Friday, January 7th, 2011 at 10:00 am  |  109 responses

Amar’e on Phoenix: ‘It Felt Like I Wasn’t Wanted’

by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

STAT makes his triumphant return to Phoenix as a member of the Knicks tonight, a place where despite his spectacular play, he never felt truly appreciated.

Stoudemire — on his way to yet an All-Star berth, and having led the stirring turn around in New York — tells the media in Suns-land that he didn’t get his just due during the eight years he played there.

From the AZ Republic:

Friday, Stoudemire will come out of the visitors’ tunnel at US Airways Center for the first time. Like he often was with the Suns, he will be the star of the better team. His play revitalized the Knicks (20-14). His absence has decimated the Suns (14-19).

“It’s something I couldn’t have imagined for the simple fact of how we’re winning and how beautiful the city and fans are,” said Stoudemire, the NBA’s second leading scorer to Kevin Durant at 26.4 points per game. “It’s rock-star status here in New York. If we would’ve kept it together in Phoenix, we could’ve had the same success. I’m satisfied. I wouldn’t do anything different … If they were looking to rebuild and thought I was the guy they wanted to rebuild with, then we could’ve came to an understanding,” Stoudemire said. “But apparently it wasn’t that way. It felt like I wasn’t wanted. It felt like I wasn’t appreciated. I felt like my play on the court was overlooked.”

Alvin Gentry thinks Ama’re Stoudemire ultimately wanted a team he could call “his”, and he’s gotten his wish.

Phoenix refused to give Amar’e the max deal he was looking for; they were in cost-cutting mode, and had fears about the health of his knees and eyes (all of which have been operated on.) So far, the move has obviously backfired on them, and Stoudemire is thriving in Gotham.

Tonight, Suns fans will likely cheer for the returning Amar’e; the reaction to the team’s front-office may be a tad different.

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  • MikeC.

    Amare is playing really well, and the Knicks as a team are rounding into form. Amare isn’t playing great positional D (as per usual), but his weakside help D is tremendous compared to past seasons, and his BPG backs that up. His rebounding is picking up as well. As for NY being a contendor, they just aren’t deep enough to do any real playoff damage. They need another solid big to backup Amare and let him rest, and a solid PG to spell Felton (or give him a blow as Hubie would inappropriately say). With depth comes a deeper rotation and fresher stars.

  • CoolBreeze

    Felton was HELD BACK IN Charlotte by Larry Brown, his system and his toughness on point guards. Brown was damn near agonizing when he traded Felton. Well he should of acted like it then, cause Jordan’s Bobacats are the recent laughing stock of the league with all their poor moves.

    You can certainly make the argument, with new founded freedom and better players, that he would play better, or was always destined to be good, from his North Carolina days and high draft pick.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    Justin, you automatically lost credibility by reading the name “Tarzan” when it clearly said: “Teddy…”
    Hey, you asked a question–if you thought you already knew the answer, why be a smart @ss about it?
    And ROFL @ calling the Knicks/Rockets Finals “one of the worst in history.” That was a GREAT, intense series that spanned seven games and paired two of the best centers of their era against each other. Oh wait, it didn’t have Jordan or the Celtics or the Lakers in it–it MUST have been bad because of that. SMH. You’re just trolling for attention now.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    I mean, I’m pretty astonished ANYONE (but a dumb Bulls fan… not just any Bulls fan) would complain about the Knicks/Rockets Finals, or any Finals that spanned seven games, for that matter. Knicks/Rockets was a classic.

  • ripslam

    I can understand where Amar’e's coming from, sort of, but the way he said it makes him sound like a whiny b*tch, I’m sorry.

  • The Truth

    Read the second comment did that guy really say the Knicks would be better off with Erik Dampier

  • jrb

    losing amare is just one of many f*ck ups that sarver has brought on this team. they drafted nate robinson in 05 and traded him, drafted rondo also, traded him. both guys were traded for cash. They let joe johnson go, traded for shaq, which was a ridiculuos idea b/c he doesnt fit in that system, also losing marion in the process. So amare was the final nail in the coffin for the suns and their window has shut for contention

  • http://myspace.com/gametimeweezy Gametimeweezy

    if you’ve ever been to madison square garden then you know why the knicks are one of the greatest franchises.

    @jukai.. i always said duhon was the worst starting pg last year next to earl watson.

  • DMC14

    90′s NBA bring it back, my fav era. i wish there was more stuff from this time on the net. i loved the tough 90′s NBA, it’s when i was in high school.

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