CLEVELAND — Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire, in his most extensive interview in weeks at Friday morning’s shootaround at Quicken Loans Arena, confirmed his bulging disk has been around since he suffered a back injury in the playoff series against the Celtics last April.
Stoudemire said the bulging disk was discovered then but was not considered a big issue. Nevertheless, it became more noticeable after an MRI exam in late summer, and the setback in his rehab forced him to enter training camp not in proper condition.
“It wasn’t as herniated [last April],’’ Stoudemire said. “I don’t think they saw it until later on that summer. That’s why I came to training camp not really ready to go. It took a while to get to here I was 100 percent and in top shape and had explosiveness back.’’
Stoudemire made his hotly anticipated return Friday night, scored 15 points but had just three rebounds and didn’t play well defensively as the Knicks were off kilter in a 98-90 loss to the Cavaliers.
Stoudemire admitted to being worried his season was over when symptoms from the bulging disk flared up during the Detroit game on March 24. But his first-ever epidural steroid injection — administered 23 days ago — saved his season.
“I was definitely worried about the rest of the season,’’ Stoudemire said. “I didn’t know about the procedure. I was concerned, very concerned. It was nerve-wracking because I didn’t know what to expect.’’
This issue won’t go away, and eventually he will need surgery. Stoudemire blames the lockout on not getting proper rehab for his disk when he was unable to use the Knicks medical staff that treated him last April. From July 1 on, he was on his own. But Stoudemire said the epidural took the pain away in two days.
Stoudemire said he didn’t feel symptoms from his bulging disk until the Detroit game last month.
“I wanted to use the guys who were working on me, but I couldn’t,’’ Stoudemire said of his offseason rehab. “The problem with the lockout, you can’t use the Knicks training staff. When the injury first happened in Boston, I couldn’t use the same training staff here that knew about the injury. I had to go out and find other specialists to work my back. It was a somewhat displeasing thing for me. I wanted to use guys that I was working with.’
“I’m actually pain-free. I’m doing a great job attacking the injury and making sure everything around the injury is secure. “I responded to [the epidural] great. It was the first time I ever heard about it, so I did my research on it and it worked out great for me. It took me about two days. Once that procedure was done, I took more time to strengthen the injury.”