ATLANTA — Phoenix Suns power forward Amare Stoudemire asked Michael Jordan’s advice earlier this season. Nothing unusual about that. . . . except that the game was in progress.
Rookies.
“It was in the middle of the game,” Stoudemire laughed innocently, recalling his exchange with Jordan when the Suns played the Washington Wizards. “Shawn [Marion, Stoudemire’s teammate] was coming down with the ball and I just asked [Jordan]. I said, ‘What’s up? Hey, what’s the key to success for me?’
“He was like, ‘You’re doing pretty good so far, it seems like you already have it.’ “
You don’t need a Gallup Poll to get a consensus that Stoudemire has what it takes.
He reminds NBA legend Bill Walton of a “young Spencer Haywood.” He reminds Minnesota Coach Flip Saunders of Karl Malone and (no doubt, a slimmer) Shawn Kemp.
And Stoudemire should remind Magic fans that their franchise is absolutely cursed.
To backtrack, the Magic keep Bo Outlaw and lose Ben Wallace. They then trade Outlaw and a first-round pick to the Suns last season to clear cap room. The Suns, of course, then miss the playoffs for the first time in 14 years, and their pick from Orlando wins them the Stoudemire lottery. But of course.
Let’s see. . . . Wallace, Stoudemire, Tracy McGrady, Grant Hill, Mike Miller together in Orlando. Where’s my antidepressant?
“For real?” said Stoudemire, who played in the NBA Rookie Challenge on Saturday. “I didn’t know I could have been with the Magic.”
Uh, yeah. And the Magic could have saved on his moving expenses, considering Stoudemire played at Cypress Creek High School his senior season.
He could wind up being Orlando’s biggest blunder since losing Shaquille O’Neal. Stoudemire is Shaq Lite, a 6-foot-10, 245-pound man-child who has been rattling rims and breaking teeth (ask Paul Pierce’s dentist).
None of the 15 NBA players who’ve made a recent leap from high school to the pros has matched what Stoudemire has done so far in his first season. Not Kobe, not T-Mac, not KG. He has averaged 12.8 points and 9.1 rebounds in 40 starts. Garnett started only 43 games as a rookie. McGrady averaged just seven points a game.
If you’ve followed the Stoudemire saga, it’s not surprising that the actual basketball is the easy part. “I know hard,” he said. “This isn’t hard.”
His dad died when he was 12. His mother was in and out of jail. His older brother ended up in prison. He enrolled in seven high schools during a controversial, bizarre journey that diverted him from becoming last year’s LeBron James.
He’s already beaten any adversity he’d face on the floor. That Stoudemire, 20, seems as remarkably calm and well-adjusted as he is seems impossible.
“I think everything I’ve been though allowed me to be mentally ready,” he said. “I just didn’t get down. The most difficult part now is the off-the-court stuff. You got guys trying to take more from you with a pen than a guy with a shotgun. You have to handle so much business.”
Stoudemire’s play dipped entering the all-star break. He may have hit the “rookie wall,” but critics point to some off-the-court stuff. His agent quit last week, reportedly fed up over his mother Carrie’s meddling and constant demands.
Stoudemire shrugs off the rumors of trouble he seldom has encountered on the court. After all, he knows hard.
