Amare Out for the Worlds

The New York Knicks are keeping their free agent prize Amare Stoudemire from playing for the United States in next month’s World Championships. Can anyone really blame them? After being shut out from the big boys in free agency they’ve got too make sure their one star acquisition makes it to training camp in one piece. On the surface everyone will blame this on the Knicks but in reality it has to do with the insurance policy the Phoenix Suns had out on Amare.

According to Yahoo Sports, the Knicks don’t have an insurance policy in place yet for Amare so the prior policy the Suns’ had is still in place. That policy didn’t include coverage for his surgically repaired left knee, something the Knicks are trying to get included in a policy.

“He had to pull out because he couldn’t get insurance on his knees. So, he’s not able to play,” said Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni, who is an assistant with the U.S. team. “I don’t know if his (future USA Basketball) status has changed or not. I have no idea. I hate it for him, but it’s business.”

USA Basketball was definitely counting on Amare with their star players taking the summer off but oh well, like D’Antoni said it’s a business.

As a Knicks fan, I’m kind of glad they pulled Amare. After his signing, the Raymond Felton signing and the David Lee trade I’m kind of excited about the teams playoff possibilities for the 2010-2011 season. Last thing I’d want to see is him tweak his knee and all this cap space was wasted on nothing.

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Tags: Amare Stoudemire, NBA, New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns, Team USA