Amar'e Stoudemire reflects as his career winds down

Amar'e Stoudemire is often brash and boastful, but he seems humbled by his current status and cherishes whatever time he has left in the NBA.

His career is nearing an end, and Stoudemire wants to be in a winning environment. It's why he asked to be bought out by the Knicks last season and why he signed with the Heat over the summer.

Stoudemire said the 2014-15 Knicks stumbled through their worst season ever because players didn't buy into Phil Jackson's and Derek Fisher's system. "Absolutely, there's no question about that," he said. "We had great talent, had players that were athletic and physical, offensive-minded, defensive-minded. We had a well-rounded team that year. But it just took more time than I was willing to accept to buy into the system."

Stoudemire, who didn't play Monday night because of what he called flu-like symptoms and who has appeared in only two games this season, said he always bought in and did what the coaches asked of him.

The six-time All-Star looked back on his Knicks days with great pride, especially that first season. After signing a $100-million contract in 2010, he was an MVP candidate the first 50 games. "Those were the days," he said. "I had such an amazing time. From when I first signed with the Knicks, the stock went up 35 percent. So not only the city of New York, but the state of New York was revitalized. Then we took it from there, from having a great year that year and we just tried to keep building from there. It was great times for myself, for my family."

But things went south from there. The Knicks acquired Carmelo Anthony in February 2011 and the tandem never reached their lofty expectations. Stoudemire said the coaches didn't use them the right way (Mike D'Antoni and Mike Woodson coached them the longest). But knee and back injuries also limited Stoudemire, who missed 110 games as a Knick.

"I don't think that pick-and-roll offense between me and Melo was taken advantage of," Stoudemire said. "The way he shoots the ball and handles the ball from the outside and the way I attack the rim, it could have been a pretty good combination. I don't think the coaching staff at the time really bought into that. It wasn't up to Melo and I. It was up to the coaching staff to figure that part out."

Stoudemire is barely playing for Miami now. The Heat is trying to preserve him and play him when the team needs him, but he's not complaining.

"I've had a pretty strong 14-year career so far, and right now I'm just taking it one game at a time, one week at a time, one season at a time," Stoudemire said. "I'm not sure how much time I have left in the game of basketball as a player, so I'm cherishing the moment, trying to develop my young guys and get them prepared for the next level of basketball and grow from there. There's no telling how much time I have left in this league."

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.