Inside The Heat

Former All-Star Reflects on Pat Riley, Miami Heat Nearly Drafting Him

Jake Elman

Feb 6, 2022; Denver, Colorado, USA; Brooklyn Nets assistant player development coach Amare Stoudemire before the game against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Feb 6, 2022; Denver, Colorado, USA; Brooklyn Nets assistant player development coach Amare Stoudemire before the game against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
In this story:

Veteran big man Amar’e Stoudemire ended his All-Star career alongside Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade on the Miami Heat in 2015.

Wearing a Heat uniform carried extra significance for Stoudemire, a Florida native who grew up in and around the Orlando area. During a Dec. 17 appearance on The OGs podcast, Stoudemire said former head coach Pat Riley told him the Heat wanted to draft the 6-foot-10 standout in 2002.

“I always wanted to be here because even back when I was drafted to Phoenix, Pat told me to say, listen, we had the 10th pick, and if you would have dropped to 9th, they would have taken me at 10,” Stoudemire remembered. 

Miami instead drafted Caron Butler, who spent two seasons with the Heat before joining the Los Angeles Lakers in the Shaquille O’Neal trade. Stoudemire earned five All-Star selections with the Suns.

What-ifs are always fun because of the butterfly effect. If the Heat drafted Stoudemire, would they have been in a position to select Wade in 2003? What about O’Neal, who helped the Heat win the 2006 NBA Finals? Perhaps he’d have rejoined the Orlando Magic, who traded him to the Lakers nearly a decade earlier. 

Back to Stoudemire, who later played alongside O’Neal in Phoenix for two seasons. Knee injuries limited Stoudemire in the final years of his career, and he joined the Heat during their transition period after LeBron James returned to Cleveland and Bosh began battling career-ending blood clots.

Stoudemire averaged 5.8 points and 4.3 rebounds in 52 games (36 starts) for the Heat. Nearly a decade later, he has nothing but good memories of his time in Miami. 

“The culture was great,” Stoudemire said. “Everyone was cohesive. We all got along from top to bottom, from the ownership down through Pat, all down to the players, and down to the weight training crew.

"We all had this culture, they call it the Heat Culture, where everyone kind of wants the best for each other," Stoudemire added, "and for me, I thrived in that.”

MORE HEAT NEWS

NBA Analyst Questions Miami Heat Star Jimmy Butler’s Possible Trade Destinations

Heat’s Jimmy Butler Faces ‘Nonexistent’ Free Agent Market, Predicts NBA Insider

Jake Elman works as a contributing writer to Miami Heat on SI. He can be reached at jakeelman97@gmail.com or follow him on X @JakeElman97.

Published
Jake Elman
JAKE ELMAN

Jake Elman is a veteran sports journalist and graduate of Florida Atlantic University’s journalism program. In recent years, he has covered the NFL for EndGame360 and served as the sports content lead for ExpressVPN. He also covered the Lane Kiffin years at FAU for the Palm Beach Post.