New Orleans Hornets' David West will have knee surgery

New Orleans Hornets forward David West will undergo reconstructive knee surgery today to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament, sources said Monday night.

West suffered the injury at Utah on a driving dunk with 22.5 seconds remaining March 24. He’s expected to have to take six to 10 month of rehabilitation before possibly returning.

Coincidently, the Hornets played the Jazz for the first time since the injury on Monday night at the New Orleans Arena.

“You almost forget about it until you watch the film,’’ Hornets Coach Monty Williams said before playing the Jazz. “You remember that’s the game where you lost one of your anchors.

“It’s part of the game, and you hate to see it happen to a guy in his contract year that goes about his business the way David does.’’

In preparation for the Jazz, Williams said his assistants sliced out the portion of the video showing West’s injury.

“We actually took it out because it was so traumatic,’’ Williams said.