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Amaré says missed meeting a misunderstanding
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Amaré Stoudemire said he slept in Saturday instead of attending the Suns’ final team meeting of the year because he didn’t think he needed to be there hours after the team was eliminated from the playoffs by San Antonio.
Stoudemire told KTVK’s Brad Cesmat on his Sunday sports show that he talked to Suns coach and general manager Mike D’Antoni after the team charter landed in Phoenix early Saturday morning, asking if he was going to be needed at the meeting with the players later that day.
D’Antoni did not meet with the players, but the team met to discuss housecleaning issues such as playoff shares and offseason preparations.
“I talked to Mike … he sounded like he wasn’t going to be down there, so I figured I’d sleep in a little bit until I got a chance to talk to him,” Stoudemire said. “That’s all it was. But I guess he was actually down there and that threw it off a little bit.”
Stoudemire said he went to the arena later in the day to clean out his locker and belongings.
D’Antoni cracked a few jokes which intimated that Stoudemire would be fined for not showing up Saturday. Monday, he said no fine would be levied.
“We’re fine,” he said. “It’s really not a big deal.”
Asked what the team needed to get past San Antonio and win the West moving forward, Stoudemire told KTVK: “That’s pretty much the GM’s decision. My job is to come in, play hard and lead us to a championship. That’s what I’m going to do.
“We have shooters, we have a great point guard, Kurt Thomas has been a great help … I’m not quite sure what additions are needed.”
Both D’Antoni and guard Steve Nash felt the team chemistry wasn’t as good as last season, when Stoudemire missed all but three games due to two knee surgeries.
But Stoudemire said this team “hung out more off the court and with our families than any other team I’ve been on.
“Everyone gets along and we have a great time,” he said.
Stoudemire said he plans to spend the summer working on ball-handling skills — hoping to make the same improvements he made with his outside shooting this year — and is planning to attend summer school at ASU, with an eye toward a major in history.
He appears to be leaning toward not playing for Team USA in late August at the FIBA Americas Championship in Las Vegas.
“I played 82 (regular season) games this year so I don’t want to do too much coming off of two knee surgeries,” Stoudemire told KTVK. “But that’s still up for grabs.”
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