Former Phoenix Suns’ Amar’e Stoudemire, who spent eight seasons with the Suns, announced his retirement on Tuesday.
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“I came to NY in 2010 to help revitalize this franchise and we did just that”, Stoudemire wrote. Although my career has taken me to other places around the country, my heart had always remained in the Big Apple.
“Once a Knick, Always a Knick”, said the 33-year-old National Basketball Association veteran as he bowed out Tuesday. Stoudemire made the All-Star Game five of his eight seasons as a Sun and played with Steve Nash who mentioned Stoudemire in his own retirement letter past year.
Stoudemire endeared himself to many Knicks fans in 2010 when he proclaimed “The Knicks are back” after deciding to sign with the moribund franchise, which had missed the playoffs in each of the preceding six seasons.
On Tuesday, he inked a one-year non-guaranteed contract with NY before announcing his retirement.
Back and knee injuries also contributed greatly to Stoudemire’s decline in NY, and in February 2015, the team bought out his contract.
Stoudemire was an All-Star for the Knicks in 2010-11 when he averaged 24.7 points and 8.0 rebounds.
Stoudemire arrived in NY as something of a consolation prize after the Knicks had cleared salary-cap space to make a run at LeBron James in free agency.
Although the Knicks have dropped below.500 for the past three seasons, Anthony carries the torch that Stoudemire initially lit with his decision to go east. The Knicks bought out his contract in the 2014-15 season and he finished the year in Dallas, playing sparingly. We’re proud to have called Amar’e one of our own and wish him nothing but the best in his retirement.
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The announcement came as a surprise for many due to his form with the Suns and the fact Stoudemire struggled to recapture his previous success in the Big Apple, primarily due to injury problems. “When Amare asked us to retire as a Knick, we were honored to oblige”.
