Amar’e Stoudemire Reportedly Plans to Play on Christmas Day

The New York Knicks could be getting a Christmas gift in the form of Amar’e Stoudemire returning to the court for a December 25 showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers. It remains to be seen, however, if STAT will come off the bench. Per the NY Post: “Amar’e Stoudemire’s goal is to return around Christmas, with mid-December no longer a legitimate possibility, according to person familiar with the Knicks power forward’s thinking. The person said Stoudemire hasn’t begun running on the court following his surgery on Nov. 1. The Knicks’ timetable of six-to-eight weeks from the left-knee-debridement surgery hasn’t changed. Under that time frame, the earliest he could be back is mid-December. The Knicks play the Lakers on Christmas Day. Stoudemire played just one preseason game — in Montreal Oct. 19 — and his litany of knee-related mishaps since training camp began calls into question whether he will ever be able to make it back onto the court without reinjuring himself. Stoudemire has had surgeries on both knees, and has a bulging disk in his back that forced him to miss 15 games down the stretch last season.”