nba, nba teamAnyone who has been following the Western Conference in the NBA probably has at least heard a sound bite about the potential trade of star Phoenix Suns forward Amare Stoudemire. I was shocked to hear how close the Cavs were to working a deal to trade Hickson and Ilgauskas for Stat. Phoenix is my go to NBA team and I have Amare to thank for that. I didn’t grow up in the desert but after going to school down there, the fast paced all offense attack paired with the best assist man in the game and a true power forward had me turncoat on hometown allegiances.

Over the past few seasons, the Suns have tried to rework their formula to make a championship. Nothing has worked. Trades, changes to the offense, a new coach, it all turned out to be over thought NBA nonsense. The Suns seem to work best on the road and that is it. They are a team of veterans peppered with young talent. One that thinks the strongest defense is a fast offense. Losing Amare would have killed this image for me.
This morning while reading sports news, the first thing that caught my attention was a ESPN news broadcast reporting on the failed Amare trade. You should have seen me. I kicked out the computer chair, started running around, arms out like an airplane while my roommate stared in wonder at the kitchen table. From there I texted every Suns fan I know.



What I didn’t know was the Cavs were not the only team vying for the big man. Miami too really wanted Stat. Another fantastic Suns player traded to Miami would have extinguished my allegiance for this team. There is still sort of a burn for losing Marion first to the Heat. All of the trade talks didn’t affect Amare’s performance last night even though they fell to the Mavericks by ten points. He still was points and rebound team leader. Nash had 12 assists according to ESPN. To be fair if Amare would have went to the Cavs I think they would have been NBA champions this year. We will never know and now I hope the Suns give Stoudemire what he wants for his one-year option after this season concludes.

The meat and potatoes of the Western Conference is really close as at the top of the food chain the Lakers keep winning. The Suns need to end no less then the 4th seed to have a chance in the NBA post season. I’m getting tired of them falling short in the playoffs.