Our Fears Have Materialized, But We Can't Forget

Amar'e won't make an impact on the rest of this season, but his impact is felt on this team everyday. (Credits: Jim McIsaac)

There's two ways you can look at the "Summer of 2010" as a Knicks fan. A: It was a complete disaster. We cleared cap space for either LeBron James or Dwyane Wade and we got neither. We had to settle on Plan C (in some people's eyes Plan D, behind Chris Bosh as well). B: It was the beginning of an era of competitive basketball that would eventually coax other superstars into the limelight of Madison Square Garden or as Amar'e put it, "The Knicks are Back."Either way you looked at it, FEMA finally answered the Knicks call after the Hurricane Isiah left MSG a wasteland of atrocious contracts and sputtering play.

Throughout Amar'e's career he's been one of those odd entities that's so majestic on the offensive end, yet so awkward on defense. The 30-year-old has had one of the most up-and-down careers I've ever witnessed. From the highest of the highs averaging just about 30 points and 11 rebounds in the '04-'05 playoffs to multiple seasons being crushed by injuries to his knees, back and retina. At one point

Stoudemire was one of the most dominant offensive players in the league. A 6'9" uber-athletic, versatile scoring power forward, who was once the best pick-and-roll finisher in the NBA. Every once and a while he'd make you feel as if what he was doing was impossible, unrealistic and downright amazing. Still when that July rolled around and NBA teams were clamoring for the big name free agents, everyone was hesitant on this scoring phenom big. So Knicks threw the bank (an uninsured one) at STAT and he gladly cashed in.

Find a way to tell me the Knicks couldn't have dropped that contract on Stoudemire? You can't, not in New York, not with a chance to erase the Isiah years, not with the doors it could've possibly opened in the future. The Knicks had no choice. It wasn't their fault that LeBron was soft and didn't want to deal with the media pressure in Manhattan. It wasn't their fault that D-Wade had already established himself in Miami and had no desire (and really no reason) to leave. So they were stuck.

Maybe STAT came to New York because he wanted to be that hero, maybe he came because the Knicks were the only team to offer what he wanted, but either way STAT did every single thing right in his first season. He played his heart out and carried this Knicks team as Mike D'Antoni ran him into the ground playing him 40 minutes night and night out. Then the Knicks pulled off the oft-questioned deal to bring in Carmelo Anthony, a superstar with far greater basketball qualities than Stoudemire. What people forget is that the Knicks weren't just going to get Carmelo Anthony because they were in New York. No. Amar'e had to show him that this team had the proper pieces to contend for a championship. The first 54 games, Amar'e played the way he was supposed to, shedding blood and sweat out there on the hardwood for the team he was trying to rescue. That's why Carmelo Anthony came. That's why Tyson Chandler came. That's why Jason Kidd and J.R. Smith came. That's why Raymond Felton lost so much weight when he returned. All because STAT had shown, with his own ferocious play, that the Knicks had a chance to be really good.

Now, with the Knicks easily having their best team in 13 years, the fears surrounding Stoudemire have come to fruition. Amar'e is cooked, done, finito. He's not coming back this season, the playoffs neither and I have fears his career has reached somewhat of a crossroads between not being able to walk at age 45 and trying to come back and help this team next year. Knowing the warrior that Amar'e is, he'll be back and then soon enough back on the IR. The worst is on the horizon folks.

Yet that doesn't mean we can get angry at Stoudemire or that we can blame him for all the bad that happens in the final years of his contract. We have no right to despise a guy who went out and played his heart out every game of his first season and a majority of the last two seasons. He created this beast. He resurrected basketball in New York. He reignited the Garden. And now he has to watch this ship go forward, probably swelling with anger about his current situation, from the sidelines. His bad knees, back and retina aren't his fault, so remove him from the blame game.

Carmelo has the keys to this vehicle. We all know when he came here that he'd takeover this team and that's exactly what happened. But if it wasn't for Stoudemire, Carmelo and co. never would have come to the Mecca. There would've been no championship aspirations, no deep playoff runs, no legitimate excitement. And yes, this injury probably eliminates most of those things. However if the Knicks somehow magically recover from this misfortune, defy odds, dethrone LeBron and win the title, it will all come back to Amar'e. He ignited this flame, now it's on 'Melo to turn it into a full blown forest fire.