The What-If Series (vol. 1, #2): Amar'e Stoudemire

NBA career: 2002-2016

Draft: 2002, Round 1, #9 overall (Suns)

Teams: Phoenix Suns (2002-10), New York Knicks (2010-15), Dallas Mavericks (2015), Miami Heat (2015-16)

Highlights: 6x All-Star, 2003 Rookie of the Year, 1x First Team (2006), 4x Second Team (2005, 2008, 2010, 2011)

Best season: 26.0 pts, 8.9 reb, 1.6 ast, 1.0 steals, 1.6 blk (2004-05)

The Question: What if Amar'e Stoudemire didn't have knee problems?

In terms of pure athletic ability, the list of the greatest centers in NBA history is kind of small.

Hakeem Olajuwon, the best center of all time in my opinion, dominated the likes of Ewing, Robinson, and Shaq with his unreal post moves, unmatched footwork, and great shot-blocking. Shaq from 1992 to about 1995 could run the floor like no big man ever had. Wilt Chamberlain is Wilt Chamberlain; the guy averaged 50 points and 25 rebounds a game in 1962, and never averaged below 18 rebounds. And of course, the big men today are as athletic as ever. The conversation could go on forever.

Amar'e Stoudemire should've been in that discussion.

Stoudemire's athleticism and overpowering presence in the paint took the league by storm in the 2002-03 season. He was the interior anchor of the great Phoenix Suns teams of the 2000s. Amar'e could outplay almost anybody that went up against him for about a four-year stretch before knee injuries took their toll. And what a toll it was.

Before his knees let him down, Stoudemire was within dunking distance from about anywhere in the paint, could jump out of the gym to contest shots and crash the boards, and could physically overpower anyone who had the impossible task of guarding him.

In another classic case of a 20-something big man with 60-something knees, we were robbed of one of the all-time talents.

Part I. Before the Injury

Coming out of Cypress Creek High School in Orlando, Amar'e Stoudemire was ranked as the top prep player in the country in 2002. He committed to play college ball at Memphis, but later decided to enter the NBA draft instead. The Suns took a chance on the 19-year-old Stoudemire, and were rewarded for it.

In the '02-'03 season, Amar'e played in all 82 games, a feat he would only accomplish two more times. Starting in 71 of those contests, Stoudemire averaged 13.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks while playing over 30 minutes a game. Along with Shawn Marion, Penny Hardaway, Joe Johnson, and Stephon Marbury, he helped lead the Suns to a playoff berth. In their first round matchup against the Spurs, Stoudemire held his own against Tim Duncan and David Robinson, but the more experienced San Antonio squad came out on top.

After claiming the 2003 Rookie of the Year award over the likes of Yao Ming and Caron Butler (10 All-Star appearances combined), Amar'e took his game up a notch in the 2003-04 season. Across 55 games, Stoudemire put up 20.6 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, but the year turned out to be a lost one for Phoenix. Marbury and Hardaway were dealt to the Knicks, Tom Gugliotta was released, but Johnson and Marion improved steadily.

Prior to the '04-'05 season, everything changed for Stoudemire. After Steve Nash turned down a low-value deal to return to the Mavericks, the All-Star point guard opted to go back to the Suns (the team that drafted him in 1996). The move catapulted Amar'e's status to a top 10 player in the league, as well as putting Phoenix in the title contender conversation.

In part thanks to Nash's outstanding playmaking, Stoudemire became an MVP candidate. He posted averages of 26 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks, all while shooting close to 56% from the field. The explosiveness in Stoudemire's first step was at an all-time high. He was able to take guys off the dribble so easily, and in the rare case where he couldn't, Amar'e would simply back down the defender until he was within throwdown range.

The pick-and-roll between Nash and Stoudemire quickly became the most effective play in all of basketball. It was like watching John Stockton thread the needle to Karl Malone all over again, with the Mailman finishing the job in the form of that trademark dunk. In coach Mike D'Antoni's system, the talents of Nash and Stoudemire were taken to a whole new level of greatness (much like D'Antoni has done with James Harden the past two years with the Rockets). Nash's selfless but dominant play led to two straight MVP awards, and the Suns championship potential almost came to fruition in the 2005 playoffs.

In those playoffs, the Suns made the most noise since the days of Charles Barkley and Kevin Johnson, cruising to the Western Conference Finals for a date with the Spurs. Unfortunately for Phoenix, it wasn't meant to be, and San Antonio advanced to the Finals after defeating the Suns in five games. Those five games, however, Stoudemire averaged 37 points per game, giving Tim Duncan all he could handle and then some.

When the 2005-06 season arrived, the Suns and Stoudemire were looking to close the deal. Amar'e was poised to be in the MVP discussion while leading Phoenix's offensive attack.

Until the 2005 preseason.

Part II. The Injury/Aftermath

In the '05 preseason, Stoudemire went down with cartilage damage in his knee, resulting in microfracture surgery that October. The Suns were under the impression that he'd be able to return at some point in February 2006, but that wasn't the case.

Amar'e didn't return to the court until March, where he put up 20 against the Portland Trail Blazers in his first game back from injury. In his third and final game of the season on March 27, the Suns announced that Stoudemire would miss the remainder of the year after experiencing stiffness in both of his knees.

Phoenix managed to grab the second seed in the West without Stoudemire, thanks to another MVP season from Nash (18.8 pts, 10.5 ast). In his absence, the Suns were still able to return to the Western Conference Finals, this time against the Dallas Mavericks, Nash's former team. Dirk and company proved to be too much for the Suns to handle, who were downed in six games.

When Stoudemire returned for the 2006-07 season, he played in all 82 games and averaged 20.4 points, along with a career-high 9.6 rebounds. Although he managed to play in every game, it wasn't the same Stoudemire that Suns fans were used to seeing. The explosiveness was lacking. His jumping ability seemed to be diminished. Had he been healthy, he probably would've been putting up around 25 or 28 points per game.

In the '07 playoffs, Stoudemire played in 10 of the Suns' 11 games (suspended for Game 5 against San Antonio for leaving the bench in the previous game). Against the Spurs yet again, Stoudemire gave Duncan the business, averaging 25 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Had he not been suspended, the Suns may have advanced to the Conference Finals for the third straight season. Instead, they fell to San Antonio in six.

Amar'e bounced back from a debilitating injury like few players before him did. For the season, Stoudemire was voted to the All-NBA First Team for the only time in his career.

The following season, 2007-08, it finally seemed like Stoudemire was back to his old ways. Averaging 25.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and a career-best 2.1 blocks, he was selected to the All-NBA Second Team and helped lead the Suns to the playoffs once again. However, they fell to the Spurs in the first round, 4-1.

In 2008-09, the injuries seemed to catch up with Stoudemire. After missing some games due to knee soreness, he suffered a freak eye injury in a game against the Clippers. It forced him to have surgery on his retina and he had to wear protective eye goggles for the rest of his career. Without Stoudemire, Phoenix failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since Nash's arrival.

Stoudemire finished the '09-'10 season, his final one with the Suns, averaging about 23 points and 9 rebounds. He helped Phoenix reach one last Conference Finals in the Nash era, but they fell to the Lakers in six games. It ended up being the closest that Stoudemire would come to a championship.

Stoudemire signed with the Knicks in the star-studded 2010 offseason, a deal worth $99.7 million over five years. In just over four seasons with New York, Amar'e averaged 16.2 points and 6.5 rebounds, highlighted by 25.3 points in 2010-11. Further knee issues eventually forced him to come off the bench for the Knicks, and he never got past the second round of the playoffs with his new team.

After his contract was bought out by the Knicks in 2015, Stoudemire signed with the Mavericks for the rest of the 2014-15 season. He was a pretty reliable scorer off of the bench for Dallas, and continued his solid reserve play the following season with Miami.

The 2015-16 season turned out to be Stoudemire's last in the NBA, and he signed a contract with the Knicks and retired that same day.

Part III. What Could've Been

With a healthy Amar'e Stoudemire, the Phoenix Suns would've had at least one championship to their name. They just would have. It probably would have happened in 2006, when the Suns were able to come within two games of the Finals even without Stoudemire.

With a nucleus of Amar'e, Nash, and Marion, along with role guys such as Raja Bell (top-notch defender), Boris Diaw, and Leandro Barbosa, the Suns would've beaten the Mavericks in the '06 Conference Finals.

That's not to say that they wouldn't have been frequent players in June had Amar'e stayed healthy. They very well could have. With a reinvented Grant Hill, the Suns had yet another playmaker to go with Nash. Something tells me that Hill would've feasted on the opposition with a healthy Amar'e Stoudemire manning the middle.

The knee injuries forced Stoudemire to settle for mid-range jumpers and floaters rather than attacking the rim with the ferocity we were accustomed to seeing.

I guess the simple answer to the question is this: the Phoenix Suns would have at least one ring, if not more. Stoudemire's raw talent and athleticism were absolutely undeniable. A guy like that would've feasted on defenders night in and night out.

Unfortunately for the Suns and NBA fans alike, we only got to witness a full-throttle, unstoppable Amar'e Stoudemire for about 3 years. Had his injuries not taken the toll that they did, he would have been putting up something like 30 points and 10 rebounds every year.

Luckily for Amar'e, he was able to redeem himself as a solid bench player for the last 2 years of his NBA journey.

But he was also screwed out of a surefire Hall of Fame career.

Image credit: HoopsHype

YouTube channels: Nik C, House of Hoops, NBA

Stats: NBA.com, Basketball Reference