Martin McNeal of the Sacramento Bee reports that Kings reserve center Scot Pollard was shocked. He received an MRI test last week to try and determine the reason for his aching back. Results were inconclusive. After undergoing another MRI yesterday, it was revealed that he has a stress fracture of the sacrum, a bone just above the tailbone.

He will miss 4-6 weeks according to Kings trainer Pete Youngman.

"I was in shock, disbelief," the 6-foot-11, 265-pound Pollard said. "I was really angry, very, very angry. I said, 'No, Pete, no.' I just told him, 'No' when he told me how long it was going to be."

Pollard never thought the back ache was serious enough to cause him to miss any playing time. "I was thinking it was something I would be able to shoot up and play with," he said.

Now his biggest challenge is staying in shape while recovering. "Unfortunately, with a stress fracture, you have to just stay off of it and do nothing," he said. "If it was in my hand, I could still work out and stay in shape in the meantime. But it's in my back, and it's going to be hard for me to stay in shape."

The Kings will try to get by with Vlade Divac, Keon Clark, Chris Webber and Lawrence Funderburke as their big man rotation. Pollard may have to join Mike Bibby and Brent Price on the injured list according to Kings president Geoff Petrie.

"We didn't do that today, but we may eventually do that," Petrie said. "In terms of trying to replace him, that would probably be a pretty difficult thing to do at this point. If we can stay reasonably healthy, we're still pretty solid up front at the (power forward and center spots). I think we're going to take a day or two and see what transpires."