Amar'e Stoudemire hints Melo is why the Knicks never re-signed Jeremy Lin
When Jeremy Lin exploded onto the scene as a member of the New York Knicks, Linsanity didn't just sweep the nation, it was a worldwide phenomenon. And although they lost in the first round that season, the Knicks looked to be a fun, promising and star-studded team heading into the 2012-13 season with Lin, Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler and Amar'e Stoudemire. However, the Knicks failed to match Lin's "poison pill" contract with theHouston Rockets that summer and the Linsanity-era in New York ended almost as quickly as it started.
But for some like Stoudemire, Linsanity still lingers. And before facing off against his former team as a member of the Miami Heat on Sunday, Stoudemire wondered aloud and hypothesized why the Knicks didn't re-sign Lin almost four years ago.
From Marc Berman of the New York Post:
“If [Lin] stayed, it would've been cool,'' Stoudemire said. “But everyone wasn't a fan of him being a new star. So he didn't stay long. Jeremy was a great, great guy, great with teammates, worked hard. He put the work in. We were proud of him having his moment. A lot of times you got to enjoy somebody else's success. That wasn't the case for us during that stretch. You got to enjoy that and let that player enjoy himself and cherish those moments. He was becoming a star and I didn't think everyone was pleased with that.''
Berman and other New York media members believe that this was a veiled shot by Stoudemire at Anthony, who reportedly didn't like Lin stealing the spotlight away from him and urged the Knicks not to re-sign the young guard in 2012. Anthony, after hearing about Stoudemire's comments, disagreed with the media's assessment.
However, after the game, Anthony said Stoudemire was probably not talking about him.
“Wasn't that five years ago?'' Anthony said. “I don't know. I have no comment on that. If [Lin] was becoming a star, we should embrace that. We didn't embrace that? If that was the case, I'd be upset with KP [Kristaps Porzingis] right now. But I doubt he's talking about me. I highly doubt that.”
Unfortunately, Stoudemire did not offer up any clarifying comments about his early thoughts after the game so we don't really know if he was referring to Melo. But it seems like for Anthony, he is more focused on the Knicks future with Kristaps Porzingis and doesn't want to dwell in the past thinking about Linsanity.
Anthony is also still a superstar and one of the top players in the league, unlike Stoudemire, whose career has been trending downwards in the last several years due to various injuries. This may be why Stoudemire is dwelling in the past, wanting to reminiscence about when he was at his peak. Yet as Anthony says, Linsanity was several years ago, so it may be time for Stoudemire to stop trying to relive how it ended and just simply remember how glorious the whole experience was.
When Jeremy Lin exploded onto the scene as a member of the New York Knicks, Linsanity didn't just sweep the nation, it was a worldwide phenomenon. And although they lost in the first round that season, the Knicks looked to be a fun, promising and star-studded team heading into the 2012-13 season with Lin, Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler and Amar'e Stoudemire. However, the Knicks failed to match Lin's "poison pill" contract with theHouston Rockets that summer and the Linsanity-era in New York ended almost as quickly as it started.
But for some like Stoudemire, Linsanity still lingers. And before facing off against his former team as a member of the Miami Heat on Sunday, Stoudemire wondered aloud and hypothesized why the Knicks didn't re-sign Lin almost four years ago.
From Marc Berman of the New York Post:
“If [Lin] stayed, it would've been cool,'' Stoudemire said. “But everyone wasn't a fan of him being a new star. So he didn't stay long. Jeremy was a great, great guy, great with teammates, worked hard. He put the work in. We were proud of him having his moment. A lot of times you got to enjoy somebody else's success. That wasn't the case for us during that stretch. You got to enjoy that and let that player enjoy himself and cherish those moments. He was becoming a star and I didn't think everyone was pleased with that.''
Berman and other New York media members believe that this was a veiled shot by Stoudemire at Anthony, who reportedly didn't like Lin stealing the spotlight away from him and urged the Knicks not to re-sign the young guard in 2012. Anthony, after hearing about Stoudemire's comments, disagreed with the media's assessment.
However, after the game, Anthony said Stoudemire was probably not talking about him.
“Wasn't that five years ago?'' Anthony said. “I don't know. I have no comment on that. If [Lin] was becoming a star, we should embrace that. We didn't embrace that? If that was the case, I'd be upset with KP [Kristaps Porzingis] right now. But I doubt he's talking about me. I highly doubt that.”
Unfortunately, Stoudemire did not offer up any clarifying comments about his early thoughts after the game so we don't really know if he was referring to Melo. But it seems like for Anthony, he is more focused on the Knicks future with Kristaps Porzingis and doesn't want to dwell in the past thinking about Linsanity.
Anthony is also still a superstar and one of the top players in the league, unlike Stoudemire, whose career has been trending downwards in the last several years due to various injuries. This may be why Stoudemire is dwelling in the past, wanting to reminiscence about when he was at his peak. Yet as Anthony says, Linsanity was several years ago, so it may be time for Stoudemire to stop trying to relive how it ended and just simply remember how glorious the whole experience was.
