Amar’e Stoudemire’s squad wins Israeli league title.
Amar’e Stoudemire is back from the Holy Land with a championship in tow, and he has not ruled out a return to the NBA — and the Knicks.
Stoudemire arrived back in Miami on Sunday after his Hapoel Jerusalem club, despite being the fourth seed in playoffs, captured the Israeli Premier League championship on Thursday with an 83-76 victory over Maccabi Haifa.
“It felt amazing after a long season to lift up the championship trophy,’’ Stoudemire told The Post in a phone interview Monday. “We had a great run.”
Now, what’s next? Stoudemire said he enjoyed living in Israel (he’s applied for citizenship). He easily adapted to the culture after adopting Jewish holiday rituals while playing for the Knicks from 2010-15.
But he didn’t see eye to eye with the head coach, Simone Pianigiani, according to Israeli journalist David Pick. Stoudemire called it “a roller-coaster ride,’’ and during the season told Israeli media the coaching staff would try to get him more involved in the offense. That never happened. He averaged 9.9 points and 5.9 rebounds in 23 minutes per game as a sixth man.
Stoudemire will explore three options, and retirement is one of them. The 34-year-old still has pangs for one more go-round in the NBA.
“To play and win a championship my first year there, I could just call it quits and leave as a champion,’’ said Stoudemire, who never made it to the NBA Finals. “That could be an option. Another option is maybe to play with a team that needs quality veteran leadership here in the NBA. That could be an option. Or I could go back and defend the title for a back-to-back. I have time to think about it. Those are my three options.”
Stoudemire will explore three options, and retirement is one of them. The 34-year-old still has pangs for one more go-round in the NBA.
“To play and win a championship my first year there, I could just call it quits and leave as a champion,’’ said Stoudemire, who never made it to the NBA Finals. “That could be an option. Another option is maybe to play with a team that needs quality veteran leadership here in the NBA. That could be an option. Or I could go back and defend the title for a back-to-back. I have time to think about it. Those are my three options.”
His non-basketball life was also fruitful. He brought his wife and kids to the Holy Land.
“I follow all the laws of Moses, Passover with unleavened bread, Yom Kippur, the culture and law of the land,’’ Stoudemire said. “It was perfect for me. I was able to adapt easily because we all followed the same laws of the Torah.’’
Stoudemire scored six points and grabbed seven rebounds in the Israeli title clincher. But it sounded like he wouldn’t mind one last crack at an NBA title.
“The city of Jerusalem loves him and will welcome him back in open arms,’’ said Pick, the Israeli journalist. “He definitely sacrificed being the star of the team for the success of the team.’’
Amar’e Carsares Stoudemire (/əˈmɑːreɪ ˈstɒdəmaɪər/; born November 16, 1982) is an American professional basketball player for Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and the EuroCup.
Stoudemire played high school basketball for five different schools, ultimately graduating from Cypress Creek High School in Orlando, Florida and declaring for the NBA draft as a prep-to-pro player. He won several prep honors, including being selected as Florida’s Mr. Basketball. The Phoenix Suns selected him with the ninth overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft. He spent his first 12½ seasons with the Suns and the New York Knicks, before finishing his NBA career with the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat.
His off-court ventures include a record label, a clothing line, acting and a series of children’s books for Scholastic Press. In addition, Stoudemire owns a significant share of the Hapoel Jerusalem Basketball Club.
Stoudemire’s first name had previously been listed in the Phoenix Suns media guide as Amaré or Amare, but it was changed to Amar’e in October 2008. Stoudemire told NBA.com that his name had always been spelled Amar’e, but the media had been spelling it incorrectly since he joined the NBA.
Stoudemire did not start playing organized basketball until he was 14. He only played two years of it in high school, but in both he was named the MVP of the Nike Summer League. In his senior year he averaged 29.1 points, 15 rebounds, 6.1 blocked shots, and 2.1 steals per game. Among Stoudemire’s high school honors was being selected to play in the 2002 McDonald’s All-American Game at Madison Square Garden in New York City, where he played with two future New York Knicks teammates, Carmelo Anthony and Raymond Felton. He was also named Florida’s Mr. Basketball, the Orlando Sentinel‘s Florida High School Player of the Year, and to USA Today’s‘s All-USA Basketball First Team.
Considered a five-star recruit by Scout.com, Stoudemire was listed as the No. 1 player in the nation in 2002.
With his biggest goal in high school being making it to the NBA, Stoudemire committed to the University of Memphis. However, he later de-committed and declared for the NBA draft, being taken with the ninth pick in the 2002 NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns. He was the only high school player taken that year in the first round.
The following season, Stoudemire improved statistically, but his team stumbled to a 29–53 record, and point guard Marbury was traded to the New York Knicks. During the season Stoudemire had a 10-block game against the Utah Jazz; he recorded six blocks in the first quarter alone (both team records as of 2012). During the summer of 2004, Stoudemire was selected to play for the eventual bronze medal-winning 2004 U.S. national team in the Summer Olympics. However, head coach Larry Brown declined to give him significant playing time (6.875 MPG).
During the 2004–05 NBA season, Stoudemire lead the Suns to a 62–20 record. Averaging 26 points per game that year and achieving a new career high of 50 points against the Portland Trail Blazers on January 2, 2005, he was selected to his first NBA All-Star Game as a reserve forward. Stoudemire and Nash ran a pick-and-roll many have compared to Hall of Famers John Stockton and Karl Malone. In the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs, Stoudemire averaged 37 points per game, but the Suns still lost in five games.
On February 18, 2007, Stoudemire appeared in the 2007 NBA All-Star Game, his second all-star game appearance. He scored 29 points and grabbed 9 rebounds, and came in second in MVP voting to Kobe Bryant. He had previously announced that he would make the all-star game in his first season back after his knee recovered.During the 2007 NBA Playoffs, in a series against the San Antonio Spurs, The Suns lost to the Spurs in six games despite Stoudemire averaging 25 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks throughout the series. He finished the regular season averaging 20.4 points and 9.6 rebounds. He was selected to the All-NBA First Team.
Stoudemire led the Suns in scoring (25.2 ppg) and rebounds (9.1 pg) in the 2007–08 season. He made the all-star team and was named 2nd Team All-NBA. The Suns however faltered in the playoffs, again losing to their rivals the San Antonio Spurs. The Suns blew a big lead in game one of the series, and seemed to never recover, losing the series 4–1 to the Spurs. Stoudemire averaged 23 points in the series.
In the 2009–10 season, Stoudemire was once again named to the all-star team. During the season, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic reported that the Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers discussed a trade that would have sent Stoudemire to Cleveland to pair up with LeBron James; the deal, however, never went through. Stoudemire would eventually lead the Suns to a 54–28 record, clinching the third seed in the Western Conference. Stoudemire finished the season averaging 23 points and 9 rebounds on 56% shooting. The Suns would defeat the Portland Trail Blazers 4–2 during the first round of the playoffs and beat the San Antonio Spurs 4–0 in the Conference Semifinals, to meet the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in the Conference Finals. After dropping the first two games, Stoudemire would score 42 points in game 3 and 21 in game 4, to help the Suns tie the series 2–2. The Suns failed to win any additional games in the series, dropping it 4–2.
Stoudemire finished his tenure with the Suns fourth in franchise history in scoring average (21.4ppg), third in rebounds, free throws made and attempted, fifth in blocked shots, and single-game records of consecutive free throws in one game (20) and blocked shots (10).
During the 2011 NBA lockout, Stoudemire served as a player representative for the Knicks. Stoudemire represented the Knicks along with teammates Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Toney Douglas, and Roger Mason, Jr., who was Vice President of the Players Union. Stoudemire considered playing overseas for Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. due to his possible Jewish heritage, but instead opted to stay with the players union. In October 2011, Stoudemire appeared on ESPN First Take, where he promoted his new sneaker line, the Nike Air Max Sweep Thru. During the lockout, Stoudemire trained and took history seminars at Florida International University. He was also acting while on lockout, and appeared in the second to last episode of Entourage.
On February 18, 2015, Stoudemire signed with the Dallas Mavericks. Four days later, he made his debut for the Mavericks against the Charlotte Hornets and recorded 14 points in just 11 minutes off the bench. Stoudemire went on to play in 23 games for the Mavericks and averaged 10.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
On July 10, 2015, Stoudemire signed with the Miami Heat. He played in just one of the Heat’s first 10 games of the 2015–16 season, largely due to knee soreness. He played eight minutes of first half action against the Sacramento Kings on November 19, scoring 10 points off the bench to spark the Heat early, as the team went on to win the game 116–109. On January 31, 2016, he recorded season-highs of 13 points and 12 rebounds against the Atlanta Hawks, starting in place of the injured Hassan Whiteside. Two days later, he set a new season-high with 14 points in a loss to the Houston Rockets, starting at center for the Heat in his sixth straight game.
On July 26, 2016, Stoudemire signed a contract with the New York Knicks in order to finish his career as a Knick, as he announced his retirement from the NBA later that day after 14 seasons in the league.
Though he retired from the NBA, Stoudemire did not retire from playing basketball, and on August 1, 2016, he signed a two-year deal with Hapoel Jerusalem, a team he co-owns in the Israeli Basketball Premier League. On October 1, 2016, he helped Hapoel Jerusalem win the 2016 Israeli Basketball League Cup. He went on to earn All-EuroCup Second Team honors for the 2016–17 season, as well as Israeli League All-Star honors. In June 2017, he helped Hapoel Jerusalem win the 2016–17 Israeli League Championship.
Stoudemire started the Each One, Teach One foundation in 2003. Stoudemire also funded his very own AAU team, named Team STAT. Stoudemire played Wheel of Fortune during its NBA week and donated all his winnings to the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Greater Phoenix area. In November 2008, Stoudemire received the NBA’s Community Assist Award, for his work with his Each 1, Teach 1 Foundation, and its efforts to provide safe drinking water in Sierra Leone by funding the building of water wells in impoverished villages. Stoudemire visited the country in summer 2008, making visits to water well sites and meeting with President Ernest Bai Koroma and the rest of the cabinet. In 2010 Stoudemire hosted the first Amar’e Stoudemire Basketball Academy in Mali. That same year, he posed shirtless on behalf of PETA‘s Ink Not Mink campaign, protesting the wearing of animal fur.
In a 2010 interview, Stoudemire said, “I have been aware since my youth that I am a Hebrew through my mother, and that is something that has played a subtle but important role in my development.” He visited Israel that year, saying he intended “to get a better understanding of [his] heritage.”Traveling with Stoudemire was Idan Ravin, who works as a private coach for many NBA players who include LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony. During the trip, Ravin linked Stoudemire’s language skills to his ability to decipher defensive schemes on the court. Ravin also worked with Stoudemire on a daily basis during the trip. Stoudemire was named an assistant coach of the Canadian basketball team for the 2013 Maccabiah Games, giving him an opportunity to return to Israel. In July 2013, Stoudemire met with Israeli president Shimon Peres, who urged him to join the Israel national basketball team. In a 2010 interview, Stoudemire was asked if there was a chance he was Jewish, Stoudemire said “I think through history, I think we all are”. However, he was not able to confirm if he had Jewish roots.
In the early morning hours of February 6, 2012, Stoudemire’s older brother, Hazell, was killed in a car accident in Polk County, Florida. He was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.
After guest appearances on Law & Order: SVU, Entourage and Sesame Street in 2011, Amar’e appeared on TV Land’s The Exes opposite Kristen Johnston in a January episode. Stoudemire also appeared on Fox’s comedy series, The Mindy Project, where Mindy Kaling‘s character went on an outing with her co-workers to a nightclub, and wound up hanging in the VIP section with the New York big man. Stoudemire’s acting roles have not been limited to television. He had a role in the film McGruber and appeared in the blockbuster romance New Years Eve. He also appeared as himself in the comedy film Trainwreck, as one of the patients of sports surgeon Dr. Aaron Conners (played by Bill Hader).
In 2011, Stoudemire started his own clothing line which launched at Macy’s in late 2011. It was designed with the help of Rachel Roy. Stoudemire described the line as “courtside apparel for the fashion-forward female”. Stoudemire has his own record label named Hypocalypto and has signed rappers from Phoenix to Atlanta.
In the summer of 2013, Stoudemire became a major shareholder of Hapoel Jerusalem B.C. together with sports agent Arn Tellem and Ori Allon.
Stoudemire is committed to turning kids, especially boys, into readers. “I am excited to create my book series with Scholastic,” said Amar’e Stoudemire. “They are the best in the business, so I trust them with my stories. I decided to write for children because although I am an avid reader now, I wish I had read more as a child. I hope that together with Scholastic, we can creatively inspire a new generation to read.”
STAT: STANDING TALL AND TALENTED BOOK #1: HOME COURT
By Amar’e Stoudemire
Scholastic Paperbacks
Publication Date: August 1, 2012
STAT: STANDING TALL AND TALENTED BOOK #2: DOUBLE TEAM
By Amar’e Stoudemire
Scholastic Paperbacks
Publication Date: October 2012
STAT: STANDING TALL AND TALENTED BOOK #3: SLAM DUNK
By Amar’e Stoudemire
Scholastic Paperbacks
Publication Date: January 2013
STAT: STANDING TALL AND TALENTED BOOK #4: SCHOOLED
By Amar’e Stoudemire
Scholastic Paperbacks
Publication Date: August 2013
STAT: STANDING TALL AND TALENTED BOOK #5: MOST VALUABLE
By Amar’e Stoudemire
Scholastic Paperbacks
Publication Date: January 2014
In 2014 Stoudemire teamed up with his personal chef Maxcel Hardy to write Cooking with Amar’e: 100 Easy Recipes for Pros and Rookies in the Kitchen. The book is a combination of Stoudemire’s love of nutrition and his love of putting delicious meals on his family’s table. His hope is to inspire fans to become All-Stars in and out of the kitchen by staying healthy and full.
Cooking with Amar’e: 100 Easy Recipes for Pros and Rookies in the Kitchen
By Amar’e Stoudemire and Maxcel Hardy
It Books
Publication Date: June 2014
The Amar’e and Alexis Stoudemire Foundation improves the lives of at-risk youth through education opportunities.
NBA All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire is a well-respected professional basketball player who has not only left his mark on the game, but also on the community through his award-winning outreach. He is an honored member of the African country of Mali’s basketball commission and he was named Good Will Ambassador to the country of Sierra Leone. Through his Foundation, Amar’e has been able to provide needed resources for students, high school travel teams, basketball tournaments and projects abroad.
- Israeli League champion: 2017
- Israeli League Cup winner: 2016
- NBA Rookie of the Year: 2003
- NBA All-Star: 2005, 2007–11
- All-NBA First Team: 2007
- All-NBA Second Team: 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011
- NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2003
- NBA All-Star Rookie Challenge MVP: 2004
- Orlando Sentinel Florida High School Player of the Year:2002
- Florida’s Mr. Basketball:2002
- USA Today All-USA Basketball First Team:2002
- Prep Stars Recruiter’s Handbook #1 High School Player in the United States:2002
- NBA’s Community Assist Award:2008
FIBA Americas Championship Gold Medal 2007 Las Vegas Olympic Games
