A product straight out of high school developed into a key cog in the “Seven Seconds or Less” machine and one of the most dominant forces in the entire league. Amar’e Stoudemire truly put the ‘power’ in power forward, as he was nearly unstoppable in the paint across an entire decade. But how did the generational talent fall all the way to pick nine in the 2002 NBA Draft?
Well, fortunately for the Suns, they were one of his first workouts.
In a time where players were able to enter the draft directly from high school, Stoudemire was just a teenager looking to live out his dream.