The Suns retire Amar'e Stoudemire's No. 32 jersey in March 2024.
The beauty of the Steve Nash-Amar’e Stoudemire pick-and-roll was in its electrifying simplicity.
For a half-decade, Stoudemire would set a screen near the top of the key, where his Suns teammate surveyed the defense, freezing a defender with the dribble. Nash would deliver a signature, one-handed bounce pass to Stoudemire, who often finished the play with an authoritative dunk.
Opponents knew what was coming. They were often powerless.
An integral part of a dynamic offense that opened up the paint and took advantage of 3-point shooting, Stoudemire is a member of the Class of 2026 at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He will be inducted at Saturday’s ceremony in Springfield, Massachusetts.
In fitting symmetry, Stoudemire will enter the Hall at the same time as his Suns coach Mike D’Antoni, who was elected as a contributor.
“Amar’e is a big part of it without a doubt,” D’Antoni said. “Steve and Amar’e, that pick-and-roll duo, is probably one of the best. You’ve got (John) Stockton and (Karl) Malone. You have different ones through the ages. But nobody could catch a ball better than Amar’e rolling to the basket. He was like a vacuum cleaner, and no one could throw it better than Steve.”
In 14 NBA seasons, Stoudemire averaged 18.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks and shot 53.7% from the field. He posted a career-high 26.0 points per game in 2004-05 and a career-high 9.6 rebounds in 2006-07.
Stoudemire, the No. 9 overall pick by the Phoenix Suns out of high school in 2002, was the 2002-03 Rookie of the Year, made the All-Star team six times and was a five-time All-NBA selection, including first-team honors in 2006-07. He also finished sixth in MVP voting that season. The Suns were one of the best teams in the West during that era, reaching the conference finals three times and winning at least 54 games five times, including 62 in 2004-05.
After eight seasons with the Suns, Stoudemire, who won a bronze medal with Team USA at the 2004 Athens Olympics, joined the New York Knicks and had another All-NBA season in 2010-11 alongside Carmelo Anthony – with D’Antoni as coach. He also played for the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat and spent 2017-20 overseas before retiring from professional basketball.
“I would say I’m most proud of my willingness to persevere,” Stoudemire said. “Because when you play in the NBA or basketball in general, it presents challenges. And the way you handle those challenges is what shows character. When you’re persevering, you’re attacking your recovery, you’re focused on becoming better, you’re listening to the training staff, you’re watching film, you’re dedicated to the game of basketball (and) you’re sacrificing for the game of basketball.
“That is what I’m most proud of – just having that willingness to say, ‘You know what, I’m going to do whatever it takes to get back to 100%. I’m going to do whatever it takes to be in the best shape before training camp, to get off to a good start, to compete for a championship.’ And all these things add up, and it’s the end result.”
D’Antoni was an assistant coach during Stoudemire’s rookie season and was promoted to head coach early in the 2003-04 season. The following season, Phoenix acquired Steve Nash, and the creative offense D’Antoni envisioned formed in full force.
An epiphany struck D’Antoni during a season coaching Italy. He had talented players including former NBA player Antonio Davis and former European star Sasha Djordjevic. “One day I came in and just changed everything up, took out one of my leading scores, a back-to-the-basket kind of guy and put in an extra 3-point shooter and opened the floor up and let my point guard (Djordjevic) go crazy and it worked.”
Nash and Stoudemire took advantage with their pick-and-roll actions.
“Remembering back on Amar’e, so many times I would come to the timeout and just giggle,” D’Antoni said. “The rim is still shaking at how hard he just dunked the basketball. And guys are stunned. I’m looking and I’m going, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve never …” He was incredible.”
Relive some of Amar'e Stoudemire's best moments in New York as he officially retires a Knick.
Now, Stoudemire wasn’t perfect, and he didn’t make every dunk. That’s a point former NBA referee Joey Crawford, who is also going into the Basketball Hall of Fame this week, made humorously during a press conference announcing Hall electees in April.
“One day he took the ball to the basket, and he missed a dunk, which wasn’t often. I mean, that’s what he was known for,” Crawford said. “So I’m looking at him and he’s looking at me and he starts screaming. And I said, ‘Nobody even touched you.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, I know nobody touched me, but the coach doesn’t know that. If I holler at you, then he’ll holler at you and not me.’ ”
It wasn’t just dunks that elevated Stoudemire’s game. He developed a mid-range shot that made him even more difficult to defend.
“As basketball players, you always dream of being versatile and being able to express your game in a versatile way,” Stoudemire said. “And to play that way for those years in Phoenix because of Mike D’Antoni’s innovative mindset for that type of play allowed us to be very successful. And without that success, I wouldn’t be here today. To go into the Hall of Fame with Coach D’Antoni is pretty cool.”
Jeff Zillgitt has covered the NBA since 2008. You can email him at jzillgitt@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.
