After 15 seasons, Amar’e Stoudemire retired from the NBA in 2016, and took his talents to Israel. Stoudemire would play one season in Israel before announcing his retirement from basketball last September.
However, the 35-year-old Stoudemire changed his mind. This summer Stoudemire joined the BIG3 and announced that he is looking to return to the NBA.
For Stoudemire, playing in the NBA will give him an opportunity to play the game that he loves.
“It’s for the love of the game,” Stoudemire told Paul Gant at the BIG3 Championship Game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. “I have great health still in my body, and I want to take advantage of it, so if I get a call from a team that wants me to attend training camp, and try to get on with a non-guaranteed contract, I’m down for it.”
I know it’s the BIG3, but watching Stoudemire play this summer, he still has some explosion left in his body. Now, that’s 3-on-3, so the NBA game is very different. However, based on what I saw in Brooklyn, Stoudemire might have enough to make an NBA roster.
If the NBA does not happen for Stoudemire, he is expected to play in Israel next season.
Listen below as Stoudemire talks playing in BIG3, his comeback, playing with Steve Nash, and the 2007 Suns.