One of the more fun teams of the past few years was the 2010-11 New York Knicks. With Amar’e Stoudemire joining the team that offseason, the Knicks surprised everyone with their play. Stoudemire was an unquestioned star surrounded by young, talented pieces.
Despite the early success, the Knicks believed they needed something more. They eventually traded a large portion of their younger pieces to get Carmelo Anthony. The rest is history as NYK was unable to surround Melo and Stoudemire with the necessary help to win a title.
Stoudemire retired as a member of the Knicks last week. The decision was viewed as an interesting one. The big man, now going to play in Israel, is viewed by almost everyone as a Phoenix Sun.
We may have a little more evidence as to why he chose to retire a Knick, however. In a piece written for the Players’ Tribune, Stoudemire raved about the fan reception of the Knicks before the Melo trade:
It was December 15, 2010. I had just scored 30 or more points for the ninth straight game — a Knicks record. Madison Square Garden was alive — I mean alive— cheering for me, cheering for us. I’d never heard anything like it. I’d never heard love like that before. For the first time in a long time, the Knicks were a team to be reckoned with. We lost by two that night (and only after my three had been waived off at the buzzer) to the Celtics. But more importantly, there was an awakening. Not just in MSG, but in the entire city.
Everyone was going to our games. And if they couldn’t go to the games, they were going to bars to watch them. People were enjoying themselves before and partying after. I swear we single-handedly revived New York’s economy. We were rock stars — me and Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and the rest of the team. Obviously, being celebrities wasn’t our job. It was fun, but our No. 1 job was to be great basketball players — to win. Still, you can’t beat being a rock star.
The Knicks were certainly fun and they revived a Knicks fanbase bereft of any winning. Whether they had any sizable impact on the economy of the city is another question entirely and for someone much smarter than I to refute.
No word yet on if Amar’e Stoudemire actually meant that the Knicks played in James Dolan’s band.
