Amar'e Stoudemire can be proud of his rightful place in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
The former six-time All-Star was one of the elite big men during the late 2000s and early 2010s, helping mold the Phoenix Suns into a Western Conference contender while later helping shape the New York Knicks into an annual playoff team.
The 6-foot-10 power forward/center was one of the best pick-and-roll threats during his heyday with Steve Nash, helping the point guard win back-to-back MVP's while leading Phoenix to two Western Conference Finals appearances.
The 43-year-old was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this August after a 14-season career that included five All-NBA selections and a Rookie of the Year award where he beat out Manu Ginobili and Chinese giant, Yao Ming.
Stoudemire is enjoying his post-NBA career as a police officer in Miami-Dade County - he ended his NBA career with the Miami Heat - and took time out to talk about his former NBA teams in addition to his new podcast through Playmaker, Amongst Legends.
Stoudemire on Knicks: “it's tough to get off to a great start the following year”
Q: I want to ask you about the Knicks. Obviously, a big deal with the Knicks winning the championship for the first time in over 50 years. They're getting off to a little bit of a slow start. Your overall thoughts on that? Are you concerned at all about it?
Stoudemire: “I'm not concerned. When you are the champions, man, every target is at your back. Every team's gunning for you, so it's tough to kind of get off to a great start the following year. I'm not concerned. I think it's a matter of just kind of locking in and focusing a little bit more, and they'll be okay.”
Q: Is it like they're coming out slow out of the gates because again, they just won the title? It can be hard to stay motivated. Is it one of those things? The East is tougher now with the Sixers stocking up with LeBron James and Jaylen Brown.
Stoudemire: “It could be a little bit of all of that. But I think what we most have to look at is that when you win a championship, especially in New York, you have all these different opportunities off the court that take place.
“You're filming commercials, you're having these different shows, you're doing these different things. All these events are happening. You’ve got to try to narrow it back down and lock in on basketball because playing in New York, you can get a little bit taken away from the sport with all the activities that go along with being in New York City. But you have to now try to narrow it down back to basketball. Key in, lock in on basketball.
“Make it the main priority and build out from there.”
Q: That's actually pretty interesting because the Knicks players, all of them have partnerships because they're profiting from that championship. That's something where the focus maybe isn't on the court as much because they're getting a little bit distracted on the off the court stuff of celebrating the championship.
Stoudemire: “And that's normal. That's a part of human nature, man. You win a championship for the New York Knicks. You kidding me?
“After 53 years, you gotta enjoy that. You will never be the first one to win it after 53 years ever again. So that energy, you have to capitalize on it. It's just a matter of now being able to kind of channel that and now focus on basketball and lock in a little bit more.”
Q: Yeah, it doesn't sound like you're too worried at all. There's no doubt that they're going to get things straightened out soon enough, right? I mean, it's such a long season.
Stoudemire: “Yeah, absolutely.”
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‘The State of the Suns’ according to a Phoenix legend
Q: I want to transition into the current Suns. Obviously Devin Booker is the face of the franchise there now, like you and Steve were back in the day. What are your overall thoughts on this franchise right now, and what are your overall thoughts on Booker?
Stoudemire: “I think the franchise is going to be in good shape under Mat Ishbia. He's doing some transcending things there in Phoenix.
“He's really looking forward to building the franchise and organization up to a championship-caliber franchise, which I commend him for. And Devin Booker has been consistent his whole career. He's been solid, a fundamentally sound player his entire career, and what he's doing is great. He's smooth and he handles his business properly.
I like where things are going in Phoenix.”
Q: Out of curiosity, do you have any sort of relationship with him? I love asking this question because everybody has a different answer. Do you have a player comparison for Devin Booker, his style of play?
Stoudemire: “Book kind of has a "Big Dog" Glenn Robinson type of game. He kind of got a Glenn Rice type of game. You know what I'm saying? Where he's smooth off the dribble with the pull up, got a great shot, but yet he's also competitive. You know what I'm saying.
“His game reminds me of those two players I mentioned. Big Dog was more of a rebounder type of player, but the smoothness and the agility and able to get your shot off and get to your spot. Those two players, Glenn Rice and Big Dog, were great at that.”
Q: “That's the first time I've heard that player comparison. That's pretty pretty interesting. Like you said, you feel like this franchise is going in the right direction with Ishbia. They had a surprise playoff appearance last year. The other key player is Dillon Brooks. He's kind of like a pesky guy. He agitates opposing players, does a really good job at that. Your overall thoughts on Dillon Brooks?
Stoudemire: “I like Dillon Brooks, man!
I like the competitive atmosphere that he brings to the game. That's what the game needs. The game needs that type of competitive information that he gives over to players and kind of agitates a bit. Because what happens is you create that competitive spirit, and it makes you play harder, makes you play better, brings the best out of you.
“That's how it was for me. When players try to agitate me, then my game rolls to another level, it's like alright now, mano via mano, like who's gonna win this thing? To see that from Dillon Brooks, I like to see it.”
Miami Heat: “They're gonna figure it out. Trust me.”
Q: I got to ask you about the Heat, they're off to a really slow start and it doesn't look pretty on the court. What are your thoughts on this Heat team? A lot of people are talking about the Giannis and Bam pairing that it's not working out right now. What is your evaluation of this?
Stoudemire: “With the Miami Heat, I know two things for sure. You have a great general, Pat Riley, and you have a great deputy chief in Coach (Erik) Spoelstra. So those two guys are going to come together and figure out the proper game plan to get the team to play cohesively and figure this thing out. The players are going to lock in because they are tired of hearing all the talk about what they can and can't do. So they're going to go into the gym and lock in also.
“I'm not worried about the Miami Heat. I think they're going to be able to figure this thing out. They have a great team. I feel like they're a team that can be very competitive in the Eastern Conference. So I'm not concerned with the Heat at all, man. With Bam and Giannis, two great players, they'll figure it out.
“They're great players, they're All-Star caliber players. They're gonna figure it out. Trust me.”
Q: What has been the problem so far with that pairing? Because the advanced metrics obviously aren't pretty, but are they just kind of getting used to each other right now, and just taking more time than people expected?
Stoudemire: “Yeah, for sure.
“It's not like Steve (Nash) and I. I got a point guard, and I'm the big dog. You understand? He knows we can play off each other. I'm not taking anything away from him. He's not taking anything away from me. So he's going to pass me the ball.
“I'm going to play off of him easily, and that's more of an easy connection.
“With Giannis and Bam, they kind of have a similar position, so they have to figure out how to play with each other. That's a little bit more challenging, but it can happen. It can work.
“We just got to figure out how to really play with each other. That's a matter of learning each other, watching film with each other, studying each other's game, practicing together. They need a little more time, but it'll work out.”
Q: With the Heat, I'm going to ask you this: Do you think that they'll be a playoff team this year? And then a lot of people are talking about how they need to be more of a defensive-minded team, grind it out late '90s, early 2000s style. Your thoughts on that?
Stoudemire: “If they can grind it out defensively right now while they're struggling offensively, that's the key. You build that, you build that defensive strategy, which the Heat culture has been built on. I played with the Heat.
“You know what I'm saying? So when you play in that Heat culture and you lock in defensively while you're working out your offensive details, that's going to be the key going forward because offense is easy for us as players.
“We love to score, right? Everyone wants to score, so that's easy for us. The defense is where you need to focus on a little bit more, and that's going to help them get over the hump.”
Q: Will they be a playoff team this year?
Stoudemire: “Yes, yes, yes. The Miami Heat will be a playoff team this year. I believe that.”
Q: What is this podcast all about? I saw the Tracy McGrady episode; it was really good.
Stoudemire: “The first season, we're interviewing only Hall of Famers. We're dealing with only legends at the moment, so this is where it starts.
“What we're doing is, we're tapping into kind of a bit of their understanding of what it means to become a legend. How did they become a legend? What perseverance they went through? What type of challenges they faced? How did they have the perseverance and the mindset to get to where they end up being in the Hall of Fame? T
rying to give that message over to the youth as well, so they can see what it takes to be great. That's the mindset here with Amongst Legends.”
Q: It was a pretty good podcast, I really enjoyed it. It was 50 minutes with Tracy McGrady and the conversation, it was pretty smooth. Did you have previous podcasting experience, show experience?
Stoudemire: “I did some work on TV a few years back with ESPN. I do have some experience in front of the camera when it comes to acting and these type of things, but never in the hosting podcast space.
“My thing is have a real conversation, just really have a real conversation and go for it, and so far we were able to to accomplish that within the first few episodes of the Amongst Legends podcast.”
Q: Is there a certain long-term objective for you when it comes to the sphere?
Stoudemire: “Obviously, this first season are all Hall of Famers, and then it's going to be strictly legends from that point on, guys and gals who you think are legends, who transcended their space, who are looked at as pioneers in that space.
“But this first season is going to be all Hall of Famers, and then from there we're going to go and really tackle some big legends.”
Amar’e Stoudemire spoke exclusively with DJ Siddiqi for Covers.com. All quotes in this article are taken from an exclusive interview conducted by Covers.com. Journalists and media outlets are welcome to use these quotes, provided they are attributed to Covers.com. Please ensure links back to the original article to provide full context for readers.
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