Advertisement

Amar’e Stoudemire’s hand injury looks really, really, really bad

You know Amar'e Stoudemire punched a fire extinguisher case near the locker room of the AmericanAirlines Arena after his New York Knicks lost Game 2 of their first-round series against the Miami Heat. You know the injury, which was reported to be completely (and near-unbelievably) grotesque, was bad enough to keep him out of the Knicks' Game 3 loss. You know that there have been jokes, and that there have been explanations.

But do you know how badly his hand was actually cut up? Judging by the photo Stoudemire tweeted on Friday afternoon, I don't think any of us knew how bad. Hit the jump to see for yourself if you'd like, but be warned: It's not for the squeamish.

I wouldn't call it "half of his hand," as ESPN.com's Chris Broussard did, but holy cow, is that a lot of hand. If, as Stoudemire claims, he just "swung [his] arm backwards," that must have been some rocket-propelled type of swing, man.

"A millimeter away from my nerve," Stoudemire tweeted Friday afternoon. "Thanks to the Most High I'm still able to heal an [sic] recover."

[Related: Stoudemire's dumb move dooms Knicks' season]

Stoudemire practiced Friday, worked some two-man fast break with fellow wounded Knick Jeremy Lin, used that baseball of a left hand in shooting and proclaimed himself "doubtful" for Sunday's Game 4, according to Newsday's Al Iannazzone. Knicks interim coach Mike Woodson, though, says he thinks Stoudemire will play Sunday, which is the kind of thing a guy coaching for a win to try to remove the "interim" tag from in front of his name and lock down a job for next year is supposed to say, but if the Knicks' front office allows Woodson to play Stoudemire with that field-dressing patchwork of a left hand on Sunday, the lot of them ought to have their heads examined.

There's no way that doesn't open up and potentially get worse in the course of playing an NBA game. None. I know New York is famous for thinking about nothing past the next 60 seconds and for considering nothing but the six inches in front of its face, but if the Knicks jeopardize the health of a guy they're paying more than $65 million over the course of the next five years to take a shot at going from 0-3 to 1-3 against a clearly superior team that's more than likely to just put the Knicks out in four even if Stoudemire plays, then everyone who watches the NBA has to seriously question the sense, maturity and planning acumen of the men in charge of the New York Knicks.

Oh, wait, we were doing that anyway? OK, then, carry on, I guess.

In conclusion: YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKES.

Related NBA video from Yahoo! Sports:

Other popular content on Yahoo! Sports:
Adrian Wojnarowski: New York Knicks must lure Phil Jackson with trail of cash
Kentucky Derby dreams realized and broken in 120 seconds | Forde's picks
Naturally gifted Floyd Mayweather Jr. gets it done with hard work