Amar'e Stoudemire Has Advice For Knicks After 'Beautiful' Season
Amar'e Stoudemire knows beautiful basketball ... and he knows how quickly it can vanish, especially in New York.
Stoudemire has gone from creating hardwood heroics to taking them in: he was part of a star-studded audience at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Friday night, one that saw the New York Knicks' Summer League team prevail in an overtime thriller against the prospects of the Orlando Magic. The crowd also included Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau as well as Michigan men's basketball boss Juwan Howard (whose son Jett repped Orlando).
Thrilling as New York's first Summer League victory was, metropolitan eyes are firmly on the upcoming affairs of the Manhattan club: the Knicks are fresh off a 47-win campaign that featured their first playoff series victory since 2013. Stoudemire, a Knick for five seasons (2010-15) was a part of that last group, though injuries kept him out of the six-game quarterfinal series win over Boston. Count him among those impressed by last year's group headlined by the talents of Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle.
"The cohesiveness was beautiful to watch,” Stoudemire told Zach Braziller of the New York Post. "The team played together. They moved the ball. They enjoyed playing with each other. That was fun to watch as a fan. I thought it was a good run. (Thy) definitely a good season (with) a lot of potential there."
The next challenge, of course, is to build on the promise of the 2022-23 season. If anyone's aware of the challenges ahead, it's Stoudemire: not only was he a part of the Knicks' disappointing conference semifinal follow-up (a six-game loss to Indiana), he endured the brutal 2013-14 campaign that saw the Knicks never recover from a 10-22 start. That ensuing 37-45 result tipped off a streak of seven straight playoff-free seasons. Stoudemire was there for only parts of two, as he was waived in February 2015 before ending his NBA career in Dallas and Miami.
With the modern Knicks competing in a top-heavy Eastern Conference, many expect them to make a splashy acquisition that will earn them entry to the Association penthouse. Stoudemire was one of those moves during the summer of 2010 and the Knicks later brought in Carmelo Anthony less than a calendar year later.
Knowing the potential pratfalls and landmines ahead, Stoudemire advised his successors to focus on their own continued improvement rather than worrying about transactional developments from abroad.
“It’s something the front office will figure out, what they think the right move is. But from a players’ standpoint, it’s the players’ job to work on their game in the offseason," Stoudemire, 40, said. “It’s a matter of continuing to always work towards improving your craft. That’s the name of the game. It’s about the players being able to develop and get better, and once you do that, things will work out in your favor.”
As it stands, the Knicks seem prepared to roll out what's essentially the same team from last year, the main exit being Indiana-bound Obi Toppin in favor of Golden State depth star Donte DiVincenzo.
Stoudemire will be watching, but expect him to pay for a courtside ticket at Madison Square Garden rather than joining up as an assistant coach. A few years after his NBA retirement in 2016 (doing so via a one-day deal with the Knicks), Stoudemire spent two years on the Brooklyn Nets' coaching staff but did not return last year, telling Braziller that he "(had) no will right now to get back into coaching."
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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