Amare's BFF

Given enough time, patterns form in every day events -- the weather, traffic, wars, human behavior. With patience, a person can easily begin to see these patterns emerge, which is why we have meteorologists, city planners, strategists, and sociologists and psychologists.

A few days back, I wondered publicly about Amare Stoudemire's priorities. I thought it odd that he consciously ignored the two options given him in regards to the MVP debate, and instead went with Kobe Bryant as his pick for the award this season. I thought that maybe his version of an MVP is a player who dominates the ball and scores a lot, and who is for all intents and purposes unguardable. Perhaps there is more to it, as I learned today that Amare and Kobe are "good friends".

Obviously there is nothing wrong with two competitors being friends, and it would be hypocritical for anyone to condemn such a relationship, in light of our acceptance of Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki's friendship. (Yes, it annoys the living hell out of me for competitive reasons, but it is not my place to choose other people's friends for them.) But Nash and Nowitzki were team mates for six years, so I wonder how Kobe and Amare found time to establish a bond that has Kobe giving Amare advice on recovering from knee surgery.

If you're doing rehab and it's hurting, stop. It shouldn't hurt you. I just told him, ‘You know what, just don't do it.' Take it in increments. Just do the basics. Then once your knee is strong enough to do the other exercises, then you progress.'

Kobe didn't even go to college, so my first question has to do with his medical qualifications. Namely, where did he get them in order to dispense such advice?

The struggles by the Suns' staff to get Amare on track in the preseason have been well documented. Jack McCallum displayed the most candor about it in his book, :07 Seconds or Less, as he constantly called into question Amare's work ethic. It is understood by most people that recovering from knee surgery is right up there on the "frustrating pain" scale with back surgery and tax audits. But the further along the process he went, the farther back Stoudemire dropped.

I guess we have a good idea why that was the case. As we all know, nothing makes a person more qualified than a doctor or physical therapist as going through the surgery ourselves. Because it's our own body, we become experts on the subject. Never mind that our understanding is limited by our own pain and ignorance of what is happening inside our bodies.

And certainly never mind that Kobe didn't even undergo the same procedure as Amare. As a student of the human body, I can say with a calm, cool confidence that no two operations are the same, even if they're the same operation. One person's body is different from the next, so their recoveries can, and most likely will be completely different. And considering that one operation is on a ligament and the other on bone, it seems highly unlikely that Kobe had the slightest clue what Amare's body was going through and how to stem the hurting.

So it breaks down like this...

Amare learned a lot about his own body while recovering from surgery, as did Kobe his own after his surgery. Amare's doctors and trainers were walking him through the process (no pun intended) every step of the way, and even described to him the difference between "good pain" and "bad pain".

(For perspective, realize the difference between giving birth and having your balls cut off with an old razor. Kids -- don't try that at home. Basically, one pain tells you that you're on the right track and should keep going, while the other is a warning sign that damage is being done. They can be very similar, so it takes quite a bit of experience with one to recognize the other...unless your balls are being cut off with an old razor, of course, then it's pretty easy.)

But instead of listening to the experts -- the people who make their living and are paying back monstrous amounts of student loans -- Amare takes the advice of his good buddy, Kobe. That's roughly the same logic as a blind man driving because his friend with cataracts says it will be fine, so long as the blind guy wears his glasses.

So it seems that a pattern is emerging. Amare Stoudemire is paying less attention to the people in the organization that is paying him $75 million (I am guessing that the little sit-down Jerry Colangelo had with Amare last October included reminders of that investment), and more to someone who may be looking at him with dreams of pairing up for a title run. Not that I am accusing Kobe of sabotaging the Suns' chemistry to bring a subordinate big man to Los Angeles. It's probably all very innocent, and Kobe's arrogance is bigger than his brain. (It does take a certain kind of ego to tell a person to ignore the doctor's advice and take his, instead.)

As was the case with my last entry concerning Stoudemire, I hope that my pessimism on the matter is misplaced. But given Amare's penchant for seeking out the spotlight, I'm having a hard time letting these things go. We all know that he wants to be a star -- the MAN, as it were. We all know that he idolizes Shaquille O'Neal. Who's to say that he won't eventually force a trade to another team, or try to take over this franchise before his time? After all, we have seen it before in professional basketball.

It's a pattern that keeps repeating. I guess we just have to be patient to see where it goes.