Amaré Carsares Stoudemire (born November 16, 1982 in Lake Wales, Florida) is an American professional basketball player for the NBA's Phoenix Suns. He is a 6 ft 10 in (2.09 m) and 249 lb (113 kg) power forward/center.

Early life and career

Stoudemire's father died when he was twelve, and his mother Carrie was in and out of prison during that time also. As a result, he attended six different high schools before graduating from Cypress Creek High School in Orlando, Florida. He told Isaac Perry in an article for Dime Magazine that what kept him going in that time period was God and the words of rapper Tupac Shakur.

He did not start playing organized basketball until he was 14. Stoudemire only played two years of high school-level basketball, but in those two years he was named the MVP of the Nike summer league. He committed to play at the University of Memphis, but never attended the school.

Instead, he declared for the NBA draft because of his desire to quickly help his family. The Phoenix Suns decided on him with their ninth pick in the 2002 NBA Draft due to a need for inside strength at the time. Phoenix was the only team that year to select a high school player in the first round.

In his rookie season, Stoudemire averaged 13.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, with a high of 38 points, against the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 30, 2002, the highest score by a prep-to-pro player until broken a year later by LeBron James. Stoudemire won the NBA's Rookie of the Year award, beating out Houston Rockets center Yao Ming and Miami Heat forward Caron Butler and becoming the first player ever drafted out of high school to win the award.

The following season, Stoudemire improved statistically, but his team stumbled to a 29-53 record, and point guard Stephon Marbury was traded to the New York Knicks. During the summer of 2004, Stoudemire was selected to play for the United States national team in the 2004 Summer Olympics. However, head coach Larry Brown declined to give him significant playing time.

During the 2004-05 NBA season, Stoudemire teamed up with point guard Steve Nash to lead the Suns to a 62-20 record. Averaging 26 points per game that year and achieving a new career high of 50 points against the Portland Trail Blazers on January 2, 2005, he was selected to his first National Basketball Association All-Star Game as a reserve forward. In the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs, Stoudemire performed magnificently, averaging 37 points per game, but the Suns lost in 5 games.

Knee problems

During the 2005-2006 NBA pre-season, knee cartilage damage was discovered and Stoudemire underwent microfracture surgery on October 18, 2005. Initially, the Suns thought he would return by mid-February, but his rehab took longer than expected. Stoudemire, however, made an attempt to return but did not play well, going scoreless against the New Jersey Nets on March 27, 2006. On March 28 it was announced that he would likely miss the rest of the regular season due to ongoing stiffness in both knees. His manager stated that the comeback happened a little too soon, and Stoudemire needed to do more rehab. Stoudemire's rehabilitation, which was led by Suns trainer Aaron Nelson and Dr. Micheal Clark, the president and CEO of the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) went well as he stated during the rehab that he was pretty explosive and he gradually gained his strength back.

Stoudemire attended the 2006 USA Basketball camp in Las Vegas, although he ultimately did not play in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. His athletic trainers stated that he had no swelling since his most recent surgery and his strength and flexibility have been "better than ever: almost like superman".

Stoudemire played in the FIBA Americas Championship 2007, but withdrew from the national team for the 2008 Olympics. Jerry Colangelo, managing director for the national team, said, "Amaré has pulled himself out of consideration for the roster and that's predicated on, despite the fact that he's had an injury-free year coming back, he's a little hesitant on pushing the envelope too hard." Stoudemire had said in April 2008, "It's more than a year-round grind. It's last year and the year before that and the year before that. It's really been like a three-year-round basketball circuit.

2006-07 season

Before the 2006-07 season, Stoudemire changed his jersey number from 32 to 1. Dijon Thompson, last wore #1 the previous season.

Stoudemire joined the United States national team once and began practicing with the international team in July, but was dropped from the squad for its trip to Asia because coach Mike Krzyzewski believed he needed a proper chance to fully recover from his knee injuries.

On February 18, 2007, Stoudemire appeared in the 2007 NBA All-Star Game, his second NBA All-Star Game appearance on He scored 29 points and grabbed 9 rebounds, and came in second in MVP voting to winner Kobe Bryant. He had previously announced that he would make the All Star Game in his first season back after his knee recovered.

During the 2007 NBA Playoffs, in a series against the San Antonio Spurs, Stoudemire accused Manu Ginobili and Bruce Bowen of being "dirty" players. Stoudemire was suspended for Game 5 for leaving the bench area after an altercation between guard Steve Nash and Robert Horry. The Suns lost to the Spurs in six games.

Player profile

At 6'10" and 250 lbs, Stoudemire is a natural power forward. However, the Suns' run and gun style meant he often started at center prior to the acquisition of Shaquille O'Neal, despite being undersized for the position. In the 2007-08 season, Stoudemire averaged 25.2 points per game, good for 5th in the NBA. However, his 59.0% field goal percentage was the highest amongst the top 10 scorers in the NBA. His efficient scoring is attributed to his effective use of the pick and roll with point guard Steve Nash and his ability to slam dunk frequently(he ranked 2nd in dunks in the 2007-08 season with 211). Stoudemire also gets to the free throw line frequently, where he converts at a high 80.5% clip. He is also a good rebounder at 9.1 rebounds per game and shotblocker at 2.1 per game, 6th in the NBA.

Trivia

• Owns a restaurant in downtown Phoenix called Stoudemire's Downtown.
• Stoudemire was the cover athlete of NBA 06 and NBA 08.

Awards/honors

• NBA All-Star: 2005, 2007, 2008
• All-NBA First Team: 2007
• All-NBA Second Team: 2005, 2008
• NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2003
• NBA Rookie of the Year: 2003
• NBA All-Star Rookie Challenge MVP: 2004

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 2002–03 | align="left" | Phoenix | 82 || 71 || 31.3 || .472 || .200 || .661 || 8.8 || 1.0 || .8 || 1.1 || 13.5 |- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Phoenix | 55 || 53 || 36.8 || .475 || .200 || .713 || 9.0 || 1.4 || 1.2 || 1.6 || 20.6 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Phoenix | 80 || 80 || 36.1 || .559 || .188 || .733 || 8.9 || 1.6 || 1.0 || 1.6 || 26.0 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Phoenix | 3 || 3 || 16.7 || .333 || .000 || .889 || 5.3 || .7 || .3 || 1.0 || 8.7 |- | align="left" | 2006–07 | align="left" | Phoenix | 82 || 78 || 32.8 || .575 || .000 || .781 || 9.6 || 1.0 || .9 || 1.3 || 20.4 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Phoenix | 79 || 79 || 33.9 || .590 || .161 || .805 || 9.1 || 1.5 || .8 || 2.1 || 25.2 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 381 || 364 || 33.9 || .541 || .167 || .745 || 9.1 || 1.3 || .9 || 1.5 || 21.0 |- | align="left" | All-Star | align="left" | | 3 || 0 || 21.3 || .568 || .333 || .333 || 7.7 || 1.7 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 17.7 |}

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 2002–03 | align="left" | Phoenix | 6 || 6 || 33.8 || .523 || 1.000 || .571 || 7.8 || 1.2 || 1.7 || 1.5 || 14.2 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Phoenix | 15 || 15 || 40.1 || .539 || .000 || .781 || 10.7 || 1.2 || .7 || 2.0 || 29.9 |- | align="left" | 2006–07 | align="left" | Phoenix | 10 || 10 || 34.3 || .523 || .333 || .769 || 12.1 || .6 || 1.3 || 1.9 || 25.3 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Phoenix | 5 || 5 || 40.8 || .485 || .250 || .633 || 9.0 || .4 || 1.4 || 2.4 || 23.2 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 36 || 36 || 37.5 || .524 || .273 || .747 || 10.4 || .9 || 1.1 || 1.9 || 25.1 |}

Notes and references

External links

• Video interview with Amare Stoudemire @ fiba.com
• Official Website
• NBA player profile
• Basketball-Reference.com Current Stats