Don't always judge Amare by listening to Amare
by Seth Pollack on Aug 26, 2009 2:07 PM MDT
in Phoenix Suns Commentary
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PrintYesterday Amare Stoudemire spoke to 300 kids a local elementary school showing once again that despite everything that we know or think we know about Amare, he's at heart a decent person.
Unlike many young stars, Amare has never been in trouble off the court and while he might use his twitter account in ways that make us shake our heads (pimping debit cards?) he's never given us reason to wonder about his mental health or if he was getting into things he shouldn't be.
Listening to the full audio of Amare's interview with Craig Grialou from Sports 620 KTAR and Paul Coro from the AZ Republic, you once again hear a guy who's saying all the right things about getting better and wanting to stay in Phoenix but is also being realistic about what his future might hold.
Not to pick on Greg at Fanster, but in this article he takes Amare to task for being too focused on his own legacy. I think it's important to note that all this talk about his legacy was in response to questions about how serious his eye injury was and the possibility that his career might have been over.
After a life threatening illness people reevaluate their priorities and what I hear from Amare is a player doing the very same thing with his career.
Too much "I" and not enough "we" is definitely one way to look at Amare. He certainly has a healthy ego and is not shy talking about himself. I love that he has the confidence to say what he's thinking without concern about how it might be taken. Things might change quickly with Amare but if you ask him, he's going to tell you where his head's at. That's not only a refreshing change from buttoned up athletes it's a wonderful sign that he's focused on the right things and not overly concerned with his image or legacy.
As for being a selfish player, Amare in the very next sentence after answering a question about his legacy talks about the team, "As long as there's improvement. As long as we're winning. As long as we're trying to win. As long we we're fighting . As long as we're together, we'll be in good shape."
Again I am not trying to pick on my buddy Greg, he certainly has a point when you look at Amare and his career, but when you listen to the entire interview and his overall body of work I think we also have to recognize that Amare is a complicated guy in a complex situation.
People close to Amare describe him as someone who struggles to say "no" to the people around him which is indicative of what we already knew about this talented young star. He's a guy with a huge heart and who's talent and abilities have carried him very far in life and he's also someone who seems to have lacked the right mentor to guide him through a very unique set of circumstances.
I remain leery that Amare will ever be the player that his potential suggests. But for him as a person I certainly hope he's learned something from his brush with a career ending injury and he comes out this season not only a better player but a more mature leader.
With Amare Stoudemire we sometimes have to go beyond his own words to better understand who he is.
Full audio provided by Sports 620 KTAR after the jump...
Amare Stoudemire. August 25, 2009
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With all do respect...
When a man has become more talk than substance what are we expected to judge him on? The sad truth is that Stoudemire was faced with a serious career threatening situation and instead of reorganizing his priorities he continued to talk about leaving the Valley and about what he can get out of things. We should applaud him for working with kids and giving back to them but we need to question why exactly he brought up leaving Phoenix while talking to them. Paul Coro and Craig Grialou most likely never would have touched on his “legacy” or the chance of him leaving town if Amare hadn’t brought it up himself. Not only that but he had every right to tell both Coro and Grialou that it was not the time or place to discuss such matters if brought up unprompted.The event was suppose to be about helping under privileged kids and Amare sharing the wisdom of his difficult up bringing and the power of education. Instead it turned out to be more of the same from him. The fact here is that Amare has created his contract controversy. He can stay in Phoenix next year on a player option and still be the third highest paid Power forward in 2010/11 (or second highest paid center depending on how you view his position). He is the one with the power to opt out and he is the one who has created any and all of the controversy behind the situation. A man is only as good as his word, so if we can’t judge him by what he says, and even the things he does at times, what can we judge him by?
Thanks Greg
My point isn’t to ignore what he says as much as not take too much meaning for any one statement. He says a lot of things.
We completely agree that his deeds matter and I’ve been very critical and disappointed by some of those so far. The bottom line is he’s worked his ass off to come back from injuries in the past and to improve his game. We will have to just wait and see what he does this season.
I am leery given the history but I also wish him the best as a person and besides, he’s not gone yet
Blogging Suns Basketball
by Seth Pollack on Aug 26, 2009 2:37 PM MDT up reply actions
I am kinda wondering about your last statement since I think it kinda sums up your whole paragraph. Your argument is that he says certain things and that we should judge him and his character based off of those things. (Yes, you also put in that last statement about his actions…but it was kinda weak)
Yet it seems to me that it should be his ACTIONS, rather than his words, that define who Amare is. He could talk and talk and talk about leaving Phx but if he doesn’t do it, what will he be remembered for? His talking, or the fact that he played his whole career in Phx? Amare can say he is good guy, that he cares about the community, but the fact that he goes and speaks to elementary kids during the off season SHOWS that he cares. Moreover, it is pretty clear ( and I think the Beasley issue has made this more so) that Amare is a pretty stable character in the NBA. For all the stuff he has said about his life growing up, the guy doesn’t make a ton of bad choices. His concerns are for his future, just like everyone else concerns are.
What can we expect a decent human being to be other than caring towards his community? If recent player actions in this and other sports are any indication of what “normal” human being behavior is: a detriment to themselves and the people around them, then I can let Amare off the hook a little for his clean, relatively sane preoccupation with himself to the detriment of…well no one really.
Go read a book!
I understand the point of basing what we feel about him on what he does but one has to question the validity of him showing up at a school if he is going to bring up his contract situation. Like I said I applaud him for his desire to work with kids and give them the benefit of his experiences. I think that is a fantastic and noble thing. The problem is he spent part of the time talking about his contract situation to little kids. Don’t even bother brining it up if your focus is on being charitable.
When it comes to his play on the court I think it exactly reflects his talk off of it. It’s about high light reels and touches. If he were really about winning and team play his defense would have been elevated years ago and his motivation would never come into question. He needs to worry less about what Amare wants, what nickname people are calling him and talking about being a leader. He needs to step up and show it and if he does, and proves his health, there will be no questions from the organization or anyone who writes, talks or interviews for a living.
Ok
We could talk and talk about what amare “should” do and what he needs to “avoid” doing but it wont get us anywhere. Where you at the school? did you hear Amare bring up the contract thing? If so then great. I wasn’t there. I am less likely to verbally chastise a guy for saying something that I didn’t personally hear him say.
As for his play. I think you are cutting him short in a major way. Amare has been through a heck of a lot in the last 3 years. Microfracture and he came back from it…something NBA players dont just DO. Then this eye thing for a whole season. Shaq coming in and leaving. Mike leaving. You should be more aware of the things Amare HAS done in light of all this. He improved his game a ton. He is one of if not the best shooting bigman in the game. Still the best finisher, and a 80%+ FT shooter. Not bad if you ask me.
Now I am not saying that Amare doesn’t need to work on his defense. He does. But lets not cut the man short of the things he has done to improve himself and the team. This shows me he is dedicated to playing well and winning. Again, his actions show this.
Go read a book!
talk... is... cheap...
"True glory consists of doing what deserves to be written, and writing what deserves to be read".
by Pliny the Elder on Aug 26, 2009 3:40 PM MDT reply actions
"they call me Sun Tzu"
They would be….
Stat is the only person that I have heard use this moniker. He sounds like he is trying to create a Shaq type persona. Just my two cents.
Double standard...
We trash Amare for having a healthy ego but it seems that everyone LOVES Shaq because of his. Shaq’s ego eclipses Amare’s by a LONG SHOT! Shaq has DESTROYED 3 teams because of his ego…everywhere he goes he leaves a trail of destruction yet because he’s so good in front of a camera nobody cares.
No, Amare is not the best at thinking on his feet in interviews and no he has not shown the improvement we would all like to see defensively and on the boards but the dude can play ball! We have been spoiled watching somebody with his immense talent/ability to overcome injury/ability to improve areas of his game that there were some fans calling for him to be traded anywhere for anything at the trade deadline last season. I truly believe that if Amare does leave after this season…which he has all rights in the world to do so…we will come to understand what we truly had with him. Sometimes that is what it takes…I mean, the countless bedtime stories/songs written about this very thing have to have some sort of validity, right? I will continue to defend Amare here and in every other medium I am afforded because I believe that he is one of the rarest and best talents in the league. Long live Sun Tzu!
which 3 did he destroy?
Granted, he left LA and Miami in pretty bad shape, but they got their rings.
Orlando? Yeah, probably.
The Suns? Not quite destroyed
Mmmmm ... Guinness
Good show Watdogg10.
When STAT is on, Nash has an easy time…just like Stockton and Malone.
“Keep your eyes on the prize” STAT (and keep your eyes protected). I almost lost an eye playing ball once and now I wear goggles every time I play. Real Suns fans care about STAT and the other players on the team.
Suns will be a force to deal with this year. Let’s think about what we have: We have true leaders in STAT, Grant Hill, and Steve Nash. Have a coach in Alvin Gentry who beat the Champs (Fakers) without STAT or Nash, last time we played them. DumbAntoni NEVER ONCE in his 4 plus years with the Suns beat any team (not even the Clippers) without them.We need to STAY POSITIVE and reestablish good chemistry on the team!!!! THIS WILL HELP US WIN ON THE ROAD. Road losses are what kept us out of the playoffs last year. In the past, it would have been hard to find a better road team than the Suns. MOST IMPORTANTANT IMPROVEMENT TO GET US WAY OVER THE HUMP?
Easy!!!! JUST START THE BRAZILIAN BLUR. Dumb Antoni was too dumb to do this and so was Porter, despite the near flawless record of starting LB along side Nash. ONLY ONCE with a starting backcourt of LB and Nash have we ever lost. This lone loss came under Porter when we were losing no matter what. DumbAntoni and Porter ONLY started LB when Raja was suspended (getting Kobe in a head lock) or too hurt to play. What happened when we started LB in Raja’s place vs. Fakers in the playoffs? Only a 3-game winning streak that brought us back from being down 3 games to 1 to take the series. THIS will b our “secret weapon” and make 4 lots of wins, keeping the players (including STAT) UPBEAT. Gentry knows this and I hope he has the guts to give this starting backcourt a true shot. Will blow the other team away early and b able to then give our starting unit a well-deserved rest. Let’s go SUNS!!!!. .
You know
you’ve gone on and on about this “start LB” thing but really haven’t given any reason why he’s a better player than JRich…
I can break it down but why don’t you go first
Blogging Suns Basketball
by Seth Pollack on Aug 26, 2009 6:24 PM MDT up reply actions
Let’s not argue about who may look better on paper.
As a Suns fan, I care about this team getting wins.
This is a proven success formula.
Lots of talent on this team, including J-Rich. Are you afraid to give this proven backcourt a shot? What do we have to lose? Some may say start them both. That may work. Very small but athletic and fast team. Let’s go Suns!!!!
How many wins
do Nash and LB have together?
I mean I love LB but he’s just not the same caliber player as JRich and we have seen JRich, LB and Nash on the floor together at times for limited times…
Blogging Suns Basketball
by Seth Pollack on Aug 26, 2009 6:52 PM MDT up reply actions
I agree with Stan...
Look for JRich to have a breakout season with the Suns this year! I would like to see LB get the backup role behind Nash – I think he has progressed to the point where he is a better option than Dragic.
Hate to say it but, unless we see more consisrtent and confident play from Tragic, just about anyone, including myself, may be a better option to back up Nash.
Let’s hope 4 the best.
Not as young as I used 2b, but…as a true Suns fan, I’m willing to go the extra mile and suit up 4 our team (and Sarver will like this part) 4 FREE.
J-Rich has lots of skilz but LB has earned the right 2 start with all that he’s done 4 the Suns. LB has great chemistry as the 2 with Nash. DON’T MESS WITH A GOOD THING. When this lineup runs the other team off the court, won’t matter that much who comes off the bench.
I don't know how many wins
But I do know that LB puts up ridiculous numbers when he fills in as a starter.
Mmmmm ... Guinness
When given the opportunity they have nothing but wins.
Must be thinking about a different backcourt Stan, but…just how many times have the Suns made the playoffs with J-Rich starting along side Nash?
Can’t say it won’t happen…but…I believe thus far the answer to my question is ZERO. Good analysis Stan of STAT being very down after surgery complications and all the uncertainty surrounding the on-again-off-again trade talk.
MUST start LB. Let’s go SUNS!!!!
To be fair...
JRich has only been there for less than a full season and he was there alongside Porter, Shaq’s big fat ego and a messed up situation.
Love J-Rich’s game.
Even more, I love the Suns.
Want 2c us become a top 4 team in the West.
THIS starting backcourt of LB and Nash is a proven winner. ONLY if it does not work should we consider anything else. MUST start LB. Let’s go SUNS!!!!
ugh...
I give up. You can’t be passion with reason
Blogging Suns Basketball
by Seth Pollack on Aug 26, 2009 8:06 PM MDT up reply actions
Two sides
"If we’re not making the playoffs, my legacy is going backwards. I’m not having it".
It either means he’s leaving or he is refusing to let it happen. Yoda-type philosophers would point to the latter.
Mmmmm ... Guinness
It is typical
for us moderns to struggle interpreting the true meaning of the ancient Chinese scholars (and warlords)
Blogging Suns Basketball
by Seth Pollack on Aug 28, 2009 10:00 AM MDT up reply actions
says the guy
with the life size 8 year old Aniken Skywalker statue in his house
Blogging Suns Basketball
by Seth Pollack on Aug 28, 2009 10:38 AM MDT up reply actions
One of the relatively few things Stoudemire and Charles Barkley have in common is yapping, usually about themselves. But Charles Barkley had somewhat substantive things to say more often.
Charles Barkley usually yapped about sociopolitical topics (racism, refusing to be a role model), how great he was (“I’m the eighth wonder of the world”), or what was wrong with the team other than himself (such as saying it needed more role players or more defense, or bitching about wanting the ball more).
Amare Stoudemire usually yaps, often in a more low-key way, about how great he is (i.e., calling himself a returning savior), or ruminating about his next career move, and that’s about it.
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