Amare Focused Despite Trade Talk & Family Issues <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">From dealing with trade rumors to the arrest of his younger half-brother, Amar? Stoudemire has had to face uncertainty often this offseason. The Suns big man is doing his best not to let it affect him. ?All I can do is just stay focused (on basketball),? he said. Stoudemire addressed those issues for the first time and a few others Monday at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, where he served as the ambassador of Copa Panamericana, a soccer tournament featuring six Latin American teams. The first-team all-NBA selection, who was rumored to be involved in various deals for Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star Kevin Garnett, acknowledged there were times when he thought the speculation that he would be traded could be more than that. ?Whatever team I was going to end up with, we were definitely going to be contenders,? he said. However, he added, the Suns mostly kept him up to speed on what was true and what wasn?t. ?They all called me, (general manager) Steve Kerr, (coach) Mike D?Antoni ? from the coaching staff to certain players,? and in the end, ?there was no thought about me going anywhere.? As for his half-brother, Stoudemire said ?it?s very hard? dealing with the fact that another member of his immediate family is facing legal troubles. Marwan Williams, 18, was one of five men arrested earlier this month in connection with the drug-related slaying of a 27-year-old man at a Scottsdale hotel on July 4. Williams followed Stoudemire from Florida to Arizona when his brother was drafted in 2002. ?All I can do is say my prayers at night. ? I?m definitely going to support him and make sure he?s OK,? said Stoudemire, who added he hasn?t spoken with Williams since the July 6 arrest. Stoudemire?s mother, Carrie Stoudemire, is serving a three-year sentence for drunken driving and his older brother, Hazell Stoudemire Jr., is in a New York prison because of drug and sexual-abuse crimes. The 24-year-old said he will remain his family?s rock. ?God gave me broad shoulders so I can carry the load,? he said.</div> Source: East Valley Tribune
Tough stuff. I saw a piece on Amare before he was drafted and that really worried me when the Suns picked him, as I really felt he'd turn into another Richard Dumas, extremely talented, but big trouble. Fortunately Amare has kept himself out of trouble even though his family hasn't.
it's good to see amare is focused and everything, but he should focus on his poist game instead of perimeter game. At the USA scrimmage last night during warm ups all he was doing was shooting 3s and he even jacked one up during the game! Yikes!
