Amare Stoudemire recently signed a one-day contract with the New York Knicks only to retire after playing 15 seasons in the NBA. Stoudemire spent his formative years with the Phoenix Suns where he played with former Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal and Steve Nash, who ended up finishing his career in Los Angeles.
Stoudemire decided to retire from the NBA because his style of play does not quite fit in with the direction of teams in the NBA, as analytics has encouraged teams to employ a power forward who can stretch the defense. The former All-Star will continue his basketball career in Israel, but before he moves on to his next venture he listed his all-time favorite teammates, via David Pick:
NBA notes from the Amar'e Stoudemire conference in Israel, he revealed his all-time best teammates team. pic.twitter.com/Kwe1KisyJm
— David Pick (@IAmDPick) August 9, 2016
It is only fitting that two of his favorite teammates come from his time with the Suns, which was really the highlight of his career. Stoudemire seemed to disappear from relevance once he left Steve Nash behind to play in New York, but he still had a respectable career with the Knicks.
Shaquille O’Neal is almost always mentioned in a list of all-time favorite teammates with the exception of maybe Kobe Bryant. His enormous personality and sense of humor always made him a joy to be around in the locker room.
Nash finished his career with the Lakers, but he was rarely in uniform as he was injured within the first week of his tenure in Los Angeles and never fully recovered. However, Nash has always been regarded as one of the best teammates in NBA history, as he always brought the best out of whoever he played with, especially Amare Stoudemire.