While the Phoenix Suns are in Tucson preparing for the opening of training camp, their centre Amare Stoudemire will reportedly submit to a minor arthroscopic surgery Tuesday on his right knee, his third knee surgery in two years.

The 24-year-old super star missed almost the entire 2005-06 season after suffering another knee injury at his left knee. He played the full 82-game 2006-07 season, and now is expected to be out for about three weeks. Specialists estimate he’ll finish the recovery period just in time to start the regular season, which begins Nov. 1.

Dr. Thomas Carter, the Suns’ orthopedic surgeon, also performed surgery on Stoudemire’s left knee in October 2005. Now, he will remove a loose particle through surgery.

"It's a procedure that Raja (Bell) just went through just to clean it up," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We have time to do it so we thought let's go ahead and get it done."

The Suns traveled by bus Monday to Tucson, where they are set to begin a six-day training camp on Tuesday at the University of Arizona's McKale Center. Unfortunately, Stoudemire won’t be there.

The 6 ft 10 in (2.09 m) and 245 lb (112 kg) power forward/center will also play for the United States men's national basketball team that will participate at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He’s a two-time All-Star and 2007 All-NBA First Team selection and he averaged 20.4 points and 9.6 rebounds last season.

Stoudemire’s Knee Problems

During the 2005-2006 NBA pre-season, he was discovered to have a problem with the knee cartilage and he underwent microfracture surgery on October 18, 2005. Just like they tend to believe about the recent surgery, the Suns thought it was a minor procedure, but found out that things were more complicated. The rehabilitation was supposed to end in mid-February, but Stoudemire’s rehab took longer than expected.

He made an attempt to return but did not play well, going scoreless against the New Jersey Nets. He missed the rest of the season due to ongoing stiffness in both knees. According to the team manager, his comeback happened a bit too soon. While many are anxious to see his trademark explosiveness, the risk of re-injuring his knee still exists.
However, the Suns performed much better than expected without Amare in the 2005-06 season.

Stoudemire's rehabilitation went well and he regained some of his previous explosiveness and he gradually gained his strength back. He attended the 2006 USA Basketball Camp in Las Vegas. His athletic trainers stated that he had no swelling since his most recent surgery and his strength and flexibility have been "better than ever: almost like superman".