Stoudemire, Amaré

views updated

Amaré Stoudemire

1982–

Professional basketball player

"I have seen the future of the NBA, and his name is Amaré Stoudemire," remarked National Basketball Association (NBA) superstar Shaquille O'Neal in 2003, according to Sports Illustrated for Kids. Stoudemire is—as the nickname tattooed on his right arm declares—Standing Tall and Talented. At nearly six feet, nine inches tall (sometimes reported as six feet, ten inches) and weighing 245 pounds, Stoudemire offers power, speed, and finesse on the court. The only high school student to be drafted into the NBA in 2002, Stoudemire quickly won a starting position on the Phoenix Suns and became the first, and at the time the youngest, player to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. Dazzling fans and management alike in his second and third seasons, Stoudemire made what the Indianapolis Recorder called "the leap" to become "a real team leader and a true superstar of the NBA."

Basketball Prodigy

Nothing about Amaré Carsares Stoudemire's youth would indicate that he was groomed for such greatness. "Topsy-turvy childhoods among basketball prodigies in disadvantaged circumstances are all too common, but even among those his was sobering," observed the Los Angeles Times. Born on November 16, 1982, in Lake Wales, Florida, to Carrie and Hazell Stoudemire Sr., Amaré Stoudemire dreamed of playing in the NBA from about the time he was eight years old. He remembered getting in "trouble" for writing "NBA in crayon on my mom's walls," according to Sports Illustrated for Kids. Stoudemire's youthful dreaming was disrupted by unfortunate circumstances. His father died of a heart attack when his son was 12 years old. Stoudemire's mother marked the moment he learned of Hazell Sr.'s death as the last time she saw her son cry. The tragedy did not stop there. The family lived in poverty near one of Florida's drug corridors in a town with limited opportunities. Carrie Stoudemire was arrested more than two dozen times over the years for various charges ranging from fraud to theft to prostitution. Stoudemire's older brother Hazell Jr. was imprisoned for drug dealing and sexual assault in 1999. Without a stable family life, Stoudemire, his younger brother Marwan, and presumably his sister D.D. (about whom little is known) fended for themselves.

Stoudemire struggled, but from age 14 kept he focused on basketball, developing his skill in street pick-up games and in hours of practicing alone, just him against an imagined Michael Jordan, as he told Sports Illustrated for Kids. He lived with a series of coaches and guardians when his mother could not care for him. He attended six different high schools, including the famed basketball-grooming school, Mt. Zion Academy in Durham, North Carolina, and Emmanuel Christian Academy, a school with a student population comprised only of basketball team members that closed before Stoudemire could set foot on the basketball court his junior year. Despite being featured on HBO's Real Sports documentary about young basketball hopefuls, Stoudemire's hard times continued. Jumping from school to school resulted in Stoudemire playing less than two seasons before graduating. Playing only a portion of his freshman year and losing his eligibility his entire junior year because of poor academics, Stoudemire had only his senior year at Cypress Creek High School in Orlando, Florida, to get noticed. His domination at both the Adidas and Nike summer camps made sure that he did.

Leading his high school team to a winning record, Stoudemire won a spot on the Parade magazine All-America First Team, USA Today All-USA First Team, and he was ranked as the top high school player by Prep Stars Recruiter's Handbook. He was also honored with the Florida Athletic Coaches Association's Mr. Basketball Award. "Stoudemire stood out like a man among boys" at the McDonald's All-America Game, "where the very best high school players in the country test each other," according to Basketball Digest.

Joined the Phoenix Suns

Stoudemire had started a buzz among college recruiters and NBA scouts. His talent dazzled everyone, though his difficult background gave some teams pause. Not the Phoenix Suns. "You don't see kids like him!" Stephon Marbury of the Phoenix Suns told the Washington Post. Suns owner Jerry Colangelo remembered to Sports Illustrated for Kids that "He may have been raw, but you don't see many raw guys like that. He just stood out like a diamond." After only two practice sessions with the Phoenix Suns, the team wanted him. The team snagged him when they had their chance in the ninth round of the NBA draft in 2002. Stoudemire was the only high school student picked that year.

With the pick, the press debated whether or not Stoudemire would be worth the investment. Was he too young? How long would it take for him to develop the skills needed to play with professionals? Was his background a signal of trouble to come? "This guy is no gamble," Colangelo told Sporting News. He was right. "[W]hat most teams could not see was that Stoudemire's past had made his focus laser-sharp. The trouble going on around him did not entice Stoudemire to get into trouble himself—it did just the opposite," according to Sporting News. Stoudemire trained all his attention on basketball.

Given playing minutes from the start, Stoudemire quickly earned more. He came off the bench during his first NBA game, against the Seattle Sonics, and scored 10 points and pulled down six rebounds. Stoudemire took only ten games to earn a starting position his first season. "He picks up on things extremely fast, both on and off the court," the team's assistant general manager Mark West noted to Sporting News. By midseason, Stoudemire was being compared with NBA greats. His teammate Scott Williams predicted in the New York Times that Stoudemire "can be one of the best power forwards ever to play." Stoudemire scored 38 points on December 30, 2002, marking the highest single-game total for a rookie coming into the NBA without college experience. Stoudemire averaged 13.5 points and 8.8 rebounds his first season, statistics besting any player to turn pro out of high school since Moses Malone. He ended the season with the Rookie of the Year Award in 2003, beating out first round draft pick Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets. Stoudemire became the first player entering the NBA directly from high school to win the prestigious award and only the third rookie of the year since 1965 to have been chosen after the seventh pick in the draft. Stoudemire was the youngest rookie of the year when he won at age 20, though LeBron James, at age 19, won the following year.

At a Glance …

Born Amaré Carsares Stoudemire on November 16, 1982, in Lake Wales, Florida; son of Hazell Sr. and Carrie Stoudemire; married; one child.

Career: Phoenix Suns, professional basketball player, 2002–; US Olympic Basketball Team, Athens, Greece, player, 2004.

Awards: NBA Rookie of the Year, 2003; NBA All-Star got milk? Rookie Challenge, MVP, 2004; NBA All-Rookie Team, 2003; All-NBA Second Team, 2005.

Addresses: Office—Phoenix Suns, 201 E Jefferson St., Phoenix, AZ 85004.

"Most guys that come in and have success early think it'll duplicate the next season," Sonics guard Ray Allen told the Seattle Times before he faced Stoudemire in his second season. "Last year this kid came out of nowhere, but now teams are starting to keep him away from what he likes to do. He'll have to continue to work on his game to make it better." And Stoudemire did. His powerful dunks had fed his first-season statistics, but Stoudemire added more versatility to his game the second season, practicing dribbling, jump shots, and working on using his left hand. Despite his team's lesser success during the season, Stoudemire's statistics improved. The summer of 2004 Stoudemire was selected for the U.S. Olympics team, which won bronze in Athens, Greece. Stoudemire counted his selection an honor, even though he didn't receive significant playing time.

Achieved Basketball Stardom

Stoudemire made "the leap" to superstardom, as the Indianapolis Recorder called it, in his third season, during which he averaged 26 points per game—fifth highest in scoring in the NBA—and achieved a new career high of 50 points against the Portland Trail Blazers on January 2, 2005. That season's success came even though he had switched positions, from forward to center. Spurs player Malik Rose told Sporting News that Stoudemire had made himself "just about unguardable." Aside from his success during the season, Stoudemire scored the most points (36) ever scored in the 2004 Rookies Challenge, the annual competition between rookies and second-year players. That year he also earned a spot on the NBA All-Star team.

Colangelo's initial impression of Stoudemire as a steady, level-headed man was right. He was no gamble for the Phoenix Suns as a player. And in his personal life, Stoudemire used his success to gain long-sought stability. He was prepared for the impact that such a huge change in his finances would make and hired financial managers to help him invest his money wisely. He moved his younger brother Marwan to Phoenix, and his mother moved there too after being released from jail. Stoudemire was quick to correct anyone who implied that his family was leeching off his success. He especially defended his mother. He explained to the New York Times that "A lot of people don't understand that. They just think she's along for the ride. It's not even close to being like that. Growing up, she was my heart and soul. She had my back through thick and thin. I just want people to understand that." With his life at ease, Stoudemire remained keenly in tune with the hardships of his childhood. He sought ways to help others in need, started a summer camp for kids, camped out with boy scouts, and provided aid for Hurricane Katrina victims.

Despite knee surgery that sidelined him for most of the 2005–2006 season, Stoudemire's future remained bright. He was, according to the East Valley Tribune, "the man in demand." At the end of his four-year $8.2 million rookie deal, Stoudemire signed a contract extension with the Phoenix Suns worth nearly $73 million and a multi-million dollar, six-year endorsement deal with Nike. Displaying his "freakish athletic abilities," as the New York Times referred to his skills, in a few games in March 2006, Stoudemire determined that he was not ready to return to regular play. In the summer of 2006 he left his spot on the roster of the U.S.A. team playing in the world championships in order to nurse his knees back to health. Stoudemire remained focused on his goals for his future in basketball. As the Suns assistant coach told the East Valley Tribune, "He wants to be a player without labels, someone you can't define or describe, and his ceiling is limitless."

Sources

Periodicals

Basketball Digest, Summer 2002, p. 16.

Columbian, October 31, 2003. p. B4; June 2, 2005.

East Valley Tribune, October 4, 2005.

Los Angeles Times, August 16, 2004. p. D1; March 14, 2005, p. D5; May 18, 2005. p. D1.

New York Times, July 7, 2002, p. 8.9; January 26, 2003, p. 8.3; April 25, 2003, p. D7; August 25, 2004, p. D8; January 30, 2005, p. 8.2; March 24, 2006, p. D5; March 29, 2006, p. D4.

New York Times Magazine, June 22, 2003, pp. 26-31.

Recorder (Indianapolis, IN), April 29, 2005, p. D8.

Seattle Times, October 21, 2002, p. D3; December 28, 2002, p. D9; March 24, 2003, p. C4; February 7, 2004, p. D5; April 6, 2006, p. D5; April 6, 2006, p. D5.

Sporting News, February 25, 2005, p. 18.

Washington Post, January 10, 2003, p. D01.