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'The sky is the limit' for Suns' Stoudemire
By Greg Boeck, USA TODAY
PHOENIX — From the eighth-floor balcony of his high-rise condominium in the ritzy Biltmore area of town, Amaré Stoudemire enjoys a sweeping view of the surrounding desert mountains. The Phoenix Suns forward is most captivated, however, by the snapshot of downtown in the distance.
Amare Stoudemire throws down a dunk during a win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 21.
Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY
America West Arena is there, his workplace, the rock in his life. After a nomadic existence as a teen — his dad died when he was 12, his mom was in and out of jail while he was in and out of six high schools — the arena has become his stabilizing anchor the last 27 months. For Stoudemire, 22, home is where the heart, and tomahawk dunks, are.
"I love it here," says Stoudemire, who has averaged 26 points and 9.1 rebounds in a monstrous November that catapulted last season's 29-win Suns toward the top of the NBA. Their 11-2 month ties the best start in club history. "I love the weather, the fans. This is my team. Life is beautiful."
Life for the 6-10, 245-pounder is unfolding quicker than a Steve Nash-led fast break, which is producing points at an NBA-high 106.4 rate entering tonight's game at Utah.
With the addition of Nash to a young and athletic team that also features Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson, Stoudemire's jaw-dropping talent has been full throttle this season.
"His quickness, strength and explosiveness are unparalleled," Nash says. "He goes around 'em, over 'em and through 'em. He's a handful. Physically, he's a mismatch for anyone."
Stoudemire runs the floor well and has developed a deadly midrange jumper. That inside-outside combination leads some to compare him to Karl Malone, who redefined the power forward position. Chicago Bulls coach Scott Skiles isn't one of them.
"He's more explosive than Malone was, attacking the rim, dunking," Skiles says.
"Karl had a more refined post-up game early on, but he also played in college. This kid would still be in college."
Suns coach Mike D'Antoni also is hard-pressed to compare Stoudemire to anyone else. "It's hard to see who he is ... maybe his own guy."
Says Stoudemire: "I'm Amaré Stoudemire. That's who I'm going to be. There's no comparison."
Breaking the mold
He's like a runaway train on the court, playing at full emotional speed, too. Yet he always seems under control. "Every time he steps on the court, he's blossoming in another direction," Suns general manager Bryan Colangelo says.
"If Amaré makes the right play, what's your answer?" Nash says. "Here's a guy who really doesn't know what he's doing yet. He's just a baby in the league and still trying to figure it out. That's exciting."
And scary. "You can't imagine him taking a step back now," Skiles says. "The question is, how many more steps forward is he going to take, especially in this environment where they've surrounded him with shooters and brought in Steve Nash."
Larry Brown, the Detroit Pistons coach who was Stoudemire's Olympic coach, has seen the improvement. "The kid has been sensational this year," Brown says. "He's so fast, end to end, and so quick off his feet."
Still, Stoudemire was a gamble in 2002 when Colangelo drafted him out of high school with the No. 9 pick in the draft. That was after four teen wonders —Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry and DeSagana Diop— were taken in the first eight picks of the 2001 draft and struggled collectively as rookies.
Stoudemire, though, delivered on his then-brash prediction to become one of the NBA's elite. He was the first high schooler to win rookie of the year honors, beating out Yao Ming. He returned from ankle and toe injuries that sidelined him for 27 games last season to average 23.9 points and 9.6 rebounds in his final 32 games. That finish landed him an Olympic spot.
But he says this is only the beginning. "The sky is the limit," he says boldly, not arrogantly. "With my ability and quickness and power and versatility, there isn't anything I can't do on the court."
'Doing it all'
Nash, drafted by the Suns in 1996 but traded to the Dallas Mavericks in 1998, is the engine that makes all the Suns go, none perhaps more so than Stoudemire. He feeds off Nash.
Phoenix's rising Sun
Stoudemire's learning curve:
2001-2002
Florida's Mr. Basketball as a senior at Cypress Creek High in Orlando.
Averaged 29.1 points, 15 rebounds, 6.1 blocks; shot 65%.
Totaled 45 points, 17 rebounds, 11 blocked shots in one game.
2002-2003
NBA's No. 9 draft pick and rookie of the year.
Seventh in NBA with 3.1 offensive rebounds a game, 12th with 8.8 total rebounds a game.
Scored 38 vs. Kevin Garnett and Minnesota.
2003-2004
Led Suns at 20.6 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, 1.2 steals a game.
Scored record 36 points in Rookie Challenge game.
Named to U.S. Olympic team,
2004-2005*
Fourth in scoring (26.0), 15th in rebounding (9.1), 10th in blocks (2.0),
NBA West player of week Nov. 15-21 (34.5 points/9.3 rebounds),
Scored 38 vs. New Orleans,
* Through Sunday
"He's been dunking since he came here," Marion says of Stoudemire. "Now he's getting more opportunities because Nash is here. Everybody is supporting each other."
Lured out of Dallas with a six-year, $60 million free agent contract, Nash is averaging a league-best 11.2 assists.
Stoudemire sensed from the beginning what Nash would mean to him and the Suns. In the summer, he accompanied new owner Robert Sarver, CEO Jerry Colangelo, Bryan Colangelo, director of basketball operations Rex Chapman, part-owner Steve Kerr and D'Antoni to Dallas to woo Nash.
"He said, 'Steve, you give me the ball, and I'll finish,' " Sarver says. "And that's been the season."
Stoudemire also played a role in the Suns' recruitment of Richardson, a restricted free agent with the Los Angeles Clippers. "I do it all," says Stoudemire, a big grin on his face.
He's having the time of his life, soaking up the moment like he sponges instruction from his coaches or his bottomless pit of basketball instinct. Like his free-flowing game, his free-spirited life is infectious and refreshingly mature given his youth and rugged upbringing.
Off the court, he loves to bowl, play pool, hang out at the mall, go to movies. "He has a very outgoing personality," Suns guard Casey Jacobson says. "He's not fake. What you see is what you get."
Still, Stoudemire has all the trappings of today's self-absorbed, young professional athlete. He has a 64-inch projection screen and a trophy case that shows off his rookie of the year prize, signed Olympic shoes from the U.S. men's and women's teams, his own bobble-head and his GQ Man of the Year award for 2003.
He has a Nike contract, his own comic book figure — he's the head commando in an NBA publication — and five cars: a 5600 Mercedes-Benz, a 760 LI BMW, a 6045 CIC convertible BMW, a 2004 Cadillac EXT truck and a 1967 Cadillac, a deal at $1,200. "I drive one on Monday, one Tuesday. They're my toys."
But he doesn't appear to abuse his financial or celebrity status. He has stayed grounded and focused. After the Suns closed the deal with Nash, Sarver told his traveling party it should celebrate with a big dinner. "I'm thinking Del Frisco's steakhouse, and Amaré goes, 'OK, let's go to Wendy's?' " Sarver says.
Wendy's it was.
In the next two years, Stoudemire will hit the maximum salary jackpot — either next summer, when the Suns can sign him to a six-year extension, or in 2006, when he becomes a restricted free agent, with the Suns able to match other teams' offers. But he's taking nothing for granted.
He's already planning for the future with the start-up of Stoudemire Elite Detailing. He hired three employees and bought a van that caters to cleaning clients' cars at their workplace. "I have to be responsible," he says. "Save my money. Do things smart."
NBA goal drove him in hard times
Stoudemire's meteoric development as a player — from a raw-talent teen with only two years of organized basketball experience to full-blown NBA stardom and challenging for the scoring title — is second only to his maturation as a young adult. Stoudemire has slam-dunked that process, too, emerging from an unsettled childhood into a manhood beyond his years.
"This seems to be a cakewalk for him because he's had so much to go through in life that has seemingly prepared him for all this," Bryan Colangelo says. "Every new challenge, he embraces."
He's arguably had more off the court.
In high school, Stoudemire nicknamed himself STAT — standing tall and talented — and had it tattooed on his right arm. Before this season, he got another tattoo. "Lord Knows" is visible on his left neck. "That's what I believe in," Stoudemire says. "My faith is everything. It's been my rock."
He drew on it this summer. Stoudemire made the Olympic team and could have copped an attitude when Brown kept him largely on the bench during the team's disappointing bronze medal showing. But he turned it into a learning experience and won Brown's respect.
"He struggled early," Brown says. "We talked about it. He said he'd never sat before. I knew it wasn't an easy thing, but I admired him because he stayed after, came early and worked hard."
The two often worked on Stoudemire's fundamentals. Stoudemire admits it was "extremely difficult" to watch, but "I made the best of it. I learned a lot."
That's a recurring theme in his life. His father, Hazell, died of a heart attack when Stoudemire was 12. He remembers his father's last words to him. " 'The sky is the limit,' " Stoudemire recalls. "And it has always stuck with me."
Times got harder in high school, when he wandered from school to school in North Carolina and Florida, forcing him to sit out his junior year. During that time his mother often was in jail, mostly on theft-related charges. Living in drug-infested neighborhoods, he had little direction and even less financial security. But he never got in trouble, surviving largely on his own.
"I represent the streets," he says. "The way I came up is to show kids, 'Hey, you may be in a tough situation, but you can always make it a better situation.' That's why I'm thankful for the things I went through. I had to make decisions at a young age, and I had to make them all myself."
He says he stayed focused by making the NBA his goal. "You've got to want something. And I wanted it to better my family situation. Nothing was going to stop me."
Nothing has. Stoudemire's mother, Carrie, and his younger brother, Marwan, 16, moved to Phoenix with him. Stoudemire says he learned from his mother's mistakes.
"I took that and bettered myself," he says. "I had plenty of chances to feel sorry for myself, but I didn't."
His mother and brother live nearby and use his cars. His mother, who declined an interview, attends all of her son's home games and often visits his condo. Stoudemire has become more than the breadwinner of his family; he's the head of the household.
"I've had to teach my family how to maintain a rich and famous life," Stoudemire says. "What to do, what not to do. I grew up fast, and I thank God for that because, if I hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to teach my family about things."
He's just as serious on the court, where he's all business, driven by a goal. "Me being the best player I can be, that's what drives me," he says.
He's on his balcony now, looking at downtown and America West Arena in the distance. He looks confident, at peace, at home.
"I don't think I can be stopped."
By Greg Boeck, USA TODAY
PHOENIX — From the eighth-floor balcony of his high-rise condominium in the ritzy Biltmore area of town, Amaré Stoudemire enjoys a sweeping view of the surrounding desert mountains. The Phoenix Suns forward is most captivated, however, by the snapshot of downtown in the distance.
Amare Stoudemire throws down a dunk during a win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 21.
Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY
America West Arena is there, his workplace, the rock in his life. After a nomadic existence as a teen — his dad died when he was 12, his mom was in and out of jail while he was in and out of six high schools — the arena has become his stabilizing anchor the last 27 months. For Stoudemire, 22, home is where the heart, and tomahawk dunks, are.
"I love it here," says Stoudemire, who has averaged 26 points and 9.1 rebounds in a monstrous November that catapulted last season's 29-win Suns toward the top of the NBA. Their 11-2 month ties the best start in club history. "I love the weather, the fans. This is my team. Life is beautiful."
Life for the 6-10, 245-pounder is unfolding quicker than a Steve Nash-led fast break, which is producing points at an NBA-high 106.4 rate entering tonight's game at Utah.
With the addition of Nash to a young and athletic team that also features Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson, Stoudemire's jaw-dropping talent has been full throttle this season.
"His quickness, strength and explosiveness are unparalleled," Nash says. "He goes around 'em, over 'em and through 'em. He's a handful. Physically, he's a mismatch for anyone."
Stoudemire runs the floor well and has developed a deadly midrange jumper. That inside-outside combination leads some to compare him to Karl Malone, who redefined the power forward position. Chicago Bulls coach Scott Skiles isn't one of them.
"He's more explosive than Malone was, attacking the rim, dunking," Skiles says.
"Karl had a more refined post-up game early on, but he also played in college. This kid would still be in college."
Suns coach Mike D'Antoni also is hard-pressed to compare Stoudemire to anyone else. "It's hard to see who he is ... maybe his own guy."
Says Stoudemire: "I'm Amaré Stoudemire. That's who I'm going to be. There's no comparison."
Breaking the mold
He's like a runaway train on the court, playing at full emotional speed, too. Yet he always seems under control. "Every time he steps on the court, he's blossoming in another direction," Suns general manager Bryan Colangelo says.
"If Amaré makes the right play, what's your answer?" Nash says. "Here's a guy who really doesn't know what he's doing yet. He's just a baby in the league and still trying to figure it out. That's exciting."
And scary. "You can't imagine him taking a step back now," Skiles says. "The question is, how many more steps forward is he going to take, especially in this environment where they've surrounded him with shooters and brought in Steve Nash."
Larry Brown, the Detroit Pistons coach who was Stoudemire's Olympic coach, has seen the improvement. "The kid has been sensational this year," Brown says. "He's so fast, end to end, and so quick off his feet."
Still, Stoudemire was a gamble in 2002 when Colangelo drafted him out of high school with the No. 9 pick in the draft. That was after four teen wonders —Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry and DeSagana Diop— were taken in the first eight picks of the 2001 draft and struggled collectively as rookies.
Stoudemire, though, delivered on his then-brash prediction to become one of the NBA's elite. He was the first high schooler to win rookie of the year honors, beating out Yao Ming. He returned from ankle and toe injuries that sidelined him for 27 games last season to average 23.9 points and 9.6 rebounds in his final 32 games. That finish landed him an Olympic spot.
But he says this is only the beginning. "The sky is the limit," he says boldly, not arrogantly. "With my ability and quickness and power and versatility, there isn't anything I can't do on the court."
'Doing it all'
Nash, drafted by the Suns in 1996 but traded to the Dallas Mavericks in 1998, is the engine that makes all the Suns go, none perhaps more so than Stoudemire. He feeds off Nash.
Phoenix's rising Sun
Stoudemire's learning curve:
2001-2002
Florida's Mr. Basketball as a senior at Cypress Creek High in Orlando.
Averaged 29.1 points, 15 rebounds, 6.1 blocks; shot 65%.
Totaled 45 points, 17 rebounds, 11 blocked shots in one game.
2002-2003
NBA's No. 9 draft pick and rookie of the year.
Seventh in NBA with 3.1 offensive rebounds a game, 12th with 8.8 total rebounds a game.
Scored 38 vs. Kevin Garnett and Minnesota.
2003-2004
Led Suns at 20.6 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, 1.2 steals a game.
Scored record 36 points in Rookie Challenge game.
Named to U.S. Olympic team,
2004-2005*
Fourth in scoring (26.0), 15th in rebounding (9.1), 10th in blocks (2.0),
NBA West player of week Nov. 15-21 (34.5 points/9.3 rebounds),
Scored 38 vs. New Orleans,
* Through Sunday
"He's been dunking since he came here," Marion says of Stoudemire. "Now he's getting more opportunities because Nash is here. Everybody is supporting each other."
Lured out of Dallas with a six-year, $60 million free agent contract, Nash is averaging a league-best 11.2 assists.
Stoudemire sensed from the beginning what Nash would mean to him and the Suns. In the summer, he accompanied new owner Robert Sarver, CEO Jerry Colangelo, Bryan Colangelo, director of basketball operations Rex Chapman, part-owner Steve Kerr and D'Antoni to Dallas to woo Nash.
"He said, 'Steve, you give me the ball, and I'll finish,' " Sarver says. "And that's been the season."
Stoudemire also played a role in the Suns' recruitment of Richardson, a restricted free agent with the Los Angeles Clippers. "I do it all," says Stoudemire, a big grin on his face.
He's having the time of his life, soaking up the moment like he sponges instruction from his coaches or his bottomless pit of basketball instinct. Like his free-flowing game, his free-spirited life is infectious and refreshingly mature given his youth and rugged upbringing.
Off the court, he loves to bowl, play pool, hang out at the mall, go to movies. "He has a very outgoing personality," Suns guard Casey Jacobson says. "He's not fake. What you see is what you get."
Still, Stoudemire has all the trappings of today's self-absorbed, young professional athlete. He has a 64-inch projection screen and a trophy case that shows off his rookie of the year prize, signed Olympic shoes from the U.S. men's and women's teams, his own bobble-head and his GQ Man of the Year award for 2003.
He has a Nike contract, his own comic book figure — he's the head commando in an NBA publication — and five cars: a 5600 Mercedes-Benz, a 760 LI BMW, a 6045 CIC convertible BMW, a 2004 Cadillac EXT truck and a 1967 Cadillac, a deal at $1,200. "I drive one on Monday, one Tuesday. They're my toys."
But he doesn't appear to abuse his financial or celebrity status. He has stayed grounded and focused. After the Suns closed the deal with Nash, Sarver told his traveling party it should celebrate with a big dinner. "I'm thinking Del Frisco's steakhouse, and Amaré goes, 'OK, let's go to Wendy's?' " Sarver says.
Wendy's it was.
In the next two years, Stoudemire will hit the maximum salary jackpot — either next summer, when the Suns can sign him to a six-year extension, or in 2006, when he becomes a restricted free agent, with the Suns able to match other teams' offers. But he's taking nothing for granted.
He's already planning for the future with the start-up of Stoudemire Elite Detailing. He hired three employees and bought a van that caters to cleaning clients' cars at their workplace. "I have to be responsible," he says. "Save my money. Do things smart."
NBA goal drove him in hard times
Stoudemire's meteoric development as a player — from a raw-talent teen with only two years of organized basketball experience to full-blown NBA stardom and challenging for the scoring title — is second only to his maturation as a young adult. Stoudemire has slam-dunked that process, too, emerging from an unsettled childhood into a manhood beyond his years.
"This seems to be a cakewalk for him because he's had so much to go through in life that has seemingly prepared him for all this," Bryan Colangelo says. "Every new challenge, he embraces."
He's arguably had more off the court.
In high school, Stoudemire nicknamed himself STAT — standing tall and talented — and had it tattooed on his right arm. Before this season, he got another tattoo. "Lord Knows" is visible on his left neck. "That's what I believe in," Stoudemire says. "My faith is everything. It's been my rock."
He drew on it this summer. Stoudemire made the Olympic team and could have copped an attitude when Brown kept him largely on the bench during the team's disappointing bronze medal showing. But he turned it into a learning experience and won Brown's respect.
"He struggled early," Brown says. "We talked about it. He said he'd never sat before. I knew it wasn't an easy thing, but I admired him because he stayed after, came early and worked hard."
The two often worked on Stoudemire's fundamentals. Stoudemire admits it was "extremely difficult" to watch, but "I made the best of it. I learned a lot."
That's a recurring theme in his life. His father, Hazell, died of a heart attack when Stoudemire was 12. He remembers his father's last words to him. " 'The sky is the limit,' " Stoudemire recalls. "And it has always stuck with me."
Times got harder in high school, when he wandered from school to school in North Carolina and Florida, forcing him to sit out his junior year. During that time his mother often was in jail, mostly on theft-related charges. Living in drug-infested neighborhoods, he had little direction and even less financial security. But he never got in trouble, surviving largely on his own.
"I represent the streets," he says. "The way I came up is to show kids, 'Hey, you may be in a tough situation, but you can always make it a better situation.' That's why I'm thankful for the things I went through. I had to make decisions at a young age, and I had to make them all myself."
He says he stayed focused by making the NBA his goal. "You've got to want something. And I wanted it to better my family situation. Nothing was going to stop me."
Nothing has. Stoudemire's mother, Carrie, and his younger brother, Marwan, 16, moved to Phoenix with him. Stoudemire says he learned from his mother's mistakes.
"I took that and bettered myself," he says. "I had plenty of chances to feel sorry for myself, but I didn't."
His mother and brother live nearby and use his cars. His mother, who declined an interview, attends all of her son's home games and often visits his condo. Stoudemire has become more than the breadwinner of his family; he's the head of the household.
"I've had to teach my family how to maintain a rich and famous life," Stoudemire says. "What to do, what not to do. I grew up fast, and I thank God for that because, if I hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to teach my family about things."
He's just as serious on the court, where he's all business, driven by a goal. "Me being the best player I can be, that's what drives me," he says.
He's on his balcony now, looking at downtown and America West Arena in the distance. He looks confident, at peace, at home.
"I don't think I can be stopped."
