MEMPHIS — New York Knicks' No. 1 draft pick Danilo Gallinari will seek a second opinion on Thursday on his ailing lower back. And then he'll seek a third. And a fourth.

And while he's doing that, the Knicks indefinitely have shelved their prized rookie, who underwent an MRI in New York on Tuesday, and will send him and his test results to a collection of back specialists around the country. Gallinari will see doctors in New York, Boston and Los Angeles during the next week and the team will decide from these collective recommendations how to best treat chronic back pain that has plagued him since July, when he played his first summer league game.

"There's not a whole lot you can do right now except have patience until he gets over it," Mike D'Antoni said before last night's game against the Grizzlies. "I would think at age 20, he'll get over it, whatever it takes. At this point I don't think anybody knows."

D'Antoni said Tuesday that the option to have surgery is "out there" but added that the team is "not looking at that right now."

Veteran forward Quentin Richardson — who plays the same position at small forward — dealt with back issues earlier in his career and in March 2007 it caused him enough discomfort to have an MRI and see a specialist. Within days, he underwent a microdiskectomy by renown neurosurgeon, Dr. Barth Green, and was done for the season. Richardson returned to the Knicks lineup the following season.

Gallinari will not be seeing Green. The Knicks are saying they will have "no conclusive information" on Gallinari's injury until after he sees the specialists.

But season-ending surgery would be considered a worst-case scenario for the Knicks, who put a great deal of stock in the 6-10 forward because of how well he fit in D'Antoni's up-tempo system. But a person close to the situation said Gallinari, 20, is in enough pain that the belief is surgery may be the only option.

Donnie Walsh, in his first draft as president of the Knicks, chose to go with Gallinari at the sixth overall pick over sharpshooting guard Eric Gordon (Clippers) and athletic swingman Joe Alexander (Bucks) and big man Brook Lopez (Nets), among others.

Gallinari hardly has played since draft night. He appeared in one summer league game — when the injury flared after several hard falls while driving against 6-8, 285-pound forward Robert "Tractor" Traylor — and then sat out the entire summer dealing with what was later labeled a bulging disc, which had eventually receded. He had a cortisone shot a week before training camp opened but missed almost all of the preseason while rehabilitating.

D'Antoni pushed Gallinari into the lineup after one week of practice and he played a total of 11 minutes in the first two games of the season. Gallinari missed all three shots he attempted and scored two points on free throws. He didn't get back on the court, though he continued to participate in practice and when he started feeling more intensified pain in the past week — he struggled to put on his pants — D'Antoni shut him down.

The Knicks are trying their best not to ring the alarm just yet.

"I have no idea, just like you guys and, I'm sure, just like Danilo," D'Antoni said. "He just wants to get well. He's trying to see everybody and do everything he can do. As soon as he gets well and gets back, where it leads no one knows, I don't think they know. I hate it for him because it's definitely not fun. But we'll just do the best and have patience and try to get him over this."