During the summer of 2010, the NBA world was buzzing with the amount of elite level free agents that were bouncing around looking for work. The list included the likes of Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, Amar'e Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Dirk Nowitzki, and LeBron James. The Knicks had been preparing for this summer for the past two years by trading away decent players and draft picks in the hopes of cutting salary, so they could then make the best possible run at two of these big time free agents. Experts had picked New York as one of the more likely landing spots for the real prize, LeBron James. The Knicks were focused on getting LeBron, and they knew if they could get another big name to play alongside him, his choice to come to NY would be much easier. So they called everyone. They met with Joe Johnson, they met with Bosh, they met with Wade, and not one of them was interested. Johnson would end up returning to his previous team, the Atlanta Hawks, and Wade and Bosh would eventually end up together in Miami. One player on that list did however have interest in the Knicks, and that player was, of course, Amar'e Stoudemire. The explosive power forward who had just opted out of his contract with the Phoenix Suns. Stoudemire brought a strong skill set with him, and having already been very successful running Mike D'Antoni's offense in Phoenix, this move seemed like a no brainer. Next came the hard part, convincing LeBron to follow Stoudemire and to have the Knicks officially return to relevance. Things were looking good. LeBron had met with the Knicks and seemed to be pleased. The NBA crew on ESPN, which includes the worlds worst guesser in Chris Broussard (I swear if half of his reports were true, the Knicks would have a lineup that looked like Paul, Melo, LeBron, STAT, Chandler), reported LeBron had narrowed it down to returning to Cleveland, or heading to New York, or Miami. Then the news broke LeBron would be announcing his "decision" on live TV at a Boys and Girls Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, not far from the Knicks practice facility. This was it. It had to be he was announcing New York, why else would he announce it there? Hundreds of people gathered outside the building to see the decision. Now I'm sure you're asking yourself, 'What kind of an idiot goes and waits outside the building for that kind of thing?' Well my friends, I am that kind of idiot. A few of my buddies and I waited outside hoping to hear good news about LeBron and his "decision." But good news would never come. LeBron decided to "take his talents to South Beach" and join the Miami Heat.
When the dust settled all that remained in New York was Stoudemire, who had confidently promised, "The Knicks are back." And as far as I'm concerned he has lived up to that promise.
Before Stoudemire, this team was completely irrelevant. They hadn't even made the playoffs since 2004. Stoudemire came in, and with the mid-season addition of Carmelo Anthony, powered the team to the playoffs. Now the team has made the playoffs in each of the past two seasons and Stoudemire has been apart of the effort. Although the team has only gone 1-8 in those two playoff series, just making it there is an improvement from before.
This city, and these fans expect this team to win championships, and you know what? So do I. The truth of it is that all starts with STAT. I think he is what makes our team different than what Anthony had in Denver. If STAT can play like we have seen he can and know he can, then this team will go far.
Last season Stoudemire averaged 17.5 ppg and 7.5 rpg. A drop off from his career averages, yes, but as bad as everyone is saying? No. I having been a fan of Stoudemire over the years know he is not a 17 and 7 player, he is more of a 25 and 9 type player. If we can get that kind of play out of him on an even semi-nightly basis, there is no way the Knicks don't improve. And STAT has been taking steps in the right direction. He has always relied on his quickness and strength to score, so he never really had a great post game. But he has spent a significant amount of time this off-season to correct that, by working with the great Hakeem Olajuwon. That, along with rest, and other off-seson preparations is why I believe you can officially mark it down, the old STAT will be back and will be an All-Star this season. Is STAT overpaid? Probably. But is he over the hill? No.
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