"When the doors to the Knicks' training facility open on Thursday morning and players begin arriving for workouts, one of the club's biggest names will not be there.

Amar'e Stoudemire, who ended last season with a debilitating back injury, will remain in Miami training at Florida International University, a school whose basketball coach has a strong connection to the Knicks.

"He looks great," Isiah Thomas said on Wednesday about Stoudemire. "He is in awesome shape. He's been working very hard. You hear these stories about how (former NFL receiver) Jerry Rice used to work out. You can say the same about Amar'e.""