5. Amar’e Stoudemire (5% of the vote)
Most certainly the biggest “what if” pick on this list comes in the form of Amar’e Stoudemire. A player who will be going into the Suns’ Ring of Honor this coming season, and who some think may even deserve to go into the Hall of Fame one day.
Whatever your thoughts on that, Stoudemire could have placed higher here if not for two factors. The first was, unfortunately, injury. If not for his knees, Stoudemire really could have gone down as one of the all-time great Suns. As it is he already ranks pretty highly on that list, which should tell you how good he was.
As one of the major players in the “seven seconds or less” movement, Suns fans of a certain age have such fond memories of S.T.A.T. But just when it looked like he could really cement himself on the Mount Rushmore of Suns, Stoudemire decided to leave for the bright lights of New York City and the Knicks, where he would eventually team up with Carmelo Anthony.
He had already been a five-time All-Star by that point, and would make the midseason exhibition once more, in his first season with the Knicks. Stoudemire left when he was 28-years-old, but his injuries sadly only got worse from there on out. He was never the same player again, and finished out his career in Israel.
Amar'e Stoudemire just got himself a Finals MVP in Israel 🔥🔥
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) July 30, 2020
Stat can still play😤pic.twitter.com/gXBLGqfUko
In hindsight it probably really helps his Suns legacy that he didn’t have major success with the Knicks, and was instead hobbled for much of his time after leaving The Valley. But had he stuck around, injuries or not, there is little doubt Stoudemire could have amassed a lot more than just five percent of the vote here.