Skip to main content

The Beginning of the End for Amar'e Stoudemire


When the news came down that Amar'e Stoudemire will miss the next six weeks due to ANOTHER knee injury, you simply had to feel sorry for guy. Whether you are a Knicks fan or not, seeing any great athlete crumble before your eyes the way he has been is disheartening. Especially, when we know the potential that is on the other end of the current misery and disappointment.

We've seen it so many times, especially, with basketball players. Anfernee Hardaway comes to my mind as someone who was extraordinary but saw that ability diminished due to injuries. The Phoenix Suns' highly regarded medical staff believed he would never be the same player he was in year three of any deal, the year Stoudemire is now in. Kudos to them, as they were right once again.

There was the detached retina. No problem. Of course, the huge microfracture surgery. Ok, he proved everyone wrong. Then came the bad back, the depridement surgery on the knee, the mandated limited minutes, and now, another depridement surgery on the other knee. And now we have the hobbled Amar'e Stoudemire who seems destined for more time either on the injured list or under strict minutes restrictions for the rest of his career. 

Actually, Stoudemire has never been the same since his MVP-like, first season in the blue and orange. A season he looked like he was some sort of prophet after claiming at his press conference, "the Knicks are back". And if you want to put something interesting in the history books, it seems the fate of Stoudemire turned the minute the Knicks added Carmelo Anthony. Obviously, I don't believe there is a real correlation there, but in there does lie another disappointing tidbit to know that we never saw (and probably never will) the very best of Anthony and Stoudemire together.

And most of all, you hate to see this because Stoudemire is simply, just a good dude! In a world of self-serving, attention-hungry, athletes, big STAT is antithesis of it all. His story is phenomenal, even if you aren't a fan of him or his game. Stoudemire easily could have become a statistic with a drug-addicted mother, troubled brother, and bouncing from school to school during his childhood. But as the famous Notorious B.I.G. quote goes, he turned a "negative into positive."

Stoudemire proclaiming that "the Knicks are back"

He has been known to have several charities, help many kids in the Orlando area, and one of my favorite gestures of his, treated the entire Madison Square Garden staff (yes, everyone!) to catered lunch on the day of a game as a way of saying thank you. 

As a Knicks fan, it's hard to watch this happen. I know Stoudemire will never be the same player after this, and thinking from the Knickerbocker point of a view, he's set to kill our cap space for two more years with uninsured salary. Yet, it's hard not to feel for Stoudemire who took the chance as the guy when there wasn't much to the New York Knicks. 

Stoudemire has overcome several injuries that should have derailed his career. However, as well know, it was only a matter of time before it all caught up with him.

It seems like it might just have.

Either way, it's the beginning of the end of Amar'e Stoudemire as we know it, and we're all about to watch it.
Labels:

Recently Read

Quick Ponder: Future Self

We always think,  what would we say  to our  younger self? However,  what would  our younger self say  if they met us, today?
Read more

Knicks Trauma - Ugh Not Again

Well, that was a kick in the stomach.  Coming off a week where the word "catharsis" was used as the description for the euphoria and release of joy from two and a half decades of suffering, Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers brought about another word - trauma.  Watching the Knicks collapse was the kind of moments that come with these deep runs and moments. NBA Playoff basketball will do that. Yet, this loss - this one - feels about as bad as the 2004 ALCS when the Yankees collapsed in the series to the Boston Red Sox.  That one carries some serious trauma. Luckily, the series isn't over.  Some other quick thoughts from this awful, awful night, New York Knicks Basketball.  - Not to conjure up hyperbole, or even contribute to "hot take" sports reaction culture - but this might have been the worst loss in Knicks franchise history. I cannot think of another in my lifetime, or historically.  - Tyrese Haliburton's "choke"...
Read more

Knicks Back in ECF Causing Catharsis

I've certainly shared my emotions and thoughts regarding the New York Knicks on this site over the years. There have been plenty of those to sort through - most of them are rants. Tonight, the New York Knicks ultimately destroyed the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, 119-81. I sat on my couch, afraid to allow myself to feel joy until that final buzzer. As a Knicks fan, I've been through too much to allow myself to do anything else, to make any assumption, until it was final. Until it was confirmed. Until something couldn't fall through...the way we're used to.  Once it was final, it was unreal.  The New York Knicks are in the Eastern Conference Finals. For the first time since 2000.  I was 15 years old the last time that happened. And that was a run with a squad that I consider (still) to be my favorite Knicks team of all-time.  I sat on my couch with all sorts of feelings. My wife was likely trying to understand the moment. My son, exci...
Read more