name	Tony Battie
position	Power forward/Center
height ft	6
height in	11
weight lb	240
nationality	American
birth date	February 11, 1976
birth place	Dallas, Texas
high school	South Oak Cliff
college	Texas Tech
draft round	1
draft pick	5
draft year	1997
draft team	Denver Nuggets
career start	1997
teams	Denver Nuggets (1997–1998) Boston Celtics (1998–2003) Cleveland Cavaliers (2003–2004) Orlando Magic (2004–2009) New Jersey Nets (2009–2010) Philadelphia 76ers (2010–2011) }}

Demetrius Antonio Battie (born February 11, 1976 in Dallas, Texas) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Philadelphia 76ers.

High school and college career

Battie attended South Oak Cliff High School in Dallas and played college basketball for the Texas Tech Red Raiders where he ended his career as the school all-time leader in blocked shots with 162 blocks.

NBA career

Battie was drafted fifth overall by the Denver Nuggets in the 1997 NBA Draft where he played one season. He then played for the Boston Celtics. He remained with the Celtics for six years before moving on to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers traded Battie to the Orlando Magic for Drew Gooden and Anderson Varejão. On June 25, 2009, he was traded to the New Jersey Nets along with Rafer Alston and Courtney Lee in exchange for Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson. In July, 2010 Battie signed a contract with Philadelphia 76ers as a free agent.

Other

On September 25, 2000, Battie, along with his brother, saved Battie's teammate Paul Pierce by rushing him to a nearby hospital after a near-fatal stabbing.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 1997–98 | align="left" | Denver | 65 || 49 || 23.2 || .446 || .214 || .702 || 5.4 || .9 || .8 || 1.1 || 8.4 |- | align="left" | 1998–99 | align="left" | Boston | 50 || 15 || 22.4 || .519 || .000 || .672 || 6.0 || 1.1 || .6 || 1.4 || 6.7 |- | align="left" | 1999–00 | align="left" | Boston | 82 || 4 || 18.4 || .477 || .125 || .675 || 5.0 || .8 || .6 || .9 || 6.6 |- | align="left" | 2000–01 | align="left" | Boston | 40 || 25 || 21.1 || .537 || .000 || .638 || 5.8 || .4 || .7 || 1.5 || 6.5 |- | align="left" | 2001–02 | align="left" | Boston | 74 || 73 || 24.6 || .541 || .000 || .677 || 6.5 || .5 || .8 || .9 || 6.9 |- | align="left" | 2002–03 | align="left" | Boston | 67 || 62 || 25.1 || .539 || .200 || .746 || 6.5 || .7 || .5 || 1.2 || 7.3 |- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Boston | 23 || 6 || 21.8 || .479 || 1.000 || .697 || 5.1 || .9 || .3 || .9 || 5.9 |- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Cleveland | 50 || 1 || 19.5 || .427 || .125 || .768 || 4.8 || .7 || .4 || .9 || 5.4 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Orlando | 81 || 32 || 23.4 || .460 || .000 || .723 || 5.6 || .5 || .4 || 1.0 || 4.9 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Orlando | 82 || 82 || 27.0 || .507 || .000 || .664 || 5.6 || .6 || .6 || .8 || 7.9 |- | align="left" | 2006–07 | align="left" | Orlando | 66 || 66 || 23.9 || .489 || .000 || .675 || 5.2 || .5 || .4 || .4 || 6.1 |- | align="left" | 2008–09 | align="left" | Orlando | 77 || 3 || 15.6 || .489 || .222 || .659 || 3.6 || .4 || .3 || .3 || 4.8 |- | align="left" | 2009-10 | align="left" | New Jersey | 15 || 0 || 8.9 || .350 || .250 || .700 || 1.5 || .2 || .3 || .1 || 2.4 |- | align="left" | 2010-11 | align="left" | Philadelphia | 38 || 0 || 9.9 || .469 || .667 || .571 || 2.6 || .3 || .1 || .4 || 2.6 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 810 || 418 || 21.4 || .490 || .164 || .688 || 5.2 || .6 || .5 || .9 || 6.2

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 2001–02 | align="left" | Boston | 16 || 16 || 27.7 || .488 || .000 || .619 || 7.6 || .8 || .6 || 1.9 || 6.1 |- | align="left" | 2002–03 | align="left" | Boston | 10 || 10 || 21.3 || .564 || .000 || .500 || 4.9 || .5 || .4 || 1.4 || 6.6 |- | align="left" | 2006–07 | align="left" | Orlando | 4 || 4 || 21.8 || .389 || .000 || .250 || 4.0 || .3 || .0 || .0 || 3.8 |- | align="left" | 2008–09 | align="left" | Orlando | 21 || 0 || 6.1 || .467 || .000 || .600 || 1.0 || .1 || .0 || .1 || 2.1 |- | align="left" | 2010–11 | align="left" | Philadelphia | 5 || 0 || 7.6 || .429 || .000 || .500 || 2.0 || .0 || .0 || .6 || 1.4 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 56 || 30 || 16.2 || .493 || .000 || .550 || 3.9 || .4 || .2 || .9 || 4.1

References

External links

Category:1976 births Category:Living people Category:American basketball players Category:Basketball players from Texas Category:Boston Celtics players Category:Centers (basketball) Category:Cleveland Cavaliers players Category:Denver Nuggets draft picks Category:Denver Nuggets players Category:Orlando Magic players Category:New Jersey Nets players Category:Sportspeople from Dallas, Texas Category:Power forwards (basketball) Category:Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball players Category:Philadelphia 76ers players

es:Tony Battie fr:Tony Battie gl:Tony Battie hr:Tony Battie it:Tony Battie

name	Paul Pierce
position	Small forward
height ft	6
height in	7
weight lb	235
team	Boston Celtics
number	34
nationality	American
birth date	October 13, 1977
birth place	Oakland, California
college	Kansas
high school	Inglewood HS (Inglewood, California)
draft round	1
draft pick	10
draft year	1998
draft team	Boston Celtics
career start
years1	–present | team1 Boston Celtics
highlights	NBA Champion (2008) NBA Finals MVP (2008) 9× NBA All-Star (2002–2006, 2008–2011) All-NBA Second Team () 3× All-NBA Third Team (–, ) NBA All-Rookie First Team () NBA Three-Point Shootout champion (2010) }}

Paul Anthony Pierce (born October 13, 1977), also known as The Truth, is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the NBA. He earned First Team All-America honors in his junior year at Kansas, and has been a starter every season since being selected by the Celtics with the 10th overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft. He is a nine-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA team selection and also led Boston to the NBA Finals in 2008, and 2010, winning the 2008 NBA Finals. He was named the 2008 NBA Finals MVP in his first trip to the NBA Finals. Pierce also is one of only three Celtics, alongside Larry Bird and John Havlicek, who have scored over 20,000 points in their career with the Celtics alone.

High school

Pierce was raised in Inglewood, California where he was the star of Inglewood High School's basketball team during his junior and senior years. He also participated in the 1995 McDonald's All-American Game alongside future NBA stars Kevin Garnett, Stephon Marbury, Vince Carter, and Antawn Jamison, and was a contestant in the game's Slam Dunk Contest, which was won by Carter.

College career

Pierce averaged 16.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in his three seasons at the University of Kansas, where he majored in Crime and Delinquency Studies, and earned MVP honors in the Big 12 Conference Tournament in both 1997 and 1998. Pierce played for Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams at Kansas. He entered the NBA Draft after his junior year and was selected with the 10th overall pick in the first round of the 1998 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics.

NBA career

After his NBA debut, Pierce's ability to score, rebound and play defense, and a healthy dose of late-game heroics led to his emergence as a top player in the Eastern Conference. Along with forward Antoine Walker, Pierce led the Celtics to the playoffs in 2002 for the first time in seven years and on to the Eastern Conference Finals. In the historic Game 3 of that series, he led the Celtics to the biggest fourth-quarter comeback in NBA playoff history. Pierce scored 19 of his 28 point total during the fourth quarter, and the Celtics recovered from a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the New Jersey Nets.

Pierce has averaged 22.2 points per game over his 13-year NBA career and is an 9-time NBA All-Star. Trade rumors involving Pierce swirled when Danny Ainge returned as the Executive Director of Basketball Operations in May 2003. Ainge laid most of these rumors to rest in the 2006 off-season by signing Pierce to a 3-year, $59 million contract extension. Ironically, Pierce is the only player left from the moment Ainge took over.

Pierce has often played his best games against the best individual competition, such as LeBron James, Tracy McGrady, and Kobe Bryant. For instance, Pierce scored a career high 50 points in a loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers on February 15, 2006. After the game, James stated that he feels that Pierce is the top at the position in the Eastern Conference.

2005–06 season

In the 2005-06 NBA season, Pierce had the highest points-per-shot average among the top 30 scorers in the league, indicating that he is an efficient and consistent player. On March 8, 2006, Pierce extended his franchise-record streak of 30-point games at 8. On March 7, he scored seven points in overtime to beat the Washington Wizards on a "buzzer beater", and the next night the Celtics eked out a victory against Philadelphia on the strength of two late-game improbable shots by Pierce, one a three-pointer, the other an off-balance "buzzer beater" for the win. He scored at least 30 points for the 13th time in 14 games (between February 4 and March 12), the best such stretch in Celtics history.

2006–07 season

He followed up this stellar season with an injury-riddled 2006–07 campaign that saw him miss the first significant stretch of games in his career, due to a stress reaction in his foot. In spite of this injury, he still managed to put up his usual stellar numbers in the 47 games in which he saw action. But the Celtics, during that season, would have an 18-game losing streak and one of the worst seasons in franchise history, going 24–58.

2007–08 season

Prior to the 2007–08 season, he expressed great excitement at the Celtics' acquisitions of fellow All-Stars Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, and at the chance to contend for a championship. He slimmed down to his college weight of and vowed to pay more attention to defense, as he would not have to carry the offense anymore.

On April 28, 2008, Pierce was fined $25,000 by the NBA for an alleged menacing gesture after falling to the ground and being taunted by Al Horford in Game 3 of the first round in the 2008 Playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks on April 26, 2008. Sources claimed this gesture was a gang-related hand sign, but Danny Ainge, general manager of the Celtics, stated that Pierce has been repeatedly doing it before and that it was not gang-related, but rather a symbol used within the team. Pierce himself denied it, adding that his foundation was committed to helping urban youth keep away from gangs.

On May 18, 2008, Pierce recorded the second-highest point total in franchise history in a Game 7 with 41 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers, as the Celtics advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. On June 5, 2008, in Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, Pierce was injured in the third quarter and was carried off the court in serious pain. However, he came back to the court only a few minutes later to spark the Celtics with 15 points in the third quarter en route to a 98–88 victory. He went on to lead the Celtics to their 17th championship after defeating the Los Angeles Lakers four games to two. Pierce was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player after the Celtics' 131–92 victory in Game 6 on June 17, 2008.

Not long after winning the championship, Pierce was asked, "Is Kobe (Kobe Bryant) really the best player in the world?" Pierce responded by saying, "I don't think Kobe is the best player. I'm the best player. There's a line that separates having confidence and being conceited. I don't cross that line but I have a lot of confidence in myself." The quote drew minor controversy.

2008–09 season

Pierce and the Celtics looked to repeat as world champions during the 2008-09 NBA season. Pierce missed only one game the entire season, led the team in scoring and was named to the 2009 NBA All-Star Game. Despite Pierce's success, with Kevin Garnett hurt the Celtics lost in the second round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs.

2009–10 season

At the 2010 NBA All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Pierce became the first Celtic since Larry Bird to win the Three-Point Shootout.

In game 3 of the first round between the Celtics and Miami Heat in the 2010 NBA Playoffs, Pierce hit a 21-foot jumper at the buzzer to beat Miami 100–98, and give the Celtics a 3–0 series lead.

On June 29, 2010, Pierce opted out of his contract and triggered his early termination contract to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2010. However, on July 2, Pierce and the Celtics verbally agreed to a four-year extension keeping him in Boston through the 2013–14 season.

2010–11 season

On November 3, 2010, during a game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Pierce scored his 20,000th career point on a free throw, becoming the third person in Celtics history to reach that milestone solely in a Celtics uniform.

Stabbing incident

On September 25, 2000, Pierce was stabbed 11 times in the face, neck, and back and had a bottle smashed over his head while at the Buzz Club, a late night dance club in Boston's theatre district. He had to undergo lung surgery to repair the damage. Nevertheless, Pierce was the only Celtic to start all 82 games in the 2000–01 season. Also, witnesses say that Pierce was attempting to separate the fighters when he was stabbed. Tony Battie, Pierce's teammate at the time, along with Battie’s brother, saved him by rushing him to a nearby hospital after the near-fatal stabbing.

International

Pierce was a member of the US national team for the 2002 FIBA World Championship, starting all nine games and averaging 19.8 ppg. Pierce was also selected for the United States National Basketball team for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, but did not compete because of minor off-season surgery.

Nickname

His nickname, The Truth, was accorded to him by Shaquille O'Neal. After a Lakers' victory over the Celtics in 2001, O'Neal pulled a Boston reporter over and gestured toward his notepad. "Take this down", said O'Neal. "My name is Shaquille O'Neal and Paul Pierce is the [expletive] truth. Quote me on that and don't take nothing out. I knew he could play, but I didn't know he could play like this. Paul Pierce is the truth."

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 1998–99 | align="left" | Boston | 48 || 47 || 34.0 || .439 || .412 || .713 || 6.4 || 2.4 || 1.7 || 1.0 || 16.5 |- | align="left" | 1999–00 | align="left" | Boston | 73 || 72 || 35.4 || .442 || .343 || .798 || 5.4 || 3.0 || 2.1 || .9 || 19.5 |- | align="left" | 2000–01 | align="left" | Boston | 82 || 82 || 38.0 || .454 || .383 || .745 || 6.4 || 3.1 || 1.7 || .8 || 25.3 |- | align="left" | 2001–02 | align="left" | Boston | 82 || 82 || 40.3 || .442 || .404 || .809 || 6.9 || 3.2 || 1.9 || 1.0 || 26.1 |- | align="left" | 2002–03 | align="left" | Boston | 79 || 79 || 39.2 || .416 || .302 || .802 || 7.3 || 4.4 || 1.8 || .8 || 25.9 |- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Boston | 80 || 80 || 38.7 || .402 || .299 || .819 || 6.5 || 5.1 || 1.6 || .6 || 23.0 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Boston | 82 || 82 || 36.1 || .455 || .370 || .822 || 6.6 || 4.2 || 1.6 || .5 || 21.6 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Boston | 79 || 79 || 39.0 || .471 || .354 || .772 || 6.7 || 4.7 || 1.4 || .4 || 26.8 |- | align="left" | 2006–07 | align="left" | Boston | 47 || 46 || 37.0 || .439 || .389 || .796 || 5.9 || 4.1 || 1.0 || .3 || 25.0 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Boston | 80 || 80 || 35.9 || .464 || .392 || .843 || 5.1 || 4.5 || 1.3 || .4 || 19.6 |- | align="left" | 2008–09 | align="left" | Boston | 81 || 81 || 37.5 || .457 || .391 || .830 || 5.6 || 3.6 || 1.0 || .3 || 20.5 |- | align="left" | 2009–10 | align="left" | Boston | 71 || 71 || 34.0 || .472 || .414 || .852 || 4.4 || 3.1 || 1.2 || .4 || 18.3 |- | align="left" | 2010–11 | align="left" | Boston | 80 || 80 || 34.7 || .497 || .374 || .860 || 5.4 || 3.3 || 1.0 || .6 || 18.9 |-class="sortbottom" | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 964 || 961 || 37.0 || .448 || .369 || .805 || 6.1 || 3.8 || 1.5 || .6 || 22.2 |-class="sortbottom" | align="left" | All-Star | align="left" | | 9 || 0 || 15.3 || .488 || .179 || .727 || 2.7 || 2.0 || 1.3 || .0 || 10.3

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 2002 | align="left" | Boston | 16 || 16 || 42.0 || .403 || .288 || .764 || 8.6 || 4.1 || 1.7 || 1.2 || 24.6 |- | align="left" | 2003 | align="left" | Boston | 10 || 10 || 44.5 || .399 || .356 || .863 || 9.0 || 6.7 || 2.1 || .8 || 27.1 |- | align="left" | 2004 | align="left" | Boston | 4 || 4 || 40.5 || .342 || .294 || .839 || 8.8 || 2.5 || 1.2 || 1.0 || 20.8 |- | align="left" | 2005 | align="left" | Boston | 7 || 7 || 39.6 || .505 || .259 || .868 || 7.7 || 4.6 || 1.9 || 1.4 || 22.9 |- | align="left" | 2008 | align="left" | Boston | 26 || 26 || 38.1 || .441 || .361 || .802 || 5.0 || 4.6 || 1.1 || .3 || 19.7 |- | align="left" | 2009 | align="left" | Boston | 14 || 14 || 39.7 || .430 || .333 || .842 || 5.8 || 3.1 || 1.1 || .4 || 21.0 |- | align="left" | 2010 | align="left" | Boston | 24 || 24 || 38.8 || .438 || .392 || .824 || 6.0 || 3.4 || 1.0 || .6 || 18.8 |- | align="left" | 2011 | align="left" | Boston | 9 || 9 || 38.1 || .459 || .447 || .882 || 5.0 || 2.8 || 1.3 || .4 || 20.8 |-class="sortbottom" | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 110 || 110 || 39.9 || .428 || .349 || .822 || 6.5 || 4.0 || 1.3 || .7 || 21.4

Career highlights

NBA

NBA Champion: 2008

NBA Finals MVP: 2008

All-NBA Second Team: 2009

3-time All-NBA Third Team: 2002, 2003, 2008

9-time NBA All-Star: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

NBA All-Rookie First Team: 1999

NBA 3-Point Contest Winner: 2010

NBA regular-season leader, total points: 2002 (2144)

NBA regular-season leader, free throws made: 2003 (604)

College

Named First Team All-America by the Associated Press after his junior year at the University of Kansas.

Named Big Eight Freshman of the Year in 1995–96.

MVP of the Big 12 Conference Tournament in both 1997 and 1998.

Member of the All-Big 12 First Team in 1997–1998.

Other

Member of the US national team in the 2002 FIBA World Championship.

Member of the 2006 USA Basketball World Championship Team (Did not play due to an elbow injury).

Boston Celtics franchise records

Scored 30 or more points in a franchise record 12 consecutive games

Most points scored in a game at TD Banknorth Garden: 50 (February 15, 2006 vs. Cleveland Cavaliers).

Most points scored in a half (including Overtime): 46 (December 1, 2001 2nd Half vs. New Jersey Nets).

Most points scored in an overtime period: 13 (December 1, 2001 vs. New Jersey Nets)

Most three-point field goals made, career: 1578 Most three-point field goals attempted, career: 4273 Most free throws made, career: 5808 Most free throws attempted, career: 7212

Most free throws made in one game: 20 (November 2, 2002 vs. New York Knicks).

Most free throws attempted in one game: 24 (November 5, 2005 vs. New York Knicks).

Most free throws made in one half: 14 (March 2, 2001 vs. Utah Jazz).

Most free throws made in one season: 627 (2005–2006, breaking his own record of 604 set in 2002–2003). Most free throws attempted in one season: 812 (2005–2006, breaking his own record of 753 set in 2002–2003).

Most steals in one game: 9 (tied with Larry Bird; December 3, 1999 vs. Miami Heat).

Most free throws made without a miss, playoffs: 21 (Game 1, 2003 Eastern Conference First Round).

Most points scored in one half, playoffs: 32 (Game 4, 2003 Eastern Conference First Round vs. Indiana Pacers).

Highest scoring average through one month: 33.5 PPG (February 2006).

Only Celtics player in franchise history to lead the NBA in total points scored in a season, scoring 2,144 points in 2001–2002.

Career scoring average: 22.2 PPG, 2nd only to Larry Bird. Currently is the Celtics 3rd all time leading scorer, behind only John Havlicek and Larry Bird.

Triple-doubles

! Number	! Date	! Opponent	! Box Score	Point (basketball)>Points	Rebound (basketball)>Rebounds	Assist (basketball)>Assists	Steal (basketball)>Steals	Block (basketball)>Blocks	! Notes
1		Orlando Magic
2		Milwaukee Bucks
3		New Orleans Hornets
4		New Jersey Nets
5		Philadelphia 76ers
6		Indiana Pacers

See also

List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career steals leaders

List of National Basketball Association career turnovers leaders

List of National Basketball Association career 3-point scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff turnovers leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff 3-point scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association players with 9 or more steals in a game

Notes

External links

University of Kansas Men's Basketball

USA National Team

Paul Pierce Official Site

RedsArmy.com: The Voice Of Celtics Fans

Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:American basketball players Category:Basketball players from California Category:Boston Celtics draft picks Category:Boston Celtics players Category:Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball players Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:NBA Finals MVP Award winners Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:People from Inglewood, California Category:People from Middlesex County, Massachusetts Category:Sportspeople from Oakland, California Category:Small forwards Category:Shooting guards Category:Survivors of stabbing Category:United States men's national basketball team members

ca:Paul Pierce da:Paul Pierce de:Paul Pierce et:Paul Pierce es:Paul Pierce fr:Paul Pierce gl:Paul Pierce ko:폴 피어스 hy:Փոլ Փիրս hr:Paul Pierce id:Paul Pierce is:Paul Pierce it:Paul Pierce he:פול פירס lv:Pols Pīrss lt:Paul Pierce hu:Paul Pierce nl:Paul Pierce ja:ポール・ピアース pl:Paul Pierce pt:Paul Pierce ru:Пирс, Пол simple:Paul Pierce sk:Paul Pierce sr:Пол Пирс sh:Paul Pierce fi:Paul Pierce sv:Paul Pierce ta:பால் பியர்ஸ் tr:Paul Pierce zh:保罗·皮尔斯

team	New York Knicks
position	Small forward
number	7
height ft	6
height in	8
weight lb	228
birth date	May 29, 1984
birth place	Brooklyn, New York
high school	Towson CatholicOak Hill Academy
college	Syracuse (2002-2003)
career start	2003
nationality	American
draft round	1
draft pick	3
draft team	Denver Nuggets
draft year	2003
years1	– | team1 Denver Nuggets
years2	–present | team2 New York Knicks
highlights	4× NBA All-Star (2007–2008, 2010–2011) All-NBA Second Team () 3× All-NBA Third Team (–, ) NBA Rookie Challenge MVP (2005) NBA All-Rookie First Team () NCAA Basketball Tournament MOP (2003) NCAA Champion (2003) }}

Carmelo Kiyan Anthony (born May 29, 1984), nicknamed "Melo", is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After a successful high school career at Towson Catholic High School and Oak Hill Academy, Anthony attended Syracuse University for college where he led the Orangemen to their first National Championship in 2003. He earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award and was named the Most Valuable Player of NCAA East Regional. After one season at Syracuse University, Anthony left college to enter the 2003 NBA Draft, where he was selected as the third pick by the Nuggets. He was traded to the Knicks several days prior to the 2011 trade deadline.

Since entering the NBA, Anthony has emerged as one of the most well-known and popular players in the league. He was named to the All-Rookie team, to the All-Star team four times and to the All-NBA team four times. Anthony led the Nuggets to two division titles and to the playoffs every year from 2004 to 2010. In 2009, he helped the Nuggets advance to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1985. As a member of the USA National Team, Anthony won a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics and a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics.

Early life and high school

Anthony was born in the Red Hook projects in Brooklyn, New York City. He was born to a Puerto Rican father and an African American mother. His father, after whom he is named, died of cancer when Anthony was two years old. When Anthony turned eight, his family moved to Baltimore, where he honed not only his athletic skills, but his survival skills. Kenny Minor, one of Anthony's childhood friends, said, "from drugs, to killings, to anything you can name that goes on in the roughest parts of town, we've seen and witnessed hands on. Those are the things that teach you toughness and keep you mentally focused on your goals." Sports would serve as an important diversion from the violence and drug dealing that were pervasive in the housing projects a few blocks from the homes of Anthony and his friends.

Anthony commuted to Towson Catholic High School for his first three years of high school. During the summer of 2000, Anthony grew five inches into the frame of a 6-5 swingman. He suddenly became one of the area’s top players and made a name for himself in the area, being named ''The Baltimore Sun'''s metro player of the year in 2001, as well as Baltimore Catholic League player of the year. During his sophomore year, he averaged 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Towson Catholic surged to a record of 26–3 and finished third in the state tournament. Anthony enjoyed a successful high school basketball career as a junior, almost doubling his numbers in scoring and rebounds, averaging 23 points and 10.3 rebounds. Despite his successful year, Anthony was distracted from all attention and was too eager to listen to friends who guaranteed him he was destined for NBA stardom. Anthony began missing classes and was suspended on several occasions. He was barely registered a blip on the radar of pro scouts with his skinny frame and lacking strength and felt that he was not ready for the physical demands on the NBA. In the end, Towson Catholic fell short of the state title, although he was named Baltimore's County Player of the Year, All-Metropolitan Player of the Year and Baltimore Catholic League Player of the Year.

After his junior year, Division I-A coaches were lined up to recruit Anthony to a school on the East Coast, which included University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Syracuse University. In contrast to contemporary prep-to-pro players like Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady or Amar'e Stoudemire, he decided to declare early and announce that he would attend Syracuse University before his senior year. Although Anthony's grades dropped under a C average and his scores on the ACT scores below acceptable standards, he knew that he needed to improve in the classroom to qualify academically for Syracuse. For his senior year, his mother considered transferring him to a different school. Anthony first thought of Virginia's Hargrave Military Academy but after talking to Steve Smith, the head coach at basketball powerhouse Oak Hill Academy, he eventually transferred to Oak Hill Academy in Virginia—winner of the ''USA Today'' 2000–01 high school championship—for his senior campaign. During the summer of 2001, Anthony led an AAU Baltimore Select team to the Final Four of the Adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada. Anthony attracted attention from the NBA by averaging 25.2 points a game in the tournament, which was also attended by Amar'e Stoudemire (who was already being touted as a future lottery pick).

Anthony played at the USA Basketball Youth Development Festival where he helped the East Team win the silver medal. He tied LeBron James for the tournament scoring lead at 24 points per game and shot 66 percent from the field. It was there that Anthony and James struck up a friendship. Oak Hill Academy entered the 2001–02 campaign boasting a 42-game winning streak. Oak Hill won the inaugural Nike Academy National Invitational in Texas and ended the season ranked third in the country at 32–1. Their only loss was in a rematch against Mater Dei, which ended their unbeaten streak at 67. He averaged 22 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists during his senior year was named to the McDonald's All-American Team where he scored 19 points. He also won the ''Sprite Slam Jam'' dunk contest prior to the McDonald’s All-American game and named a ''USA Today'' All-USA First Team and a Parade First-Team All-American. Due to his struggles with the ACT, his family and friends wondered whether Anthony would forget about college and move on to the NBA. He had yet to produce the minimum score of 18, however, in late April Anthony got a 19 and decided to stick with college and prepared for his freshman year at Syracuse.

College career

Anthony played one season at Syracuse University, during the 2002–2003 season, where he averaged 22.1 points (16th in the NCAA, 4th in the Big East) and 10.0 rebounds (19th in the NCAA, 3rd in the Big East, 1st among NCAA Division I freshmen). He helped guide the Orangemen to their first ever NCAA tournament title in 2003. He led the team in scoring, rebounding, minutes played (36.4 minutes per game), field goals made and free throws made and attempted. Anthony's 33-point outburst against the University of Texas in the Final Four set an NCAA tournament record for most points by a freshman. In the championship game against the University of Kansas, Anthony had 20 points and 10 rebounds. For his efforts during the NCAA tournament, Anthony earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player Award. Afterwards, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim described Anthony as "[…] by far, the best player in college basketball. It wasn't even close. Nobody was even close to him last year in college basketball. That's the bottom line".

Anthony said that he originally planned to stay at Syracuse for two to three seasons, but having already accomplished everything he set out to do, he chose to abandon his collegiate career (with Boeheim's blessing) and declared himself eligible for the 2003 NBA Draft. Some of Anthony's highlights in his time with Syracuse include being named Second-Team All-American by the Associated Press as a freshman, leading his team to a 30–5 record, capturing the school's first ever NCAA title and being the consensus pick for NCAA Freshman of the Year. He was also named to the All-Big East First Team and was the consensus selection for the Big East Conference Freshman of the Year.

NBA career

Denver Nuggets (2003–2011)

Rookie season

Anthony's NBA career began on June 26, 2003, when he was chosen in the first round (3rd overall) of the 2003 NBA Draft draft by the Denver Nuggets. He was selected behind LeBron James (1st overall, Cleveland Cavaliers) and Darko Miličić (2nd overall, Detroit Pistons). He made his NBA regular season debut on October 29, 2003, in an 80–72 home win against the San Antonio Spurs. Anthony finished the night with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. In just his sixth career NBA game (November 7 versus the Los Angeles Clippers), Anthony scored 30 points, becoming the second youngest player in NBA history to score 30 points or more in a game (19 years, 151 days; Kobe Bryant was the youngest). It was the fewest number of games a Nuggets rookie took to score 30 points in a contest since the ABA-NBA merger. On February 9, 2004, against the Memphis Grizzlies, Anthony became the third-youngest player to reach the 1,000-point plateau in NBA history with a 20-point effort in an 86–83 win.

On February 13, 2004, Anthony participated in the Got Milk? Rookie Challenge at All-Star Weekend. On March 30, 2004, he scored 41 points against the Seattle SuperSonics to set a new Denver Nuggets franchise record for most points in a game by a rookie. He also became the second-youngest player (19 years, 305 days) to score at least 40 points in a game in NBA history. After winning the Rookie of the Month award for the Western Conference in the month of April, Anthony became the fourth player in NBA history to capture all six of the Rookie of the Month awards in a season. The others to do so were David Robinson, Tim Duncan and fellow rookie LeBron James. Anthony was also named NBA Player of the Week twice (March 10, 2004 – March 14, 2004 and April 6, 2004 – April 10, 2004) and was a unanimous NBA All-Rookie First Team selection. Anthony averaged 21.0 ppg during the season, which was more than any other rookie. Anthony was second in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting, finishing as the runner-up to the Cavaliers rookie standout, James.

Anthony was a major part in the turn around of the Denver Nuggets from league laughingstock to playoff contender. In the season before Anthony was drafted by the team, the Nuggets finished with a 17–65 record, which tied them for worst in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers. They finished the 2003–04 campaign with a 43–39 overall record, qualifying them as the eighth seed for the post-season. Anthony became the first NBA rookie to lead a playoff team in scoring since David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs during the 1989–90 season. In the 2004 NBA Playoffs, the Nuggets faced the top-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round. In Anthony's first career playoff game, he had 19 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, in a 106–92 loss at Minnesota. The Timberwolves eliminated the Nuggets in five games.

2004–05 season

In Anthony's second season, he averaged 20.8 points per game, ranking him 19th in the NBA. Anthony placed 16th in the NBA for points per 48 minutes. On December 4, 2004, versus the Miami Heat, Anthony became the third-youngest player in NBA history to reach 2,000 career points. Only James and Bryant were younger when they reached that plateau. Anthony played again in the Got Milk? Rookie Challenge, this time suiting up for the sophomore squad. In front of his home fans of Denver (who were hosting the 2005 All-Star Game), Anthony scored a game-high 31 points to go along with 5 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals, en route to becoming the MVP of the game.

With Anthony's help, the Nuggets improved their season record by six games from the previous season, ending with a mark of 49–33. The Nuggets finished seventh place in the Western Conference (one spot higher than they finished the previous season). Denver faced the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the first round, winning the first game in San Antonio, 93–87. However, the Spurs won the next four games, eliminating the Nuggets from the playoffs.

2005–06 season

Anthony played and started in 80 games during the 2005–06 season. He averaged 26.5 ppg (8th, NBA), 2.7 apg, 4.9 rpg and 1.1 spg. His eighth place finish in NBA scoring was the highest finish by a Denver player since the 1990–91 season, when Nuggets guard Michael Adams finished the season sixth in NBA scoring. On November 23, 2005, with the Nuggets facing the two-time defending Eastern Conference Champion Detroit Pistons, Anthony hauled down his 1,000th career rebound. A month later, Anthony recorded a then career-high 45 points in a losing effort against the Philadelphia 76ers. On March 17, 2006, versus the Memphis Grizzlies, he scored 33 points to push his career point total over the 5,000 mark. Also, in doing so, he became the second youngest player to accomplish that feat (behind James). As the month of March came to a close, the Nuggets finished 11–5, and Anthony was named as the NBA Player of the Month for March. He also took home Player of the Week honors for March 13, 2006 – March 19, 2006.

During the season, Anthony made five game-winning shots in the last five seconds: at Houston on January 8, 2006; at home versus Phoenix on January 10; at Minnesota on February 24; at Indiana on March 15; at home versus the Los Angeles Lakers on April 6. All five of those game-winners were made on jump shots, while the shot against Minnesota was a three-point field goal. Anthony also made a shot in the final seconds to force overtime vs. the Dallas Mavericks on January 6. He made shots in the final 22 seconds against the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 18, 2006, and the Philadelphia 76ers on March 9, which gave the Nuggets leads they would never lose. Anthony was named to the All-NBA Third Team for the season, alongside Phoenix' Shawn Marion, Houston's Yao Ming, Philadelphia's Allen Iverson and Washington's Gilbert Arenas.

The Nuggets finished the season in third place, winning the Northwest Division for the first time in Anthony's career. Denver faced the sixth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs. The Clippers held home court advantage in the series, due to ending the regular season with a better record (Denver finished 44–38; Los Angeles finished 47–35). The Clippers won the first two games of the series on their home floor. The Nuggets split their games at home in Denver (winning game three; losing game four). Denver then lost game five at Los Angeles, which eliminated the Nuggets from the playoffs. After the season, Anthony signed a 5 year, $80 million extension with the Nuggets.

2006–07 season

In the eighth game of the season (a 117–109 home win against the Toronto Raptors), Anthony tied the franchise record of six-straight 30-point games recorded by Alex English (1982–83 season). Coincidentally, Alex English witnessed Anthony tie his record as English is now an Assistant Coach with the Toronto Raptors. Anthony fell short of establishing a new record in his ninth game (a 113–109 home victory over the Chicago Bulls) on November 21, as he finished with 29 points. After the Chicago victory, Anthony again tied the club record of six-straight 30-point games, failing to break it the second time around, as he scored 24 points in his 16th game (a 98–96 home loss to the Atlanta Hawks) on December 6. During a game at Madison Square Garden on December 16, Anthony was one of many players involved in the infamous Knicks–Nuggets brawl. Footage showed Anthony laying a punch on the face of New York's Mardy Collins and subsequently backing away. As a result of his actions, Anthony was suspended for 15 games by NBA commissioner David Stern. Shortly thereafter, the Nuggets traded for Allen Iverson in a bid to form a deadly combination with Anthony. The duo didn't get to play alongside one another until a home game against the Memphis Grizzlies on January 22, which was the day Anthony was allowed to return from his 15-game suspension. Anthony finished the game with 28 points, as he and Iverson combined for 51 points.

On February 2, 2007, Anthony and fellow teammate J.R. Smith were involved in a minor car accident. Neither player was injured in the collision. The only information released by the team was that the car Smith was driving belonged to Anthony. Three days later, Anthony recorded his first career triple-double, with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, in a 113–108 loss to the Phoenix Suns. When the reserves for the Western Conference All-Star team were announced, Anthony was not included on the roster. However, with Yao Ming and Carlos Boozer out with injuries, NBA commissioner David Stern chose Anthony as a replacement (along with Josh Howard). Anthony scored 20 points with 9 rebounds in his All-Star debut. Anthony was the first Denver Nugget to be named an All-Star since Antonio McDyess in 2001.

Anthony won Player of the Week honors three times during the season (November 20 – November 26; November 27 – December 3; and February 5 – February 11), and received Player of the Month honors for April, after leading the Nuggets to a 10–1 record for the month and into sixth place in the final regular season standings of the Western Conference. Anthony finished the season as the league's second leading scorer behind Bryant, with an average of 28.9 ppg, while adding 6.0 rpg, 3.8 apg and 1.2 spg. He was named to All-NBA Third Team for the second straight year, along with Miami's Dwyane Wade, Detroit's Chauncy Billups, Minnesota's Kevin Garnett and Orlando's Dwight Howard. For the second time in three years, Anthony and the sixth-seeded Nuggets faced the third-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs. In a virtual repeat of the 2005 first round playoff matchup between the two teams, Denver won the first game in San Antonio, 95–89, only to lose the next four games. The Nuggets were eliminated in the first round for the fourth straight year. In the playoff series against the Spurs, Anthony averaged a team-high 26.8 ppg to go along with 8.6 rpg, 1.2 apg and 1.0 spg.

2007–08 season

On January 24, 2008, Anthony was named to his second consecutive NBA All-Star Game—his first as a starter. He finished as the leading vote-getter among Western Conference forwards (1,723,701 votes) and second in overall voting to Kobe Bryant (2,004,940 votes) among all Western Conference players. On February 8, Anthony scored a then career-high 49 points in a 111–100 home win over the Washington Wizards. He had a field goal percentage of .760 on a 19-of-25 shooting effort, and his shooting percentage was the second highest in the last 13 years for a player who took 25 or more shots in a game (Bryant was first with a .769 field goal percentage on a 20-of-26 shooting effort, in a 99–94 road victory over the Houston Rockets on December 21, 2000). On March 27, in a home win over the Dallas Mavericks, Anthony scored his 9,000th career point. He played in 77 games during the regular season, finishing as the NBA's fourth-leading scorer with 25.7 points per game, and had career-highs in rebounds per game (7.4) and steals per game (1.3). He tied his career-high in blocks per game (0.5), and ended the season with 3.4 assists per game, which was the second-best mark of his career.

The Nuggets finished the 2007–08 season with exactly 50 wins (50–32 overall record, tied for the third-best all-time Nuggets record since the team officially joined the NBA in 1976), following a 120–111 home victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in the last game of the season. It was the first time since the 1987-88 NBA season that the Nuggets finished with at least 50 wins in a season. Denver ended up as the 8th seed in the Western Conference of the 2008 Playoffs, and their 50 wins marked the highest win total for an 8th seed in NBA history. It also meant that for the first time in NBA history, all eight playoff seeds in a conference had at least 50 wins. The Nuggets faced the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers (57–25 overall record) in the first round of the Playoffs. The seven games separating the Nuggets overall record and the Lakers overall record is the closest margin between an eighth seed and a top seed since the NBA went to a 16-team playoff format in 1983–84. The Lakers swept the Nuggets in four games, marking the second time in NBA history that a 50-win team was swept in a best-of-seven playoff series in the first round. For the series, Anthony averaged 22.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg (playoff career-high), 2.0 apg and 0.5 spg.

2008–09 season

The 2008–09 campaign began with Allen Iverson being traded to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for guard Chauncey Billups. On December 10, 2008, in a 116–105 home win over the Timberwolves, Anthony tied George Gervin for the most points scored in one quarter in NBA history by scoring 33 points in the third quarter. Gervin had set the record when he was competing against David Thompson for the scoring title on the last day of the 1977–78 season. Anthony shot 12 of 15 (80%) in the third quarter and finished the game with 45 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. On January 4, 2009, Anthony broke a bone in his hand in a game against the Indiana Pacers. He opted to have the hand splinted rather than have surgery; his recovery time was estimated at three to four weeks. He had already missed three games in late December with a sore elbow. Anthony returned from injury and to the Nuggets starting lineup on January 30, 2009 in a game against the Charlotte Bobcats in which he scored 19 points. Anthony was suspended for one game by the Nuggets for staying on the court and refusing to leave the game after coach George Karl benched him during a game against the Pacers.

The Nuggets won the Northwest Division and placed 2nd in the Western Conference, finishing the season with a franchise record-tying 54 wins (54–28 overall). Anthony averaged 22.8 ppg and made a career high 37.1% of his shots from three-point range. After losing in 5 straight playoff appearances (2004–2008), on April 29, 2009, Anthony won his first playoff series when the Nuggets beat the New Orleans Hornets at home 107–86 where Anthony finished with a playoff career high 34 points and 4 steals. In a post-game conference Anthony said "Yeah, finally.. Took me 5 years to get that gorilla off my back, it's a great feeling." The Nuggets beat the Hornets in five games in the first round of the playoffs and proceeded to beat the Dallas Mavericks 4–1 in the conference semifinals with Anthony scoring 30 points in a solid game 5 performance. In the third game of the semifinals, Anthony made a last second three point shot to give the Nuggets the win after being down by 2 points (103–105). Denver advanced to the conference finals, but was eliminated, 4–2, by the Los Angeles Lakers on his birthday.

2009–10 season

In the opening two games of the 2009–10 season, Anthony totaled 71 points, scoring 30 points in the home opener and 41 the next night, in wins against division rivals Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers respectively. Anthony became one of three players in the Nuggets' history to open with 70 or more points through two games—tied with Nick Van Exel with 71 points—surpassed only by Alex English who did it twice, in 1985 (79) and 1988 (74). It was also only the second time since 1987 that the Nuggets started the season 2–0. In their third game, Anthony scored 42 points, a game after his 41-point explosion against the Blazers, becoming the first Nugget to have scored back-to-back 40-point games since Michael Adams did it in 1991. It was the first time they went 3–0 since 1985. In the month of November, Anthony was named the NBA player of the week and Western Conference Player of the Month, leading the Nuggets to a 12–5 start.

In the fifteenth regular season game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Anthony entered the game leading the league in points per game (30.2) and was the only player in the league to score at least 20 points in every game. He finished the game with 22 points which was his fifteenth consecutive game with at least 20 points breaking the previous franchise record of 14 straight set by English. The following game, Anthony scored a career-high 50 points in a home game against the New York Knicks while teammate Chauncey Billups added 32 points in the game, making them only the third duo in NBA history to score at least 50 and 30 points respectively. Two days later, Anthony scored 19 points in the first quarter—tying a season-high he made in the fourth quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers—in a home loss to the Timberwolves. On January 21, 2010, Anthony was named as a starter for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game leading the Western Conference ballots in votes for forwards. This was Anthony's third All-Star appearance and second as a starter. He finished the game with a team-high 27 points and 10 rebounds, in a losing effort as the team bowed to the Eastern Conference team.

In the team's first game after the All-Star Game, the Nuggets visited the Cleveland Cavaliers in a highly-anticipated game with the Cavaliers having a 13-game winning streak. While LeBron James posted a triple-double of 43 points, 13 rebounds and 15 assists, Anthony compiled 40 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists in an overtime win as Anthony nailed a jumper over the outstretched arms of James with just 1.9 seconds left in the game, ending the Cavaliers' win streak. On March 26, 2010, Anthony made a game-winning shot at the buzzer, after missing his first attempt, against the Toronto Raptors. The Nuggets concluded the 2009–10 regular season with a 53–29 record and the Northwest Division title for the second straight season facing the Utah Jazz in the first-round. In Game 1, Anthony scored a playoff-career high 42 points. This also matched a franchise-playoff high for scoring in a single playoff game, tied with Alex English. However, the Nuggets lost the series to the Utah Jazz 4–2, with Anthony averaging a playoff career-high 30.7 points per game, along with 8.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.0 steals.

2010–11 season

On November 15, 2010, Anthony had 20 points and a career-high 22 rebounds for the first 20–20 game of his career against the Phoenix Suns. He also hit game-winning jumper at the buzzer against the Bulls on November 26, 2010. In December 2010, Anthony missed five games due to the death of his sister Michelle. He returned to the lineup in a game against the Kings on January 1, 2011.

New York Knicks (2011–present)

On February 22, 2011, Anthony was traded to the New York Knicks in a multi-player deal also involving the Minnesota Timberwolves. Carmelo was traded to the Knicks with Nuggets point guard Chauncey Billups to play alongside Amare Stoudemire, who was already on the Knicks. Carmelo Anthony is wearing number 7 with the Knicks, due to his former number 15 being retired by the Knicks for Earl Monroe and Dick McGuire. Anthony's first game with the Knicks was a 114–108 win against the Milwaukee Bucks in which he scored 27 points and had 10 rebounds and an assist. In game 2 of the NBA playoffs in Boston, Anthony tied a playoff career high with 42 points and also had 17 rebounds and 6 assists in a Knicks loss. The Knicks ended up losing to the Boston Celtics in 4 games in the first round of the playoffs.

United States national team

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Anthony was one of 12 players named to the USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team in the summer of 2002. He was a member of the bronze-medal winning Team USA at the 2002 Men’s Junior World Championship held in La Asuncion, Margarita, Venezuela. He started all five contests and averaged a team-best 15.6 ppg despite playing an average of just 22.2 minutes an outing. His 6.2 rebound mark ranked second on the club. Anthony had 15 points and nine rebounds in a first-round win against Dominican Republic. He had 21 points and seven boards in 21 minutes versus Mexico, another Team USA triumph. He keyed a 75–73 victory against Argentina with a team-leading 23 points. In a two-point semifinal loss to host Venezuela, Anthony contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds. Team USA earned the bronze by beating Argentina, 71–65. The squad was coached by Oregon mentor Ernie Kent. Anthony had previous USA Basketball experience as a participant in the 2001 Youth Development Festival.

After his rookie season, Anthony was chosen as a member of the 2004 USA Olympic basketball team that won the bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He averaged 2.4 ppg and 1.6 apg. Anthony was named co-captain (along with fellow 2003 draftees LeBron James and Dwyane Wade) of Team USA at the 2006 FIBA World Championship. The team won the bronze medal. On August 23, 2006, Anthony set the U.S. scoring record in a game with 35 points against Italy in the said FIBA tournament. The record was previously held by Kenny Anderson with 34 points in 1990. Anthony was named to the FIBA World Championship All-Tournament Team, posting averages of 19.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg and 1.6 apg.

On January 16, 2006, Anthony was chosen as USA Basketball's Male Athlete of the Year after his performance at the FIBA World Championship. Anthony was also a member of Team USA during the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship. The team went undefeated, going 10–0. Anthony ended up as the tournament's second-leading scorer with a 21.2 ppg average (191 points in 9 games), which was behind Leandro Barbosa of Brazil. Anthony also added 5.2 rpg and 1.4 apg. He equalled the previous record of 28 points set by Allen Iverson in a qualifying tournament, which was later broken by James, who scored 31 points in the title-clinching win against Argentina.

Anthony was also named to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, again alongside James and Wade, with Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd among others. The team won its games by an average winning margin of 32.2 points, eliminating Australia in the quarterfinals by 31 and beating Argentina by 20 points. Anthony scored 21 points against Argentina, making 3 of 14 field goals and 13-of-13 in free throws, setting USA Olympic game records for made free throws and free throw percentage. In the gold medal game, the United States defeated 2006 World Champion Spain, with Anthony scoring 13 points. Anthony posted averages of 11.5 ppg (92 points/8 games), 4.3 rpg (34 rebounds/8 games) and 1.0 spg (8 steals/8 games).

Player profile

Anthony plays the small forward position though he is also capable of playing power forward. His scoring prowess is considered his best asset with his ability to take over any game on the offensive end; he shares the single-game NBA record for mosts points in one quarter with thirty-three. On offense, Anthony is recognized for being a prolific scorer with a variety of crafty offensive moves. Listed at 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) and 228 pounds (103 kg), he has strength and quickness to be an immediate and consistent scoring threat in the post. He also likes creating space from his defenders which allows him to step into his jump shot or put the ball on the floor and drive to the basket and get to the free throw line. Anthony is often known for being one of the premier clutch performers in the NBA; during the 2005–06 season, Anthony made five game-winning shots in the last five seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime. Dave McMenamin, a staff writer for ESPN, wrote "If you were going to choose one player to challenge Bryant for his title of Mr. Clutch, it would have to be Anthony." Despite being a prolific scorer, he has been criticized for his defense and has never been named to the NBA All-Defensive Team.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Denver | 82 || 82 || 36.5 || .426 || .322 || .777 || 6.1 || 2.8 || 1.2 || 0.5 || 21.0 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Denver | 75 || 75 || 34.8 || .431 || .266 || .796 || 5.7 || 2.6 || .9 || 0.4 || 20.8 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Denver | 80 || 80 || 36.8 || .481 || .243 || .808 || 4.9 || 2.7 || 1.1 || 0.5 || 26.5 |- | align="left" | 2006–07 | align="left" | Denver | 65 || 65 || 38.2 || .476 || .268 || .808 || 6.0 || 3.8 || 1.2 || 0.3 || 28.9 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Denver | 77 || 77 || 36.4 || .492 || .354 || .786 || 7.4 || 3.4 || 1.3 || 0.5 || 25.7 |- | align="left" | 2008–09 | align="left" | Denver | 66 || 66 || 34.3 || .443 || .371 || .793 || 6.8 || 3.4 || 1.1 || 0.4 || 22.8 |- | align="left" | 2009–10 | align="left" | Denver | 69 || 69 || 38.2 || .458 || .316 || .830 || 6.6 || 3.2 || 1.3 || 0.4 || 28.2 |- | align="left" | 2010–11 | align="left" | Denver | 50 || 50 || 35.5 || .452 || .333 || .823 || 7.6 || 2.8 || .9 || 0.6 || 25.2 |- | align="left" | 2010–11 | align="left" | New York | 27 || 27 || 36.2 || .461 || .424 || .872 || 6.7 || 3.0 || .9 || 0.6 || 26.3 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 591 || 591 || 36.4 || .459 || .320 || .806 || 6.3 || 3.1 || 1.1 || 0.5 || 24.8 |- | align="left" | All-Star | align="left" | | 4 || 3 || 24.8 || .547 || .200 || .500 || 8.3 || 1.5 || .5 || 0.3 || 18.3

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Denver | 4 || 4 || 35.8 || .328 || .182 || .800 || 8.3 || 2.8 || 1.2 || .0 || 15.0 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Denver | 5 || 5 || 36.0 || .422 || .000 || .813 || 5.4 || 2.0 || .6 || .2 || 19.2 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Denver | 5 || 5 || 38.6 || .333 || .000 || .750 || 6.6 || 2.8 || .8 || .2 || 21.0 |- | align="left" | 2006–07 | align="left" | Denver | 5 || 5 || 42.0 || .480 || .500 || .795 || 8.6 || 1.2 || 1.0 || .0 || 26.8 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Denver | 4 || 4 || 36.5 || .364 || .250 || .828 || 9.5 || 2.0 || .5 || .2 || 22.5 |- | align="left" | 2008–09 | align="left" | Denver | 16 || 16 || 38.3 || .453 || .364 || .826 || 5.8 || 4.1 || 1.8 || .6 || 27.2 |- | align="left" | 2009–10 | align="left" | Denver | 6 || 6 || 42.3 || .464 || .316 || .877 || 8.5 || 3.2 || 2.0 || .5 || 30.7 |- | align="left" | 2010–11 | align="left" | New York | 4 || 4 || 39.0 || .375 || .346 || .853 || 10.3 || 4.8 || 1.2 || .8 || 26.0 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 49 || 49 || 38.7 || .419 || .340 || .821 || 7.3 || 3.1 || 1.3 || .4 || 24.7

Awards and honors

4× All-NBA selection:

:*Second team: 2010 :*Third team: 2006, 2007, 2009

4× NBA All-Star: 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011

NBA Rookie Challenge MVP: 2005

NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2004

Bronze medal with Team USA, 2004 Summer Olympic Games

Bronze medal with Team USA, 2006 FIBA World Championship

Gold medal with Team USA, 2007 FIBA Americas Championship

Gold medal with Team USA, 2008 Summer Olympic Games

Controversies

In 2004, Anthony was cited for marijuana possession, after inspectors at Denver International Airport found marijuana in his backpack. Charges were later dropped after Anthony’s friend, James Cunningham, of St. Louis, signed an affidavit taking responsibility for the marijuana. That same year, Anthony appeared in a video entitled, ''Stop Snitchin''', which warned that residents of Baltimore who collaborated with the police would face violence. Anthony later distanced himself from this video. In 2006, Anthony’s friend, Tyler Brandon Smith, was pulled over in Anthony’s vehicle and cited for marijuana possession and three traffic violations. Later that year, he was involved in the infamous Knicks–Nuggets brawl during a game at Madison Square Garden. He was suspended 15 games as a result.

On April 14, 2008, Anthony was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, after being pulled over on southbound Interstate 25 at 20th Street in Denver for weaving through lanes and not dimming his lights. Police spokesperson Detective Sharon Hahn said Anthony, who was alone in the car, failed a series of sobriety tests. He was ticketed and then released at police headquarters to a "sober responsible party." A court date was set for May 14. The Nuggets suspended Anthony for two games due to the arrest. On June 24, 2008, Anthony pleaded guilty to a charge of driving while ability-impaired. The original sentence of driving while under the influence was dropped, and he was subsequently sentenced to one year of probation, 24 hours of community service and US$1,000 in court costs and fines.

Personal life

Anthony has two brothers, Robert and Wilford, and a half-sister, Daphne. He had another sister, Michelle, who died in 2010. His mother, Mary, is African American and his father was Puerto Rican. In 2004, Anthony became engaged to La La. Their son, Kiyan Carmelo Anthony, was born on 7 March 2007. Anthony and La La were married by Michael Eric Dyson on 10 July 2010 at Cipriani's in New York City before 320 guests. The ceremony was filmed by VH1 for use in a reality series on the couple, titled ''La La's Full Court Wedding''.

Charity work

In Denver, Anthony was a spokesman for the Family Resource Center and helped organize a Christmas party, entitled "A Very Melo Christmas," for less well-off children. In Baltimore, Anthony hosts an annual 3-on-3 tournament, known as "Melo's H.O.O.D. Movement 3 on 3 Challenge (Holding Our Own Destiny)" and is helping fund the revitalization of a local community center for local youth. Anthony opened "The Carmelo Anthony Youth Development Center" in Baltimore on December 14, 2006. He contributed $1.5 million to the Living Classrooms Foundation, a non-profit organization that "provides innovative hands-on-education, job-training and community service programs for over 35,000 children, youth and young adults in the east Baltimore community."

After the tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, Anthony donated $35,000 to relief efforts. He donated $1,000 per point scored against San Antonio and Houston on January 8 and 9, 2005 respectively. Anthony also committed $3 million toward the construction of a newly-planned basketball practice facility at his alma mater, Syracuse University. According to the NBA's official website, "Anthony's gift represents one of the largest individual donations to Syracuse University Athletics and is also believed to be one of largest by a current professional athlete to the school they attended." The practice facility will be called the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center. For charitable contributions totaling $4,282,000, Anthony was listed as number eight in "The Giving Back 30 List of Largest Charitable Donations by Celebrities in 2006"

Other activities

Anthony was a guest star in the "Lost and Found" episode of ''Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide''. He also appeared in the music video for Common's song "Be" from the album ''Be'' in 2005. Anthony is the only player to appear on the cover of all three EA Sports basketball franchises (NCAA March Madness, NBA Live and NBA Street). In January 2009, Colorado Sports Hall of Fame selected Anthony as its professional athlete of the year for 2008. He and wrestler Henry Cejudo, also a 2008 gold medalist, were chosen to be the special award headliners for the induction banquet held on April 14, 2009. On August 24, 2010, it was announced that Anthony and Dwight Howard will star in a movie together titled ''Amazing''.

See also

List of famous Puerto Ricans

List of famous African-Americans

Kross Over Entertainment

Air Melo Line

References

External links

Official Website

Camelo Anthony's U.S. Olympic Team bio

}}

Category:1984 births Category:Living people Category:African American basketball players Category:American people of Puerto Rican descent Category:Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players from Maryland Category:Basketball players from New York Category:Denver Nuggets draft picks Category:Denver Nuggets players Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the United States Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:Sportspeople from Baltimore, Maryland Category:Puerto Rican basketball players Category:Small forwards Category:Syracuse Orange men's basketball players Category:United States men's national basketball team members Category:New York Knicks players Category:Olympic medalists in basketball Category:Sportspeople from Brooklyn

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name	Jeremy Lin
position	Point guard
height ft	6
height in	3
weight lb	200
team	New York Knicks
number	17
nationality	American
birth date	August 23, 1988
birth place	Los Angeles, California
high school	Palo Alto HS (Palo Alto, California)
college	Harvard (2006–2010)
draft year	2010
career start	2010
years1	| team1 Golden State Warriors
years2	2010–2011 | team2 →Reno Bighorns (D-League)
years3	2011 | team3 Dongguan Leopards (China)
years4	–present | team4 New York Knicks
years5	2012 | team5 →Erie BayHawks (D-League)
highlights	ABA Club Championship MVP (2011) 2× All-Ivy League First Team (2009, 2010) All-Ivy League Second Team (2008) CIF Division II champion (2006) 2× SCVAL MVP (2005, 2006)
profile	jeremy_lin
letter	l
bbr	linje01 }}

|poj=Lîm Su-hô (Taiwanese) |j=Lam4 Syu1 Hou4}}

Jeremy Shu-How Lin (born August 23, 1988) is an American professional basketball player with the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After receiving no athletic scholarship offers out of high school and being undrafted out of college, the 2010 Harvard University graduate reached a partially guaranteed contract deal later that year with his hometown Golden State Warriors.

Lin seldom played in his rookie season and was assigned to the NBA Development League (D-League) three times. He was waived by Golden State and the Houston Rockets the following preseason before joining the Knicks early in the . He was again assigned to the D-League and continued to play sparingly. In February 2012, he unexpectedly led a winning streak by New York while being promoted to the starting lineup, which generated a global following known as ''Linsanity''. Lin is one of the few Asian Americans in NBA history, and the first American player in the league to be of Chinese or Taiwanese descent.

Early life

Lin was born in Los Angeles, and raised in a Christian family in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Palo Alto. Some sources list him as being born in Palo Alto.|group=note}} His parents, Gie-Ming and Shirley Lin, emigrated from Taiwan to the United States in the mid-1970s. They are dual nationals of both Taiwan and the U.S. Lin's paternal family comes from Beidou, Changhua, in Taiwan (his father's distant ancestors immigrated to Taiwan from Zhangpu County, Fujian, in mainland China, in 1707), while his maternal grandmother immigrated to Southern Taiwan in the late 1940s from Pinghu, Zhejiang in mainland China.

Lin's parents are both tall. His maternal grandmother's family was tall, and her father was over . Lin has an older brother, Josh, and a younger brother, Joseph. Gie-Ming taught his sons to play basketball at the local YMCA. Shirley helped form a National Junior Basketball program in Palo Alto where Lin played. She worked with coaches to ensure his playing did not affect academics. She was criticized by her friends for letting Lin play so much basketball, but she allowed him to play the game he enjoyed.

High school career

In his senior year in 2005–2006, Lin captained Palo Alto High School to a 32–1 record and upset nationally ranked Mater Dei, 51–47, for the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division II state title. He was named first-team All-State and Northern California Division II Player of the Year, ending his senior year averaging 15.1 points, 7.1 assists, 6.2 rebounds and 5.0 steals.

College career

Recruiting process

Lin sent his résumé and a DVD of highlights of his high school basketball career to all the Ivy League schools, University of California, Berkeley, and his dream schools Stanford and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The Pac-10 schools wanted him to walk-on, rather than be actively recruited or offered a sports scholarship. Harvard and Brown were the only teams that guaranteed him a spot on their basketball teams, but Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships. Rex Walters, University of San Francisco men's basketball coach and a retired NBA player, said NCAA limits on coaches' recruiting visits had an impact on Lin's chances. "Most colleges start recruiting a guy in the first five minutes they see him because he runs really fast, jumps really high, does the quick, easy thing to evaluate," Walters said. Lin added, "I just think in order for someone to understand my game, they have to watch me more than once, because I’m not going to do anything that’s extra flashy or freakishly athletic."

In July 2005, then-Harvard assistant coach Bill Holden saw that Lin was , which fit the physical attributes he was seeking, and he had a 4.2 grade point average in high school, which fit Harvard's academic standards. However, Holden was not initially impressed with Lin's on-court abilities, and told Lin's high school basketball coach, Peter Diepenbrock, that Lin was a "Division III player". Later that week, Holden saw Lin playing in a much more competitive game, driving to the basket at every opportunity with the "instincts of a killer". Lin became a top-priority for Holden. Harvard coaches feared that Stanford, close to Lin's home, would offer Lin a scholarship, but it did not, and Lin chose to attend Harvard. "I wasn't sitting there saying all these Division I coaches were knuckleheads," Diepenbrock said. "There were legitimate questions about Jeremy." Joe Lacob, incoming Warriors' owner and Stanford booster, said Stanford's failure to recruit Lin "was really stupid. The kid was right across the street. [If] you can't recognize that, you've got a problem." Kerry Keating, the UCLA assistant who offered Lin the opportunity to walk-on, said in hindsight that Lin would probably have ended up starting at point guard for UCLA.

Harvard

A Harvard coach remembered Lin in his freshman season as "the [physically] weakest guy on the team", but in his sophomore season (2007–08), Lin averaged 12.6 points and was named All-Ivy League Second Team. By his junior year during the 2008–09 season, he was the only NCAA Division I men's basketball player who ranked in the top ten in his conference for scoring (17.8), rebounding (5.5), assists (4.3), steals (2.4), blocked shots (0.6), field goal percentage (0.502), free throw percentage (0.744), and three-point shot percentage (0.400), and was a consensus selection for All-Ivy League First Team. He had 27 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds in an 82–70 win over 17th-ranked Boston College, three days after the Eagles defeated No. 1 North Carolina.

In his senior year (2009–10), Lin averaged 16.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.1 blocks, and was again a unanimous selection for All-Ivy League First Team. He was one of 30 midseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award and one of 11 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award. He was also invited to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. Fran Fraschilla of ESPN picked Lin among the 12 most versatile players in college basketball. He gained national attention for his performance against the 12th ranked Connecticut Huskies, against whom he scored a career-high tying 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds on the road. After the game, Hall of Fame Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said of Lin: "I've seen a lot of teams come through here, and he could play for any of them. He's got great, great composure on the court. He knows how to play."

For the season, Harvard set numerous program records including wins (21), non-conference wins (11), home wins (11) and road/neutral wins (10). Lin finished his career as the first player in the history of the Ivy League to record at least 1,450 points (1,483), 450 rebounds (487), 400 assists (406) and 200 steals (225). He graduated from Harvard in 2010 with a degree in economics and a 3.1 grade-point average.

Professional career

Undrafted

After graduating from Harvard, Lin went undrafted in the 2010 NBA Draft. The NBA had not drafted an Ivy League player since Jerome Allen of Penn in the second round in 1995. The last Ivy League player to play in the NBA was Yale's Chris Dudley in , while the last Harvard player was Ed Smith in . Eight teams had invited Lin to predraft workouts. Diepenbrock said that NBA tryouts do not play five on five. Lin acknowledged that the workouts were "one on one or two on two or three on three, and that’s not where I excel. I've never played basketball like that." Scouts saw what ''The New York Times'' later described as "a smart passer with a flawed jump shot and a thin frame, who might not have the strength and athleticism to defend, create his own shot or finish at the rim in the N.B.A." Lin joined the Dallas Mavericks for mini-camp as well as their NBA Summer League team in Las Vegas. Donnie Nelson of the Mavericks was the only General Manager that offered him an invitation to play in the Summer League. "Donnie took care of me," said Lin. "He has a different type of vision than most people do."

In five Summer League games, while playing both guard positions, Lin averaged 9.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.2 steals in 18.6 minutes per game and shot a team leading 54.5% from the floor. He outplayed first overall pick John Wall; Lin scored 13 points to Wall's 21, but did so on 6-for-12 shooting in 28 minutes. Wall was 4-for-19 in 33 minutes. While Wall received the biggest cheer for any player during introductions, the crowd turned on Wall and was cheering for Lin by the end of the game. Lin received offers to sign from the Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, and an unnamed Eastern Conference team. In addition to the original three teams, the Golden State Warriors also offered Lin a contract.

Golden State Warriors (2010–2011)

On July 21, 2010, Lin signed a two-year deal with his hometown Warriors, his favorite team growing up. Lin's deal was partially guaranteed for 2010–11, and the Warriors held a team option for the second season. The deal included a first-year salary of close to $500,000 with more than half of it guaranteed. Lin said the counteroffers from the three other teams were higher, but he wanted to play for the Warriors. Lin also signed a three-year guaranteed contract with Nike. His jersey was already on sale before his first NBA game.

The Warriors held a press conference for Lin after his signing, with national media in attendance. "It was surprising to see that ... for an undrafted rookie," said then-Warriors coach Keith Smart. "The ''San Jose Mercury News'' wrote that Lin "had something of a cult following" after his signing. The San Francisco Bay Area, with its large Asian-American population, celebrated his arrival. He became the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA. Lin received the loudest ovation of the night in the Warriors' home exhibition opener at Oracle Arena when he entered the game in the fourth quarter. The crowd had started chanting for him in the third quarter and cheered whenever he touched the ball. "That really touched me. It's something I'll remember forever," Lin said. During the first month of the season, Oracle Arena fans continued to root for Lin to play in the end of games and cheered every time he touched the ball. He drew the crowd's attention on the road as well. Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com attributed the attention Lin received out of town to the unique angle of "an Asian-American rising to rare basketball prominence". ESPN.com NBA editor Matt Wong wrote after a game in New York, "Lin checked into the game to loud applause, presumably from the many Asian-Americans in attendance." Still, Lin played more relaxed at home. "There's a lot of pressure on him at home, with all of the applause for just checking into the game, so I'm sure that cranks his nerves up a little bit," said teammate Stephen Curry. "You can tell on the road he plays a lot better, because he can just go out there, play and have fun."

Lin noticed the expectations that followed him and warned, "I won't be an All-Star this year." He was appreciative of the support, especially from the Asian-American community, but he also preferred concentrating on his play without all the attention when he had not "proven anything to anybody." Smart saw that Lin was skilled at getting to the paint, but needed to learn to pass because, he said, Lin "couldn't shoot the ball at all". The coach also noticed that the player always arrived early for practice and left late. Lin studied and rehearsed Steve Nash and other top point guards' pick-and-roll plays. Frank Hughes of ''Sports Illustrated'' wrote that he talked with the occasional "seeds of self-doubt", which he said was not common to hear in the NBA. Hughes also found it rare when Lin compared himself to the Phoenix Suns' backup point guard Goran Dragić. "Neither of us is a freak athlete, but we're both effective and know how to play the game," Lin said. Lin and Curry, the 2009–10 runner-up Rookie of the Year, received more interview requests than any other Warrior. Team officials regularly denied requests for Lin to help him keep his focus. He was approached to be the subject of documentaries. Smart planned to take pressure off Lin since Lin had a tendency to be hard on himself and get frustrated, but the coach admitted that he once succumbed to the home crowd's wishes and put Lin into a game in the wrong situation.

Lin received little playing time during the season with two dominant ball-handling guards, Curry and Monta Ellis, starring for the Warriors. He initially competed with Charlie Bell and Reggie Williams, and later Acie Law, for playing time at backup point guard. Lin started the regular season on the Warriors' inactive list, but made his NBA debut the next game during the Warriors' Asian Heritage Night. He received a standing ovation when he entered the game in the final minutes. In the next game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Lin scored his first NBA basket, had three assists, and recorded four steals. He played 11 of his 16 minutes in the third quarter and committed five fouls but played a role in a 12–1 run by the Warriors in a 107–83 loss to the defending NBA champions. Lakers' guard Derek Fisher praised Lin for his energy and aggressiveness. At Toronto on November 8, the Raptors held Asian Heritage Night to coincide with Lin's visit with the Warriors. Over 20 members of Toronto's Chinese media covered the game. In a 89–117 road loss to the Lakers, Lin scored a (then) career-high 13 points in 18 minutes after scoring only seven total points in his first six games.

Three times during the season, Lin was assigned to the Warriors' D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns. Each time, he was later recalled by the Warriors. He competed in the NBA D-League Showcase and was named to the All-NBA D-League Showcase First Team on January 14, 2011. Lin helped lead the Bighorns to a 2–0 record at the Showcase with averages of 21.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.5 steals. Lin posted a season-high 27 points with the Bighorns on March 18. In 20 games he averaged 18 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists with Reno. Lin initially felt he was not good enough to play in the NBA, but he later realized he was learning and getting playing time in the D-League that he would not have received with the Warriors. Lin credited Bighorns coach Eric Musselman with "helping him regain [his] swagger." Musselman recalled that Lin was a good scorer for himself but was not yet skilled at "using the whole floor". He scored many offensive fouls, but Musselman believed Lin was as good as Gilbert Arenas in the dribble drive, an ability "you can't teach". The player continued to improve his pick-and-roll, how to handle double teams and traps, and improved his jump shot and, especially, his three pointer. Musselman also noticed that Lin, who as an NBA player received first-class airplane tickets, gave them to his teammates.

The Warriors saw Lin as a potential backup for Curry. Lacob said the team received more than one trade offer for Lin while he was in the D-League, but he was happy with Lin's progress as an undrafted free agent. "He's a minimum, inexpensive asset. You need to look at him as a developing asset. Is he going to be a superstar? No." He finished his rookie NBA season averaging 2.6 points on 38.9 percent shooting in 29 games.

2011 offseason

Lin recovered from a patellar ligament injury to his left knee during the 2011 NBA lockout. In September 2011, Lin played a few games for the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) club Dongguan Leopards at the ABA Club Championship in Guangzhou, China, where he was named the MVP of the tournament. Shanghai Sharks president and former NBA star Yao Ming also tried, unsuccessfully, to sign Lin for the upcoming CBA season; Lin explained that as someone still under contract with the Golden State Warriors, he could not play in the CBA as the league would only admit NBA free agents. A few days before the lockout was lifted on November 26, Lin had been close to signing with an undisclosed club in Italy.

Lin worked to improve his jump shot during the offseason by abandoning the shooting form he had used since the eighth grade. He also increased his strength, doubling the weight he could squat (from to ) and almost tripling the number of pull-ups that he could do (from 12 to 30). He increased his body weight from to —including of muscle—added to his standing vertical jump and to his running vertical jump, and improved his lateral quickness by 32 percent. Due to the lockout, he never got a chance to workout for new Warriors coach Mark Jackson. On the first day of training camp on December 9, 2011, the Warriors waived Lin. He was a favorite of Lacob, but the Warriors were freeing up salary cap space to make an offer to restricted free agent center DeAndre Jordan; Lin was due to make nearly $800,000 that would have become fully guaranteed on February 10, 2012. The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' said Lin would have had trouble beating out rookie guard Charles Jenkins.

On December 12, 2011, Lin was claimed off waivers by the Houston Rockets. He played seven minutes in two preseason games with the Rockets, who already had Kyle Lowry, Goran Dragić and Jonny Flynn as point guards with guaranteed contracts. On December 24, before the start of the season, the Rockets waived Lin to clear payroll to sign center Samuel Dalembert.

New York Knicks (2011–present)

The New York Knicks claimed Lin off waivers on December 27 to be a backup behind Toney Douglas and Mike Bibby after an injury to guard Iman Shumpert; recently-signed guard Baron Davis was also injured and weeks away from playing. He becomes a restricted free agent at the end of the season. Because of the lockout coaches had little opportunity to see Lin's play, and placed him fourth on the point guard depth chart. Lin said he was "competing for a backup spot, and people see me as the 12th to 15th guy on the roster. It's a numbers game", and continued to arrive first at practice, leave last, intensely study game film, and work with coaches to improve his footwork and judgement. He made his season debut on the road against the Warriors, where he was warmly cheered in his return to Oracle Arena. On January 17, 2012, Lin was assigned to the Erie BayHawks of the D-League. On January 20, he had a triple-double with 28 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists in the BayHawks' 122–113 victory over the Maine Red Claws. Lin was recalled by the Knicks three days later, but so feared being cut again that he asked a chaplain at a pregame prayer service to pray for him. If released again, Lin considered playing in Europe, returning to the D-league, or taking a break with a non-basketball job.

On January 28, Davis suffered a setback that postponed his Knicks debut. Then New York considered releasing Lin before his contract became guaranteed on February 10 so they could sign a new player. However, after the Knicks squandered a fourth quarter lead in a February 3 loss to the Boston Celtics, coach Mike D'Antoni decided to give Lin a chance to play due to "desperation", according to experts. "He got lucky because we were playing so bad," said D'Antoni. Lin had played only 55 minutes through the Knicks' first 23 games, but he would unexpectedly lead a turnaround of an 8–15 team that had lost 11 of its last 13 games.

On February 4, Lin outplayed All-Star guard Deron Williams and had 25 points, five rebounds, and seven assists—all career-highs—in a 99–92 Knicks victory over the New Jersey Nets. Teammate Carmelo Anthony suggested to coach Mike D'Antoni at halftime that Lin should play more in the second half. After the game, D'Antoni said Lin has a point-guard mentality and "a rhyme and a reason for what he is doing out there." In the subsequent game against the Utah Jazz, Lin made his first career start playing without stars Anthony, who left the game due to injury, and Amar'e Stoudemire, whose older brother had died. Lin had 28 points and eight assists in the Knicks' 99–88 win. Stoudemire and Anthony missed the next three and seven games, respectively. D'Antoni stated after the Jazz game that he intended to "rid[e Lin] like freakin' Secretariat." Basketball trainer David Thorpe said in hindsight that such a statement of confidence so soon by a coach was "incredibly rare", and likely gave Lin the confidence to continue to play aggressively despite making mistakes.

}} In a 107–93 win over the Washington Wizards, Lin played against John Wall and had 23 points and 10 assists, his first double-double. On February 10, Lin scored a new career-high 38 points and had seven assists, leading the Knicks in their 92–85 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. He outscored the Lakers' Kobe Bryant, who had 34 points. On February 11, Lin scored 20 points and had 8 assists in a narrow 100–98 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Lin was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week after averaging 27.3 points, 8.3 assists and 2.0 steals in those four starts with the Knicks going undefeated.

On February 14, with less than a second remaining, Lin scored a game-winning three-pointer against the Toronto Raptors. The basket so amazed the Lakers, watching on TV, that veteran player Metta World Peace ran by reporters shouting "Linsanity! Linsanity!" and waving his hands above his head. Lin became the first NBA player to score at least 20 points and have seven assists in each of his first five starts. Lin scored 89, 109, and 136 points in his first three, four, and five career starts, respectively, all three of which are the most by any player since the merger between the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the NBA in 1976–77.

In the following game against the Sacramento Kings, Lin recorded 13 assists and led the Knicks back to .500. New York had a 7–0 record after Lin started receiving major playing time, 6–0 with him starting. The winning streak ended in an 89–85 loss to the New Orleans Hornets; Lin scored 26 points but had nine turnovers. His 45 turnovers in his first seven career starts were the most since individual turnovers began being tracked in 1977–78. On February 19 in a 104–97 win against the Mavericks, Lin scored 28 points and tallied career highs with 14 assists and five steals. ''USA Today'' wrote, "No matter what Dallas threw at Lin – double-teams, traps, blitzes, tall defenders ... smaller defenders ... stocky, thin – Lin found a way ... to a victory against the defending NBA champions."

In his 12 starts before the All-Star break, Lin averaged 22.5 points and 8.7 assists, and New York had a 9–3 record. He played in the Rising Stars Challenge during NBA All-Star Weekend. He was omitted from the original Rising Stars roster, but was added after his sudden rise to stardom. Some media outlets—including ''USA Today'', ''Los Angeles Times'', and ''CBSSports.com''—stated that he deserved to play in the All-Star Game.

Career statistics

College

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2006–07 | style="text-align:left;"| Harvard | 28 || 0 || 18.1 || .415 || .281 || .818 || 2.5 || 1.8 || 1.0 || 0.1 || 4.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007–08 | style="text-align:left;"| Harvard | 30 || 30 || 31.3 || .448 || .279 || .621 || 4.8 || 3.6 || 1.9 || 0.6 || 12.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008–09 | style="text-align:left;"| Harvard | 28 || 28 || 34.8 || .502 || .400 || .744 || 5.5 || 4.3 || 2.4 || 0.6 || 17.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10 | style="text-align:left;"| Harvard | 29 || 29 || 32.2 || .519 || .341 || .755 || 4.4 || 4.4 || 2.4 || 1.1 || 16.4 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 115 || 87 || 29.2 || .481 || .333 || .733 || 4.3 || 3.5 || 2.0 || .6 || 12.9

NBA

;Regular season :''Accurate as of March 6, 2012'' |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11 | style="text-align:left;"| Golden State | 29 || 0 || 9.8 || .389 || .200 || .760 || 1.2 || 1.4 || 1.1 || .3 || 2.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2011–12 | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 23 || 13 || 24.8 || .466 || .326 || .763 || 3.0 || 6.0 || 1.5 || .1 || 14.6 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 52 || 13 || 16.4 || .449 || .313 || .762 || 2.0 || 3.5 || 1.3 || .2 || 7.9

International career

In addition to being a U.S. citizen, Lin is also by descent through his parents a national of the Republic of China (Taiwan); Lin could apply for a Republic of China passport although there is no record of his having done so. Lin has been invited to play for the Chinese Taipei men's national basketball team in FIBA competitions. On July 28, 2010 while in Taipei to play in Yao Ming's charity game, Lin said he had not made a decision yet on whether he would represent Chinese Taipei (the name used by Taiwan in international sporting competitions). In June 2011, the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) included Lin in its preliminary squad of 24 players for the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship. The next month, however, the CTBA announced that Lin would not be included on their roster due to a knee injury.

Taiwanese media reported that Lin declined an offer from the People's Republic of China to play in the same tournament; however, the Chinese Basketball Management Center denied having ever approached him.

Racial issues

Sean Gregory of ''Time'' wrote of Lin's zero Division I scholarship offers: "[Lin] was scrawny, but don't doubt that a little racial profiling, intentional or otherwise, contributed to his underrecruitment." Diepenbrock stated, "If [Lin] was African American or Caucasian, it might have been a different deal"; he did not think Lin's race affected his recruiting until later seeing 10 Division I coaches express interest in a black student who Diepenbrock assessed as "a nice junior college player." Lin said: "I'm not saying top-5 state automatically gets you offers, but I do think (my ethnicity) did affect the way coaches recruited me. I think if I were a different race, I would've been treated differently." Walters added, "People who don't think stereotypes exist are crazy. If [Lin's] white, he's either a good shooter or heady. If he's Asian, he's good at math. We're not taking him."

Diepenbrock said that people without meaning any harm assume since Lin is Asian that he is not a basketball player. The first time Lin went to a Pro-Am game in Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco someone there informed him: "Sorry, sir, there's no volleyball here tonight. It's basketball." During Lin's college career, fewer than 0.5% of men's Division 1 basketball players were Asian-American. Lin has regularly heard bigoted jeers at games such as "Wonton soup", "Sweet and sour pork", "Open your eyes!", "Go back to China", "Orchestra is on the other side of campus", or pseudo-Chinese gibberish. Lin says this occurred at most if not all Ivy League gyms. He does not react to it. "I expect it, I'm used to it, it is what it is," says Lin. The heckling came mostly from opposing fans and not as much from players. According to Harvard teammate Oliver McNally, a fellow Ivy League player once called Lin the ethnic slur ''chink''. In January 2010, Harvard played against Santa Clara University at the Leavey Center, just 15 miles from his hometown of Palo Alto, California. Playing to a capacity crowd that included droves of Asian Americans wanting to see his homecoming, his teammates told him, "It was like Hong Kong."

Lin considers himself a basketball player more than just an Asian American. He understands that there have not been many Asians in the NBA. "Maybe I can help break the stereotype," said Lin. "I feel like Asians in general don't get the respect that we may deserve whether it comes to sports, basketball, or whatever it might be." Prior to the 2010–11 NBA season, Americans of Asian descent who played in the NBA included Wataru Misaka, Raymond Townsend, Corey Gaines, Rex Walters, and Robert Swift. "[Lin's] carrying the hopes of an entire continent. I only had to carry the hopes of Little Rock, Arkansas. He's accomplished a lot more than I have already," said Derek Fisher, who had won five NBA championships with the Lakers, after his first game against Lin. Lin is setting an example for prospective Asian athletes in America who rarely see Asian-Americans playing on their favorite teams. "I don't look Japanese," Walters said, referring to his mother's ethnicity. "When they see [Lin], it's an Asian-American".

Some fans and commentators wrote off his Warriors signing as a publicity stunt. Larry Riley, the team's general manager, denied catering to the Bay Area’s large Asian population. He understood that some people would see it that way. "We evaluated him throughout summer league," Riley said. “All that had to happen was for him to confirm what we already believed." While the team created a campaign around him, Riley said it would not have been advisable if Lin was not a basketball player first.

}} On February 10, 2012, in the middle of Lin's career game against the Lakers, Fox Sports columnist Jason Whitlock posted on Twitter, "Some lucky lady in NYC is gonna feel a couple inches of pain tonight", a reference to Lin's sexual prowess. ''Hyphen'' wrote that Whitlock "reinforced the insipid and insidious 'small Asian penis' stereotype." The Asian American Journalists Association demanded an apology. "I debased a feel-good sports moment. For that, I’m truly sorry," apologized Whitlock. Boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr. wrote on his Twitter page, "Jeremy Lin is a good player but all the hype is because he's Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don't get the same praise." ''NBCNewYork.com'' in response to Mayweather noted that "no one of any skin color in the history of basketball has done in their first four starts what Lin pulled off for the Knicks last week." On February 15, the MSG Network during game coverage showed a fan's sign of Lin's face above a fortune cookie with the words "The Knicks Good Fortune", which some viewed as an ethnic stereotype. ''Sporting News'' wrote that the sign was "questionable", while CBS News called it "distasteful". Some Knicks teammates have been criticized for bowing to Lin during games. On February 17, ESPN used a racial slur on its mobile website in the headline "Chink in the Armor" after Lin had nine turnovers in New York’s loss to the Hornets. It was removed 35 minutes later, and ESPN apologized. The network fired the employee who posted the headline, and suspended ESPNews anchor Max Bretos for using the same reference earlier in the week. Bretos also apologized. Knicks radio announcer Spero Dedes also used the phrase on 1050 ESPN New York, but he was an employee of Madison Square Garden (MSG) and not ESPN. He apologized and was disciplined by MSG. ''Saturday Night Live'' in a cold open satirized the puns in reference to Lin's ethnicity; three commentators were featured happily making jokes about Lin's race, while a fourth drew contempt for making similar comments about black players. ESPN received emails suggesting that Lin was subjected to racial slurs in a manner that African-Americans are not. Ben & Jerry's created a frozen yogurt in honor of Lin named "Taste the Lin-Sanity". The company replaced the fortune cookies with waffle cookies and apologized to anyone offended by their Lin-Sanity flavor. J. A. Adande of ESPN.com wrote that the heightened ethnic sensitivity toward Asian Americans was "another way [Lin's] impact resonates far beyond Madison Square Garden." The AAJA released a set of guidelines to the media in response to what it termed as "factual inaccuracies about Lin's background as well as an alarming number of references that rely on stereotypes about Asians or Asian Americans."

Public image

Lin has a YouTube account, and has made videos with YouTube personalities Nigahiga and KevJumba. In a video interview conducted by Elie Seckbach, he asked Lin how it felt to be representing so many people. Lin responded by stating, "It's humbling, a privilege, and a honor. I'm really proud of being Chinese, I'm really proud of my parents being from Taiwan. I just thank God for the opportunity." In July 2011, the overseas Chinese ''Vivid Magazine'' named Lin one of its top eight influential Chinese-Americans.

"Linsanity"

{{external media|width=200px| image1=Lin on February 20, 2012 cover of ''Sports Illustrated'' |image2=Lin on February 27, 2012 cover of ''Sports Illustrated'' |image3=Lin on February 27, 2012 cover of ''Time''}} After he became a starter for the Knicks, the Associated Press called Lin "the most surprising story in the NBA". ''Bloomberg News'' wrote that Lin "has already become the most famous [Asian American NBA player]". Knicks fans developed nicknames for him along with a new lexicon inspired by his name, ''Lin''. Most popular was the word ''Linsanity'', the excitement over the unheralded Lin. ''Time.com'' ran an article titled, "It's Official: Linsanity Is for Real". Hall of Fame player Magic Johnson said, "The excitement [Lin] has caused in [Madison Square] Garden, man, I hadn't seen that in a long time." He appeared on the cover of ''Sports Illustrated'' with the headline "Against All Odds", which the ''Times'' called "the greatest tribute". He also made the cover of ''Time'' in Asia; ''Forbes'' wrote, "Congratulations Jeremy. You have now made the cover of ''Time'' the same number of times as Michael Jordan. Linsanity reigns on." Lin's story was also on the front-page of many Taipei newspapers. "I haven't done a computation, but it's fair to say that no player has created the interest and the frenzy in this short period of time, in any sport, that I'm aware of like Jeremy Lin has," said NBA commissioner David Stern.

The Knicks' success due to Lin's play reportedly contributed to the end of a dispute which had for 48 days prevented Time Warner Cable customers from watching Knicks games and other MSG Network programs. The team quickly began selling replicas of Lin's No. 17 jerseys and t-shirts, and the sales and traffic for its online store increased more than 3,000%; Lin has had the best-selling jersey in the NBA since February 4, 2012. Both Nike and Adidas introduced Lin-related athletic apparel, and expected that his fame would help sales in China. His popularity was attributed with growing the NBA's popularity there since Yao Ming's retirement in the offseason; the audience for NBA games on television and online in China rose 39 percent over the previous season.

Within three weeks of his first game as a starter, at least seven e-books were being published on Lin, and the Global Language Monitor declared that ''Linsanity'' had met its criteria to be considered an English-language word. He appeared on a second consecutive ''Sports Illustrated'' cover, the first New York-based team athlete and the third NBA player in the magazine's history, after Jordan and Dirk Nowitzki. An airline advertised "Linsanely low prices", bids for his rookie card exceeded $21,000 on eBay, and the press circulated rumors—denied by Lin—that he was dating Kim Kardashian. ''Foreign Policy'' speculated on his potential impact on Sino-American relations, and Jack and Suzy Welch wrote that Lin's rise was a lesson to business leaders to not let bureaucracy stifle unproven talent. Despite his sudden fame Sacramento Kings coach Keith Smart stated, “I knew [Lin] before he was Linmania. He’s still the same humble guy. The guy has not changed a bit, which is real special for a young man.”

Personal life

Lin is an evangelical Christian who was a leader in Harvard's Asian American Christian Fellowship during his time there. He credited his NBA success to playing without pressure. "I've surrendered that to God. I'm not in a battle with what everybody else thinks anymore," said Lin. He hopes to become a pastor who can head up non-profit organizations, either home or abroad, and has talked of working in inner-city communities to help with underprivileged children. Lin's younger brother, Joseph, plays basketball for Hamilton College, and older brother, Josh, is a dental student at New York University.

When Lin was asked if he was fluent in Chinese, he stated that he could understand it, but could use some help speaking it. In an interview conducted with NBADraft.net, Lin stated that he could only speak Mandarin, not Cantonese, and could read and write a little. He had also taken classes while attending Harvard to try to improve. Lin in early 2012 slept on his brother's couch in a one-bedroom apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. The night before his breakout game, he slept on the couch of teammate Landry Fields. He relocated to his own condo in White Plains, New York, after his Knicks contract became guaranteed.

Notes

References

External links

NBA profile

NBA D-League profile

ESPN.com profile

Category:1988 births Category:Living people Category:American Christians Category:American evangelicals Category:American expatriate basketball people in China Category:American sportspeople of Chinese descent Category:American sportspeople of Taiwanese descent Category:Basketball players from California Category:Dongguan Leopards players Category:Erie BayHawks players Category:Golden State Warriors players Category:Harvard Crimson men's basketball players Category:New York Knicks players Category:Palo Alto High School alumni Category:People from Palo Alto, California Category:Reno Bighorns players Category:Sportspeople from Los Angeles, California Category:Undrafted National Basketball Association players

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name	Amar'e Stoudemire
width	270px
position	Power forward / center
team	New York Knicks
number	1
height ft	6
height in	10
weight lb	240
nationality	American
birth date	November 16, 1982
birth place	Lake Wales, Florida
high school	Cypress Creek HS (Orlando, Florida)
draft round	1
draft pick	9
draft year	2002
draft team	Phoenix Suns
years1	– | team1 Phoenix Suns
years2	–present | team2 New York Knicks
career start	2002
highlights	NBA Rookie of the Year () NBA Rookie Challenge MVP () 6× NBA All-Star (2005, 2007–2011) All-NBA First Team () 4× All-NBA Second Team (, , , ) NBA All-Rookie First Team ()
profile	amare_stoudemire }}

}}

Amar'e Carsares Stoudemire (; born November 16, 1982) is an American professional basketball center and power forward for the New York Knicks. Taken in the first round with the ninth overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft, he spent the first eight years of his career with the Phoenix Suns. He is listed by NBA.com as and .

Stoudemire won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in 2003, made six appearances in the NBA All-Star Game, made first-team All-NBA in 2007, and won a Bronze Medal with the United States men's national basketball team at the 2004 Olympic Games.

Stoudemire's first name had previously been listed in the Phoenix Suns media guide as ''Amaré'' or ''Amare'', but it was changed to ''Amar'e'' in October 2008. Stoudemire told NBA.com that his name had always been spelled ''Amar'e'', but the media had been spelling it incorrectly since he joined the NBA.

Early life and career

Stoudemire was born in Lake Wales, Florida. His father, Hazell, died of a heart attack when Stoudemire was 12, and his mother, Carrie, was in and out of prison during that time.

As a result, he attended six different high schools—among them Mount Zion Christian Academy—before graduating from Cypress Creek High School in Orlando, Florida. He told Isaac Perry in an article for ''Dime Magazine'' that what kept him going in that time period was God and the words of rapper Tupac Shakur.

He did not start playing organized basketball until he was 14. Stoudemire only played two years of high school-level basketball, but in those two years he was named the MVP of the Nike Summer League. He committed to play at the University of Memphis, but never attended the school.

Instead, he declared for the NBA draft because of his desire to help his family quickly. The Phoenix Suns decided on him with the ninth pick in the 2002 NBA Draft due to a need for inside strength at the time. Phoenix was the only team that year to select a high school player in the first round.

NBA career

Phoenix Suns (2002–10)

Early years

In his rookie season, Stoudemire averaged 13.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, with a season high of 38 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 30, 2002, the highest score by a prep-to-pro player until broken a year later by LeBron James. Stoudemire won the NBA's Rookie of the Year award, beating out Yao Ming and Caron Butler and becoming the first player drafted out of high school to win the award.

The following season, Stoudemire improved statistically, but his team stumbled to a 29–53 record, and point guard Stephon Marbury was traded to the New York Knicks. During the summer of 2004, Stoudemire was selected to play for the eventual Bronze Medal-winning United States national team in the 2004 Summer Olympics. However, head coach Larry Brown declined to give him significant playing time.

During the 2004–05 NBA season, Stoudemire teamed up with point guard Steve Nash to lead the Suns to a 62–20 record. Averaging 26 points per game that year and achieving a new career high of 50 points against the Portland Trail Blazers on January 2, 2005, he was selected to his first National Basketball Association All-Star Game as a reserve forward. In the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs, Stoudemire performed magnificently, averaging 37 points per game, but the Suns lost in 5 games.

Knee problems

During the 2005–06 NBA pre-season, knee cartilage damage was discovered and Stoudemire underwent microfracture surgery on October 18, 2005. Initially, the Suns thought he would return by mid-February, but his rehab took longer than expected. Stoudemire, however, scored 20 points in his return against the Portland Trail Blazers, but went scoreless his third game against the New Jersey Nets on March 27, 2006. On March 28 it was announced that he would likely miss the rest of the regular season due to ongoing stiffness in both knees. His manager stated that the comeback came a little too soon, and Stoudemire needed to do more rehab. Stoudemire's rehabilitation, which was led by Suns trainer Aaron Nelson and Dr. Micheal Clark, the president and CEO of the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) went well as he stated during the rehab that he was pretty explosive and he gradually gained his strength back.

Stoudemire attended the 2006 USA Basketball camp in Las Vegas, although he ultimately did not play in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. His athletic trainers stated that he had no swelling since his most recent surgery and his strength and flexibility have been "better than ever: almost like superman".

Stoudemire played in the FIBA Americas Championship 2007, but withdrew from the national team for the 2008 Olympics. Jerry Colangelo, managing director for the national team, said, "Amar'e has pulled himself out of consideration for the roster and that's predicated on, despite the fact that he's had an injury-free year coming back, he's a little hesitant on pushing the envelope too hard." Stoudemire had said in April 2008, "It's more than a year-round grind. It's last year and the year before that and the year before that. It's really been like a three-year-round basketball circuit."

2006–07 season

Before the 2006–07 season, Stoudemire changed his jersey number from 32 to 1. Dijon Thompson, last wore #1 the previous season.

Stoudemire joined the United States national team once and began practicing with the international team in July, but was dropped from the squad for its trip to Asia because coach Mike Krzyzewski believed he needed a proper chance to fully recover from his knee injuries.

On February 18, 2007, Stoudemire appeared in the 2007 NBA All-Star Game, his second NBA All-Star Game appearance. He scored 29 points and grabbed 9 rebounds, and came in second in MVP voting to winner Kobe Bryant. He had previously announced that he would make the All Star Game in his first season back after his knee recovered.

During the 2007 NBA Playoffs, in a series against the San Antonio Spurs, Stoudemire accused Manu Ginóbili and Bruce Bowen of being "dirty" players. Stoudemire was suspended for Game 5 for leaving the bench area after an altercation between guard Steve Nash and Robert Horry. The Suns lost to the Spurs in six games.

2007–08

Stoudemire led the Suns in scoring (25.2 points per game) and rebounds (9.1 per game) in the 2007–08 season. He made the 2008 NBA All-Star team and was named to the 2nd team on the All-NBA Team. Stoudemire also adjusted well to playing with Shaquille O'Neal, who the Suns had acquired in February. The Suns however faltered in the playoffs, again losing to their rivals the San Antonio Spurs. The Suns blew a big lead in game one of the series, and seemed to never recover, losing the series 4–1 to the Spurs. Stoudemire averaged 23 points in the series. After the season, the Suns coach Mike D'Antoni left the team to coach the New York Knicks.

2008–09

With new coach Terry Porter, the Suns game turned more to an emphasis on defense and a more controlled offense. The Suns offensive slowdown affected Stoudemire, whose scoring average dropped about 4 points from the previous season, although he was still leading the team in scoring and rebounding. The Suns also struggled with Terry Porter's system, and were just 28–23 and had lost their last five games just before the 2009 NBA All-Star game. Stoudemire started for the winning Western Conference in the 2009 NBA All-Star Game.

On February 19, in a game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Stoudemire suffered a detached retina, although he may have injured it earlier as he had been bothered by the same eye even before this game. He had injured the same eye in preseason, although this injury involved a partially torn iris, with no damage to his retina. He said then that he would have to wear protective goggles for the rest of his career, but stopped wearing them after seven games. Stoudemire underwent eye surgery to repair the retina. The recovery took eight weeks, which forced him to miss the remainder of the regular season. He announced that he would wear protective goggles when he returned to play the following season.

2009–10

In the season, Stoudemire would eventually lead the Suns to a 54–28 record, clinching the third seed in the Western Conference. The Suns would defeat the Portland Trail Blazers 4–2 during the first round and beat the San Antonio Spurs 4–0 in the Conference Semifinals, to meet the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in the Conference Finals. After dropping the first two games, Stoudemire would score 42 points in game 3 and 21 in game 4, to help the Suns tie the series 2–2. After Ron Artest's buzzer beater in game 5 and Kobe Bryant's 37 points in game 6, the Suns lost the series 4–2.

New York Knicks (2010–present)

On June 30, 2010, Stoudemire opted out of his contract with the Phoenix Suns, which made him an unrestricted free agent. On July 5, 2010, Stoudemire and the New York Knicks agreed in principle to a contract estimated to be worth around $99.7 million over five years. On the first day that free agents were allowed to officially sign, the Knicks formally introduced Stoudemire at Madison Square Garden. With the Knicks, Stoudemire was reunited with head coach Mike D'Antoni, who had coached him with the Suns. On December 15, 2010, in a loss against the Boston Celtics, Stoudemire set a franchise record with his ninth straight 30-point game. On December 17, 2010, Stoudemire set a franchise record with his ninth straight game shooting 50 percent or better from the field. On January 27th, 2011, Stoudemire was named a starter on the Eastern Conference All Star Team alongside LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, and Dwight Howard. On February 22, 2011 the Knicks made a 3-team trade with the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves that sent Nuggets superstar Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks along with the Nuggets' starting point guard Chauncey Billups. In 2011, the Knicks made the playoffs for the first time since 2004. Stoudemire was injured during the playoffs. In the first round of the playoffs, the Knicks were swept by the Boston Celtics.

Off the court

In November 2008, Stoudemire received the NBA's Community Assist Award, for his work with his Each 1, Teach 1 Foundation, and its efforts to provide safe drinking water in Sierra Leone by funding the building of water wells in impoverished villages. Stoudemire visited the country in Summer 2008, making visits to water well sites and meeting with President Ernest Bai Koroma and the rest of the cabinet.

Personal life

Jewish background

Stoudemire's mother has "mentioned that somewhere back in her lineage there might be some Jewish roots". In a 2010 interview, Stoudemire said: "I have been aware since my youth that I am a Hebrew through my mother, and that is something that has played a subtle but important role in my development." He visited Israel that year, saying he intended "to get a better understanding of my heritage."

Awards/honors

NBA Rookie of the Year: 2003

NBA All-Star: 2005, 2007–11

All-NBA First Team: 2007

All-NBA Second Team: 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011

NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2003

NBA All-Star Rookie Challenge MVP: 2004

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix | 82 || 71 || 31.3 || .472 || .200 || .661 || 8.8 || 1.0 || .8 || 1.1 || 13.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix | 55 || 53 || 36.8 || .475 || .200 || .713 || 9.0 || 1.4 || 1.2 || 1.6 || 20.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix | 80 || 80 || 36.1 || .559 || .188 || .733 || 8.9 || 1.6 || 1.0 || 1.6 || 26.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix | 3 || 3 || 16.7 || .333 || .000 || .889 || 5.3 || .7 || .3 || 1.0 || 8.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix | 82 || 78 || 32.8 || .575 || .000 || .781 || 9.6 || 1.0 || .9 || 1.3 || 20.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix | 79 || 79 || 33.9 || .590 || .161 || .805 || 9.1 || 1.5 || .8 || 2.1 || 25.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix | 53 || 53 || 36.8 || .539 || .429 || .835 || 8.1 || 2.0 || .9 || 1.1 || 21.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix | 82 || 82 || 34.6 || .557 || .167 || .771 || 8.9 || 1.0 || .6 || 1.0 || 23.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 78 || 78 || 36.8 || .502 || .435 || .792 || 8.2 || 2.6 || 0.9 || 1.9 || 25.3 |-class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 594 || 577 || 34.6 || .537 || .245 || .762 || 8.8 || 1.5 || .9 || 1.5 || 21.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| All-Star | style="text-align:left;"| | 6 || 3 || 22.8 || .571 || .400 || .750 || 7.5 || 1.2 || .7 || .7 || 18.8

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2003 | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix | 6 || 6 || 33.8 || .523 || 1.000 || .571 || 7.8 || 1.2 || 1.7 || 1.5 || 14.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2005 | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix | 15 || 15 || 40.1 || .539 || .000 || .781 || 10.7 || 1.2 || .7 || 2.0 || 29.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007 | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix | 10 || 10 || 34.3 || .523 || .333 || .769 || 12.1 || .6 || 1.3 || 1.9 || 25.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008 | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix | 5 || 5 || 40.8 || .485 || .250 || .633 || 9.0|| .4 || 1.4 || 2.4 || 23.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010 | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix | 16 || 16 || 36.5 || .519 || .000 || .754 || 6.6|| 1.1 || .7 || 1.5 || 22.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2011 | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 4 || 4 || 33.5 || .382 || .000 || .667 || 7.8 || 1.8 || .25 || .75 || 14.5 |-class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 56 || 56 || 36.9 || .514 || .200 || .745 || 9.1 || 1.0 || 0.9 || 1.7 || 23.3

See also

List of National Basketball Association players with 10 or more blocks in a game

References

External links

Video interview with Amare Stoudemire @ fiba.com

Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:United States men's national basketball team members Category:African American basketball players Category:American basketball players Category:American people of Jewish descent Category:Basketball players from Florida Category:People from Polk County, Florida Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the United States Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:Phoenix Suns draft picks Category:Phoenix Suns players Category:Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:National Basketball Association high school draftees Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:Centers (basketball) Category:Power forwards (basketball) Category:New York Knicks players Category:Olympic medalists in basketball

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