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On ESPN's Page 2, Bill Simmons was ranking the top 50 players in the NBA and he wrote this:
20. Amare Stoudemire
I'd like to introduce a fake character called "Generic NBA Guy Who Knows Things," a distorted compilation of everyone in NBA circles who talks to me off the record. Here's GNGWNT on Amare these past four months:
October: "Amare is gonna have a big year. Huge, huge year. He likes the spotlight. New York will be good for him. He's dumb enough to think he's as big a star as LeBron or Wade. You need that attitude to succeed in New York."
November: "I told you!"
December: "D'Antoni is running Amare into the ground. His knees won't hold up. You don't write about coaches putting themselves above their players nearly enough, Simmons. D'Antoni is coaching for his next job; he doesn't care about Amare's availability in 2014. Did you see the Detroit game? Amare played 54 minutes in double-OT, then averaged 41 the next 10 games. And when his knees go, everyone will blame Dolan and Donnie for spending too much money on him."
January: "You see Amare's numbers this month? D'Antoni finally cut his minutes but it was too late -- his game went in the tank; 45 percent shooting? He hasn't been under 50 percent for an entire month since he was in junior high.
February: "I feel bad for Carmelo. He killed his legacy in Denver to get to the Knicks, and by the time he gets there, Amare will be cheering him on in $5,000 suits every night while D'Antoni is working for you guys on Friday nights arguing with Jon Barry. Mark my words, the MVP of the 2013 Knicks is going to be either Mozgov or Amare's tailor."
(And that concludes this week's episode of "Turd In The Knicks Fan Punch Bowl!" Don't blame me, blame Mike D'Antoni -- the guy who apparently forgot that Stoudemire's knees are so bad that the Knicks couldn't get his contract insured, then played him 576 minutes in 14 games over a four-week span. He hasn't been quite the same since. It's true.)