Stoudemire, Anthony era set to begin for Knicks
- Last Updated: 3:37 PM, February 23, 2011
- Posted: 2:21 AM, February 23, 2011
- Knicks Blog
- Berman on Twitter
After months of enormous, LeBronesque buildup, "The Melo-Amar'e Show" is finally hitting the Garden.
"Wow, just had the craziest 12 hours of my career," Anthony said on his Twitter account last night after arriving at Teterboro Airport at 7 p.m. "So much to say but really want to thank all my fans and friends for their support!"
Knicks owner James Dolan has made this happen, paid a hefty price by surrendering the entire supporting cast, and now the Carmelo Anthony/Amar'e Stoudemire Knicks will be the hottest ticket in town for the next few months, likely starting tonight.
If all physicals are done in time -- which is likely -- a Knicks-Bucks game in February becomes an historic night as Anthony makes his Knicks debut tonight wearing No. 7. In a display of urgency, the Knicks flew the players they dealt away on a private charter last night to Denver, and the plane picked up the former Nuggets (aside from Anthony, who took his own flight) and flew them to New York.
"It's what he wants," Stoudemire said of Anthony and the big stage. "It's what I wanted. To come to New York and play on the big stage. He has that same type of swag. He can handle it. We're going to do it together."
"Every team needs a 1, 1-A punch," Stoudemire added. "With the ways that we both can score -- he scores in many ways from the wing, I score in many ways from the wing and post. We're very versatile. We're going to be tough to guard."
Dolan gutted the roster to add a second star and sources said the owner overruled embattled team president Donnie Walsh in giving up so much. The deal also has Dolan's buddy Isiah Thomas' fingerprints all over it. But if the new CBA is not a disaster, the Knicks will have the cap space to add a third star, Chris Paul in 2012, and compete for a title.
For now, the whole basketball world wonders what this assemblage will look like -- with 34-year-old point guard Chauncey Billups at the controls of coach Mike D'Antoni's speedball offense and Anthony and Stoudemire trying to share the ball.
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