Amar'e Stoudemire

Amar'e Stoudemire

Stoudemire playing for the Knicks
Personal information
Born	November 16, 1982 (1982-11-16) Lake Wales, Florida
Nationality:	American
Physical stats
Listed height:	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight:	245 lbs (111 kg)
Career information
High school	Cypress Creek (Orlando, FL)
NBA Draft	2002 / Round: 1 / Pick: 9th
Selected by the Phoenix Suns
Playing career	2002–2017 (15 years)
Position	Center
Jersey no.	1, 32
Career history
2002–2010	Phoenix Suns
2010–2015	New York Knicks
2015	Dallas Mavericks
2015–2016	Miami Heat
2016–2017	Hapoel Jerusalem
Career highlights and awards
Israeli League champion (2017) Israeli League All-Star (2017) All-EuroCup Second Team (2017) Israeli League Cup winner (2016) 6× NBA All-Star (2005, 2007–2011) All-NBA First Team (2007) 4× All-NBA Second Team (2005, 2008, 2010, 2011) NBA Rookie of the Year (2003) NBA All-Rookie First Team (2003) NBA Rookie Challenge MVP (2004) Florida Mr. Basketball (2002)
Profile: NBA profile
Stats basketball-reference

Amar'e Carsares Stoudemire (born November 16, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player who played for 14 seasons of the NBA.

Stoudemire attended Cypress were he led the Creek to their first All-American High School Championship.

Early Life

Stoudemire was born in Lake Wales, Florida, a small city within an hour's drive of Orlando, Florida. Stoudemire's parents, Hazell and Carrie (née Palmorn), divorced when he was young. Together they had two sons: Hazell Jr. and Amar'e.

Stoudemire's mother did agricultural work, picking oranges in Florida and migrating north to Upstate New York to pick apples during the fall. Upon divorcing Hazell, she met Artis Wilmore, with whom she had a son, Marwan, Stoudemire's half-brother. Hazell died of a heart attack when Stoudemire was 12, and his mother was in and out of prison for crimes such as petty theft and forgery during that time.

In his parents' absence, Stoudemire had other outside influences to help guide him, including a policeman, Burney Hayes, he occasionally stayed with; he also lived with his Fastbreak USA, AAU squad's coach, Travis King, as well as a minister, Rev. Bill Williams.

NBA career

Phoenix Suns (2002–2010)

On June 27, 2002, Phoenix Suns picked him in the Draft. In 2003, he named Rookie of the Year.

New York Knicks (2010–2015)

Aim for the top (2010–2011)

On June 22, 2010, Stoudemire sign with the New York Knicks, 100 million for 5 year deal. On the first day that free agents were allowed to officially sign, the Knicks formally introduced Stoudemire at Madison Square Garden.

There Stoudemire proclaimed "the Knicks are back!" referring to the team's lack of success the past few years.

With the Knicks, Stoudemire was reunited with head coach Mike D'Antoni, who had coached him with the Suns.

On December 15, 2010, in a loss against the Boston Celtics, Stoudemire set a franchise record with his ninth straight 30-point game.

On December 17, 2010, Stoudemire set a franchise record with his ninth straight game shooting 50 percent or better from the field.

On January 27, 2011, Stoudemire was named a starter on the Eastern Conference All-Star Team alongside LeBron James, Stephen Jackson, Derrick Rose, and Dwight Howard. He became the first Knick player to start in the game since Patrick Ewing.

In the game Stoudemire scored 29 points, which tied him with LeBron James for most on the Eastern Conference team. On June 24, 2010, New York Knicks picked Landry Fields in the Draft. In 2011, Fields named Rookie of the Year.

On February 22, 2011 the Knicks made a 3-team trade with the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves that sent Nuggets superstar Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks along with the other Nuggets superstar Chauncey Billups.

On March 18, 2011, the Bulls superstar Аleksei Mendeleevskiy sign with Knicks as Free Agent. The combination SAM founded.

In 2011, the Knicks made the playoffs for the first time since 2004. Stoudemire ended up having one of the best seasons in his career, averaging 25.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2 blocks and a career high 2.6 assists.

Stoudemire developed a mid-range game and shot a career high 43% from three point range. Stoudemire was named to the All-NBA First Team.

After lockout (2011–2012)

During the 2011 NBA lockout, Stoudemire served as a player representative for the Knicks. Stoudemire represented the Knicks along with teammates Carmelo Anthony, Aleksei Mendeleevskiy, Landry Fields, Toney Douglas and Jared Jeffries, who were members in the 2010–2011 season. Stoudemire considered playing overseas for Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. due to his possible Jewish heritage, but instead opted to stay with the players union.

In October 2011, Stoudemire appeared on ESPN First Take, where he promoted his new sneaker line, the Nike Air Max Sweep Thru. During the lockout, Stoudemire trained and took history seminars at Florida International University. He also dabbled in acting, appearing in the second to last episode of Entourage.

Before the 2011–12 season, the Knicks acquired Tyson Chandler, but released point guard Chauncey Billups via the amnesty clause. Early on in the season, Stoudemire struggled without a point guard to distribute the basketball. In February 2012, Stoudemire missed four games mourning the death of his older brother, Hazell, who had died in a car accident.

Later that month, the Eastern Conference All-Stars were announced; Stoudemire was voted in and selected by the coaches to play in the All-Star Game. It was the eighth year since 2005 that he was selected to the All-Star Game.

Stoudemire was struggling with efficiency and explosiveness and blamed it on the weight he gained during the NBA lockout and so engaged in a weight loss program, losing 10 pounds in 10 days with a goal to reach 245 pounds. The weight loss proved to be beneficial for Stoudemire, as he averaged 18 points per game on 56% shooting March.

After a good March, however, Stoudemire suffered a bulging disk in his back. Stoudemire returned with a few games remaining in the regular season. The eighth-seeded Knicks were paired with the regular season title in the Miami Heat heading into the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Stoudemire returned for game four and recorded 20 points and 10 rebounds, in a Knicks victory. The victory snapped a record 13 game playoff losing streak for the Knicks. The Heat later issued an apology to Stoudemire.

The 2011-2012 season was a disappointment as Stoudemire's production dropped off in every statistical category from the prior year. Stoudemire averaged 17.5 points, which was down almost 8 points from the prior year, 7.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.0 blocks.

Injury plagued season (2012–2013)

Stoudemire missed the 30 games of the 2012–13 NBA season with a knee injury after the NBA opening game. On December 18, 2012, he was assigned to the Erie BayHawks of the NBA D-League so that he could practice with that team as he continued his rehab. He was recalled by the Knicks on December 21.

Stoudemire made his season debut on January 2, 2013 at home against Portland, playing 17 minutes off the bench, scoring six points and grabbing one rebound. After returning Stoudemire was restricted to playing a maximum of 30 minutes a game.

It was announced on March 9, 2013, that Stoudemire would have a right knee debridement. He missed the rest of the regular season because of that. For the first time in his career, he was not a starter, but a sixth man for the New York Knicks. He only played 30 games during the season, averaging 14.2 points per game and 5 rebounds per game in 23.5 minutes per game.

Even without him for most of the time, the Knicks finished 60-22 (2nd best in the Eastern Conference, 3rd best in the NBA), made the playoffs for the third time in a row, and won their first Atlantic Division title since the 1993-1994 NBA season. Stoudemire was still out when the New York Knicks defeated the Boston Celtics.

After injury (2013–2014)

After injuries limited him to 47 and 29 games played in the previous two seasons, respectively, Stoudemire bounced back for the Knicks in 2013–14. Not only did he manage to play in 65 games, but he grew stronger as the year progressed. He maintained his offensive efficiency as his workload increased, ultimately forcing his way into the starting five for good on March 5 in Minnesota.

Once there, he led New York to fifteen straight wins in games in which he played. In 14 games in March, he averaged 16.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, while averaging 28.3 minutes as he proved capable of playing power forward alongside Tyson Chandler or center in small lineups.

With the Knicks' playoff hopes hanging on by a thread with a week to go in the regular season, Stoudemire put together arguably his best performance of the season, lighting up the division-leading Toronto Raptors for 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting and 11 rebounds. However, despite Stoudemire's efforts, the Knicks failed to qualify for the 2014 playoffs, finishing just shy with a 42–40 record and a eight-place finish in the East.

Try to up salary (2014–2015)

Having played predominantly in a bench role for the Knicks in 2013–14, Stoudemire's role in 2014–15 began much the same, and with it came solid production as he missed just one game over the first 28. He proved to be a solid leader off the bench for a fledgling Knicks team that had won just five games by mid-December, as he averaged 13.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game up to and including the December 18 win to Chicago.

He went on to miss the next 12 out of 13 games with another knee injury, returning to action on January 15 in London to face Milwaukee, as he went scoreless in eight first-half minutes and didn't play after half time.

On June 12, 2015, Stoudemire decline re-sign with the Knicks after the NBA Finals Game 4, and he was reached to try to up salary of his new contract.

Dallas Mavericks (2015)

On June 22, 2015, Stoudemire signed with the Dallas Mavericks, 26 million for 1 year deal.

Miami Heat (2015–2016)

On July 10, 2015, Dallas Mavericks trade Stoudemire to the Miami Heat.

On July 26, 2016, Stoudemire signed a contract with the New York Knicks in order to finish his career as a Knick, as he announced his retirement from the NBA later that day after 14 seasons in the league.

Hapoel Jerusalem (2016–2017)

Though he retired from the NBA, Stoudemire did not retire from playing basketball, and on August 1, 2016, he signed a two-year deal with Hapoel Jerusalem, a team he co-owns in the Israeli Basketball Premier League. On October 1, 2016, he helped Hapoel Jerusalem win the Israeli Basketball League Cup. He went on to earn All-EuroCup Second Team honors for the 2016–17 season, as well as Israeli League All-Star honors. In June 2017, he helped Hapoel Jerusalem win the Israeli League championship.

On September 1, 2017, Stoudemire announced his retirement from basketball.