Frank Isola ‏ @FisolaNYDN

Amar'e, who injured his back last April & couldn't play for 3 months, is having an MRI today for similar injury, Daily News has learned.

Crap.

Please, please, please don't show any damage, MRI.

I hope there is nothing to be concerned about but at this point he is a $60 plus millon liability on the books and the cost of an MRA to "Make sure" is prudent"

If he has any boo boo I'd have him sit thru an MRI.

There might be a reason Sarver only offered a three or 4 year contract vs. Dolans 5 year.

"Amare wanted to be here".........Im sure he did! Can't say I blame him!

This may have been a classic case of the body going before the brain, but a back injury early on in his career would continuously come back to haunt him. It happened in a charity game, when on a breakaway dunk attempt, he strained his lower back while going for another rim-punishing slam. He was just coming off an All-Star season, and once the back acts up that’s usually all she wrote, as his legs were the next things to go bad as a result of his back.

http://www.hoopsaddict.com/hey-what-ever-happened-to-larry-johnson/

Is a back sprain much different to pulling a muscle in the back? Why does a sprain or pull elsewhere in the body completely heal, but linger so long if it's in your back? I really hope I'm over reacting.

Edit- on further research, here is an article that contradicts that:

Johnson had a herniated disk in his lower back. For the first time his mighty body had failed him. Here is a man who cannot remember missing a game before the injury. "Never," he says. "Going back to junior high, even." Here is a man who laid claim to the NBA's 1991-91 Rookie of the Year award, a starting spot in the next season's All-Star Game and the valuable flooring immediately beneath the baskets of both ends of NBA courts. He did so with 250 pounds of ferocity and explosiveness packed into a frame that does not quite reach 6'6". At the same time, off the court, he created an imaage for himself as a smiling, approachable fan favorite with a whimsical side: For Converse commercials he dressed up in a gray wig and an old lady's housedress to play the role of his fictional Grandmama.

But last season, racked by two damaged disks that causedback and leg woes, Johnson missed 31 games (the Hornets wen 9-22 without him) and was but a shell of himself in most of the other 51. His scoring average dropped from 22.1 in 1992-93 to 16.4 and his rebounding average fell from 10.5 to 8.8. He turned sullen toward teammates and fans and, what's worse, soft; he confesses now that he "ran away from the ball."

http://www.angelfire.com/il/larryjohnson/ljarticle.html

So it seems the injuries were different, which is kind of a relief- but still, anyone an expert on back muscle injuries? Once you injure them are you on the decline or are they just freak occurences?

Its a total crapshoot. Ive had back spasms that kept me unable to walk or sit up, but I was able to play baseball a day later. Its a funny thing. None of this means anything until that MRI shows what the story is

We read one thing about working out and wanting to do a mini camp yet he had not done much and to do so without a staff would be foolish.

Its gonna be what it is and we won't know much unless the team comes clean with truth.

Truth don't sell tickets.

Last spring the injury was reported as back spasms. This time we're talking about a mild stiff back. Tough to say what exactly we're dealing with here.

We do know that last year's probably took a really long time to get under control... but we also know that for the past month or so, Amare's been leaping, exploding, and dunking like the athlete of old.

It's hardly the same type of injury that LJ had, but by the same token - it's quite worrisome that his back is involved again, even if it is something different. It might be another fluke, or it might be another sign that his body mechanics might be off.

We're in a much better place, though, vs where we were last year in the playoffs. Our bench is much improved, and we still have plenty of guys who are looking for more shots (Smith, Shumpert, Lin, Davis, Chandler) that we simply didn't have at all last year.