Looks like Amare Stoudemire went under the knife again. The difference this time is that it is not officially reported by the New York Knicks front office leading to wild speculations that the hush-hush procedure is meant to hide the actual status of the 30-year-old power forward’s ailing knees.

According to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, Stoudemire underwent surgery in July 2013 to “clean-up” one of his knees although it is not considered a major procedure.

The knee operation is the third of its kind on Stoudemire’s knees in the past 12 months. He was operated on in his right knee in October of 2012 and then in his left knee in March of 2013. Because of the said procedures, Stoudemire played only 29 games in the 2012-2013 season.

Stoudemire was signed by the Knicks in 2010 to a 5-year deal worth $99.7 million. He is on the penultimate year of his deal in the new season and set to be paid $21.6M, the highest in the team. Superstar forward Carmelo Anthony is second with roughly $21.4M.

The deal-breaker for the Knicks is that Stoudemire’s contract is apparently not insured.

Amare's first year with the Knicks was his best for the New York franchise. He played and started in 78 games with averages of 25.3 points and 8.2 rebounds in the 2010-2011 season. Those numbers fell to 17.5 PPG and 7.8 RPG in 2011-2012 and then just 14.2 PPG and 5.0 RPG in the 2012-2013 season.

The acquisition of shooting big man Andrea Bargnani in July of 2013 should soften the blow for the Knicks should Stoudemire continue to have trouble with his ailing knees. Bargnani averaged 15.2 points and 3.7 rebounds in seven years with the Toronto Raptors.

Also over the summer, the Knicks signed veteran big Kenyon Martin to a one-year deal.

The Knicks now have rotation of Tyson Chandler, Martin, Stoudemire and Bargnani in their frontcourt although head coach Mike Woodson used Carmelo Anthony primarily at the 4-spot in the last two years as well.