Amar'e Stoudemire leads his New York Knicks into Phoenix to face Steve Nash and the rest of his old Suns teammates. The Knicks are 20-14 and Amar'e is a leading candidate in the MVP chase this season. Phoenix is 14-19 behind their ex-MVP Steve Nash.
When Amar'e left Phoenix, there was rampant speculation that he would miss playing with Nash. Amar'e has proved that wrong in all ways. He's averaging career bests with 26.4 ppg and 2.5 apg. He's turned one of the league's worst teams around and made them relevant for the first time in a decade.
Meanwhile Nash, the only MVP in NBA history never to play in the Finals, has struggled without Amar'e. The Suns are having their worst season since Nash's arrival in 2004. Granted they haven't found a suitable replacement for Amar'e in Phoenix. Yet Stoudemire has helped Raymond Felton become a top point guard in New York while Nash hasn't found a way to elevate anyone on the Suns in similar fashion.
Dirk Nowitzki also saw a boost in numbers when Nash left the Mavericks in 2004. That season, he had his highest scoring average to that point and continued to elevate his game until he eventually became a more worthy MVP winner than Nash in 2007.
Offensive minded basketball fans praise Nash as being one of the best point guards ever despite his horrendous defense. Nash is good at creating shots and passing. He's a great free throw shooter and excellent from downtown. Yet dominant big men like Stoudemire and Nowitzki seem to improve with less heralded point guards.
Here's to Amar'e returning to Phoenix and giving Phoenix 50 reasons to miss him. Here's to Raymond Felton outclassing & outdishing Nash. Here's to the Knicks pushing Phoenix deeper into the abyss of rebuilding.
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