Alvin Gentry: Right Now, Amar'e Stoudemire Is MVP

Filed under: Knicks, Suns, NBA Awards

PHOENIX -- Amar'e Stoudemire made his return to Phoenix on Friday as a member of the opposing team for the first time since bolting for a max deal with the Knicks last summer. Stoudemire has been playing as well as he did with the Suns -- if not better -- and has unquestionably been the centerpiece of the Knicks' turnaround so far this season.



Stoudemire's play hasn't gone unnoticed by his former head coach Alvin Gentry. And in fact, before the teams hit the court, Gentry went as far as to say that Amar'e is the MVP to this point of the season.



"Right now, I would say he was," Gentry said. "I think if you take what he's done for his team -- you know, and I mean obviously everybody is going to say, well, how can you say that with LeBron? But (with the Heat), you've got LeBron, you've got another guy that could be MVP, and another guy that possibly could. You've got three guys down there.



"(In New York) it's just him, and he's playing at a really really high level, and his team has been successful. If I was voting right now, I would probably say that he would be my vote at this stage of the season."



The MVP has always been an award that people argue about depending on how they choose to define the award personally.



But given the multiple talents who are responsible for propelling the league's elite teams -- Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol in Los Angeles; Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Rajon Rondo in Boston; Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili in San Antonio, and the three guys Gentry mentioned in Miami -- at this stage of the season, it might be tough to disagree with Gentry's assessment.

 

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Full story at http://nba.fanhouse.com/2011/01/07/alvin-gentry-right-now-amare-stoudemire-is-mvp/