Mavericks’ Stoudemire has lived a rags-to-riches life

Life has been so good to Amar’e Stoudemire that he’s able to take therapeutic red wine baths that cost a whopping $550 for 30 minutes.

Stoudemire, however, remembers times that weren’t so good, when there was barely enough money to pay the bills. As a youngster, Stoudemire’s family life was in such a shambles that he wound up attending five high schools.

“It was tough,” Stoudemire said. “Growing up in poverty, it’s not always easy to make decisions.

“My father passed away when I was 12, and my mom was pretty much in prison a lot of the times, so I had to make decisions on my own and schools would take advantage of a great player being there, and I didn’t like that. That’s what forced me to transfer from different schools to put myself in a better situation.”

Stoudemire thumbed his nose at the high schools that wanted him solely for his basketball skills. It was his cue that he needed to find another high school.

“It was more so for athletic purposes as opposed to academics,” Stoudemire said. “And I didn’t appreciate that.”

At Cypress Creek High School in Orlando, Fla., he was selected as Florida’s Mr. Basketball in 2002.

With parental guidance in short supply, what Stoudemire did appreciate was the rule, which no longer exists, that allowed him to enter the NBA directly after high school. Stoudemire was chosen No. 9 overall by the Phoenix Suns in the 2002 draft.

Stoudemire (6-foot-10, 245 pounds) was the only player drafted in the first round that season to go straight from high school to the NBA. After eight seasons with the Suns and 4 1/2 with the New York Knicks, Stoudemire signed a free-agent contract with the Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 18.

And his impact with the Mavericks was felt immediately.

“I love Amar’e,” owner Mark Cuban said. “I love, love, love, love, love, love, love the guy. There are not enough superlatives. He’s just a great guy on the court and off, I just love his physicality, and he just wants to win.”

In 12 games with Dallas, Stoudemire has averaged 9.6 points and 3.5 rebounds in only 16 minutes a game, and he is shooting a healthy 57.3 percent from the field. The Mavericks (44-26) hope he continues stacking up those kind of numbers when they face the Suns at US Airways Center at 8 p.m. Sunday.

The Mavericks primarily use Stoudemire as the backup to center Tyson Chandler. But he also can slide over and effectively play power forward.

“He’s got a really strong and positive veteran presence with the team in the locker room and on the floor, he’s totally committed to winning and just being a part of something that’s successful,” coach Rick Carlisle said of Stoudemire. “And for a guy that’s had the kind of individual success he’s had his career, he’s a total team guy and he’s playing well.

“It’s been a great acquisition for us, and I think he likes it here, too. The important thing that he’s done is he’s given us another post threat inside, which any team needs this time of the year, any team with playoff aspirations and championship aspirations.”

Stoudemire, 32, was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2002-03 and is a six-time All-Star.

Asked if he ever stops and pinches himself when he thinks of all the money he’s made in the NBA, including $99.7 million over five years in his Knicks contract, Stoudemire quickly said: “All the time.”

“But I focus on the present because the past is not here and neither is the future, so I focus on the present. But I always sit back all the time and reminisce with my mom and we just talk about how far we’ve come and how much more we have to accomplish.”

Stoudemire fined

Stoudemire was fined $15,000 by the NBA on Saturday for verbally abusing an official and not leaving the court in a timely fashion after he was ejected from Friday’s loss to Memphis. The incident occurred with 5:25 remaining in the third quarter.

Stoudemire questioned a charging foul called against him by referee Scott Foster, and Foster gave him a technical foul. When Stoudemire continued, Foster issued another technical, resulting in an automatic ejection. Carlisle also received a technical from Foster during that stoppage of play

“It was too quick for two technical fouls,’ Stoudemire said after the game. “I've never received two techs that quick in my career.”

This story was originally published March 21, 2015 at 8:07 PM with the headline "Mavericks’ Stoudemire has lived a rags-to-riches life."