Post#926 » by LukasBMW » Wed Jul 27, 2016 8:49 pm
Amare and Marion both deserve to have their jerseys retired. We drafted both of them and both of them had very successful years here. They both were huge parts of SSOL.
Regarding Marion:
It's a shame the Marion got butt hurt about the attention Amare and Nash were getting and felt left out and disrespected. Or at least, that was always the rumor. I'm not sure that is 100% accurate though as Marion really seemed to give it his all every single night. I mean the guy really played his ass off. I still think he is underrated. In his prime, he was the most versatile player in the league. I remember him giving Dirk and Kobe all kinds of trouble when no one else could. I remember him grabbing 22 rebounds and scoring 36 points in one game. I also ran into him around town on a few occasions and he always seemed like a fun/happy/friendly dude. A bunch of my friends ran into him around town as well and always had positive stories. He'd either joke around with fans or even buy them a round of drinks. Marion was a great player and sure seemed like a great person.
Regarding Amare:
Prior to his microfracture surgery and first max contact, Amare was a dominant force in the paint and scored most of his points off of attacking the rim. He also showed potential to be an elite defender and rebounder. After his first max contact and microfracture surgery, he was never the same. He didn't seem to give as much effort on defense, often didn't even box out, and his offensive game (while still impressive numbers wise) changed as he didn't attack the rim as much and scored more by hitting 15-17" jumpers. Some might argue that the ability to "pick and pop" instead of "pick and attack" was a needed evolution of his game as he picked up less offensive fouls. However, I think his effectiveness really went down when the bulk of his points started coming from jumpers instead of dunks. Frankly, after his first knee surgery and big deal, Amare still found a way to put up the numbers but didn't put forth max effort. Additionally, as discussed here multiple times, Amare was a prick. Selfish, egotistical, and arrogant. Amare only cares about Amare. Again, I ran into him on multiple occasions and never came away with a good impression. I also heard stories from others in AZ about the DIVA behavior of Amare. Sure he never got caught drinking and driving (Tucker/Richardson), beating his wife (Kidd/Penny), or doing lines of coke in Scottsdale (Beasley/Dumas), so the Suns statement about him "handling himself with class" is partially accurate, but he sure was no Marion or Nash off the court either.
So in summary, Nash/Amare/Marion all deserve a jersey in the rafters for their play.
But Nash (and maybe Marion) is the only guy I wish ended on better terms with Phoenix and I'd still love to have him here as a coach if Watson doesn't work out. Nash is just such a natural/skilled leader.
