the past week’s workload may have been too much. His minutes were lifted from the 24-minute range to 32, 31 and 29 the past three games.

With Stoudemire’s surgery coming two weeks after Rasheed Wallace’s foot surgery, the signing of Kenyon Martin by general manager Glen Grunwald has proven genius. In the past two games, Martin has shown he can be the defensive demon Wallace was. Martin was signed at the trading deadline as insurance for Wallace and Marcus Camby, and the policy has paid off.

“I’m just taking advantage of the opportunity,’’ Martin said. “I’m blessed to be here. It’s unfortunate I have to benefit from someone’s injury, but it’s part of the game.’’

Martin even showed some offensive panache the last two games, scoring 10 points (4-of-6) against the Jazz on Saturday in 21:34, following his breakout performance against the Thunder on Thursday, when he had two buckets — a putback dunk and alley-oop slam.

“He brings such a spark off the bench,’’ Tyson Chandler said. “He plays at such a high intensity. He’s such an excellent defender. He’s been incredible for our second unit. He’s such a physical presence down there defensively. He’s a great communicator, out there talking.’’

The Knicks will miss Stoudemire’s low-post mastery but not his defensive instincts.

“When you’re talking about getting deep into the playoffs, Amar’e had really established himself to help us on that low block,’’ coach Mike Woodson said. “We need that when you start playing playoff basketball. You need to start mixing it up. We’re going to miss that.’’

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Banished rookie Chris Copeland could become a factor again to make up for Stoudemire’s scoring. Until Saturday, when he scored 12 points in 7:21 of garbage time against the Jazz, the Belgian Leaguer hadn’t played since Feb. 20. Woodson was upset with Copeland’s defense, but he proved earlier this season, he can shoot the 3-pointer and drive to the basket.

“Cope can score the basketball,’’ Woodson said. “He’s going to be valuable for us. When I’m in a pinch, I need guys who can score. I’m not going to hesitate to throw Cope in. I’ve just got to get him committed on the other end. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I just let him go one way.’’