The bad back which has plagued rookie Danilo Gallinari since the day he arrived in New York could prematurely end his season, the New York Post is reporting.

Coach Mike D'Antoni finally admitted he was concerned the Knicks' 20-year-old forward could have surgery that would end his rookie year.

"Yeah, I'm worried about it at this point," D'Antoni said when asked about potential surgery. "We're just going to do what's best for him. He's 20 years old. We'd love for him to play in the next two or three weeks; we'd love for him to play in the next two or three months, but he's got to be 100 percent well. From that point, we'll see. And I don't know when that point will be."

Gallinari suffered a recent setback, his back pain elevating to a point where D'Antoni said Gallinari had trouble putting on his trousers.