Walsh has hip surgery

 DENVER -- Donnie Walsh had surgery in Manhattan this morning to repair his ailing right hip, the Knicks announced today at the team's shoot-around here. He is expected to spent "a few days" at the hospital before he is released, according to the team, and he will spend the first phase of his recovery at his Manhattan-based apartment.

Walsh, 69, will work from home for the time being. He said last week that the surgery won't impede his ability to stay on top of the team and the league and, of course, monitor the rumor mill for potential trades. Mid-to-late December is usually a very active time for trade talks.

This is his third surgery in two-plus seasons at the helm. He had a cancerous lesion removed from his tongue in July 2008 and last June had a procedure on his neck to repair nerve damage caused by a degraded disc in his upper spine. The hip was an issue he had when he arrived to New York and Walsh admitted he continually put off having it taken care of because of the workload that faced him with the Knicks. 

But the hip started becoming a bigger problem for him in the spring, when he was in Europe scouting the Euroleague playoffs and had trouble getting up the steps of bleachers in some arenas. Then came the neck issue, which, coupled with his failing hip, resulted in him being confined to a wheelchair to protect from the potential of falling. He eventually got out of the chair and yet still had to use a walker.

Once he recovers from the hip surgery, Walsh shouldn't need to use a walker.

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* - Mike D'Antoni said that Ronny Turiaf, who has missed the last four games with a knee sprain, is expected to be back in the lineup tonight against the Nuggets.