Dear Amare,

After witnessing Carmelo have one of the worst All-Star Game performances I have ever seen, in a game he probably shouldn’t have even been playing in, I found out your Knicks tenure was coming to an end after you and Knicks had reached a buyout agreement. Initially, I was ecstatic, after a long 4 and a half years, I figured it was best for both parties to just move on. But later that night, I couldn’t help to feel a little bit depressed; for the rest of my life, I’ll always wonder, what could have been. You had a chance to be on the Mount Rushmore of Knicks big men, but unfortunately I’m not convinced you even crack the top 25 Knicks of all time. You will forever be associated to Allan Houston, another former Knick, who signed a $100 million contract, and failed to live up to expectations.

But unlike in 2001, when we were dumbfounded when Allan Houston signed his $100 million dollar contract, the majority of the Knick fan base (including myself) was openly excited when you signed your deal (even though it was uninsured) in the summer of 2010 and proclaimed, “The Knicks are back.” Unlike Allan Houston, you had that it factor; I watched you go toe to toe with Tim Duncan, the greatest power forward to ever play, on several occasions in the playoffs. The fan base could sense the Knicks were heading in a positive direction. I still believe to this day you would have stayed in Phoenix had they offered you the same deal, but we were just glad to have a superstar, it had been almost a decade since Patrick Ewing was infamously traded to Seattle. We had to endure a long two years of horrendous basketball, waiting for this moment. I’ll admit, you weren’t our first choice; hell you weren’t even the second or third choice for some people. Of course, we all wanted Lebron; others preferred, Chris Bosh, or Joe Johnson.

Although I knew there was diminutive chance we’d get Lebron I was still dejected when Lebron, Wade and Bosh decided to construct a potent trio in Miami, but I still maintained on to the idea that hopefully one day, we could form our own trio. Soon after you signed, to my satisfaction, I remember reading rumors about you, Melo, and Chris Paul, joining forces to form a new potent trio.  I’ll never forget your first season in a Knick uniform; you brought electricity back to the Garden, and was a legitimate MVP candidate. Your two and a half week stretch where you averaged 34 points, and 11 rebs, including nine straight 30-point games, was some of the most superb basketball I’ve ever seen by someone in a Knick uniform. When the Knicks acquired Melo later that year, your effectiveness was affected, but I was still on cloud nine because the Knicks had reached the playoffs for the first time in seven years. Continue reading →