Since signing with the New York Knicks prior to the regular season, Rasheed Wallace has been an integral part of the Knicks success off the bench.
Now, it looks like the Knicks are going to have to continue to get used to life without the physical defender with the smooth shooting touch as news broke Wednesday that Wallace will have surgery on his injured left foot that will keep him out for eight weeks--which keeps him out for the remainder of the regular season.
Wallace, 38, has been sidelined since Dec. 13 thanks to a fractured bone in his left foot.
According to ESPN, the Knicks say the injury was revealed thanks to new X-rays and appeared to have been a "progression" from the stress reaction in Wallace's foot where the injury stems.
Wallace, who won a championship with Detroit in the 2003-04 season, came out of a two-year retirement to play for a veteran Knicks team this season.
When in his prime, Wallace, who has a 14.4 point career average, was considered one of the league's best power forwards, providing rugged defense and a deadly shooting touch that was rare for a 6'11 power forward/center. However, skeptics questioned how effective an aged Wallace could be upon returning from his hiatus from basketball.
Wallace responded by posting 7.2 points and 4.2 rebounds off the bench for New York, which were key contributions to the bench while helping to solidify their frontcourt with a veteran defensive presence that had played for championship ballclubs.
In addition, Wallace helped to shore up the Knicks' defense, which allowed only 97.3 points per 100 possessions when Wallace played this season. Since his injury, the Knicks have given up 103.7 points per 100 possessions, a stark difference.
It is unclear if Wallace will be able to resume playing for the coming playoffs, which the Knicks are expected to make some noise in, given their 33-20 season that has yielded them first place in the Atlantic Division more than halfway through the season.
The Knicks, anticipating Wallace would not return, signed forward Kenyon Martin this past weekend on a 10-day contract, which will likely be extended thanks to this new development, pending, of course, on whether Martin can perform up to expectations.