Amare's farewell tour?
Amare Stoudemire spent part of Tuesday speaking at an elementary school. Once again he spoke about leaving the Phoenix Suns after the 2009-10 season.
"This might be my farewell tour, huh?" Stoudemire told The Arizona Republic. "If so, I'm going out with a bang, baby. ... If we're not making the playoffs, my legacy is going backwards. I'm not having it."
Stoudemire also spoke about returning from another eye surgery and his motivation to improve his game.
"I cherish the moment," he said. "Because I feel like if I had to retire because of the injury, how will my legacy be? Will I be a Hall of Famer? Would I have a championship? Is my legacy what I dreamed it to be? At that point of time, I'd say no. So now, I'm back with a vengeance. I want to make sure that my legacy is starting to build. It is going to start this year. ... I want to show the staff that I'm dedicated. I'm ready to take that step to making it back to the playoffs and to be that force that I was before the Terry Porter era."