He’s lost a lot of his athleticism, and his game today doesn’t reflect it, but at one point in time, Amar’e Stoudemire was one of the most dominant big men in the NBA. The six-time All-Star was part of those Suns teams that revolutionized the NBA, and Amar’e was the one finishing the alley-oops from Steve Nash and regularly posterizing defenders. In an interview with Andrew Sharp of Sports Illustrated, Stoudemire admits that he thinks people have probably forgotten how good he really was back then. Here are the pertinent quotes:
AS: So speaking of the Suns… Everyone talks about how Steve Nash and Mike D’Antoni helped revolutionize the NBA and create the offenses we see now, especially with the Warriors. But do you feel like people sometimes forget how dominant you were in some of those years?
Amar’e: “You know what? I do. A lot of people have forgotten how dominant I was. We created this new type of basketball that Golden State’s playing. When you have dynamic point guard like Steve and a finisher like myself, it makes the game so much easier. But I do think that a lot of people have forgotten how dominant I was.”
AS: Yeah, I was looking at your playoff numbers earlier… You were averaging 25 and 12 in 2007… You put up 38 and 12 on Tim Duncan in Game 6 of that Spurs series… How often do you go back to that series?
Amar’e: “Well, there’s been a few Spurs series. The one that you’re speaking of… you know, I always went into every game trying to apply my dominance. Every game. When the playoffs came around, that team, the Spurs, seemed to bring out the best in me. I was able to maximize my potential.”
