NEW YORK — Former Nets assistant Amar’e Stoudemire suggested there’s no bad blood between him, the Nets or Kyrie Irving, and that the media took his words in an appearance on ESPN’s First Take out of context.
Stoudemire, who broke the news of his departure from Steve Nash’s coaching staff in a May 12 nationally-televised conversation with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, posted a video with a caption that categorized the media as “misinformed” on Wednesday for the widespread reporting that he quit on the Nets after two failed seasons in Brooklyn without an NBA title — or a trip beyond the second round of the playoffs.
“I want to clarify something: I’m seeing articles right now popping up saying ‘Amar’e quits the Nets and criticized Kyrie on his way out,’ ” the former Phoenix Suns All-Star forward said in the video. “That’s not the case.”
In his discussion on ESPN, Stoudemire also admitted Irving’s decision not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 played a role in the Nets’ early season struggles that eventually led to them not being prepared or cohesive enough to secure a win against the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.
New York City’s vaccine mandate rendered the All-Star guard ineligible for home games until late March, and the Nets moved in lockstep with the city mandate, ruling Irving ineligible for road games and home practices until making him eligible in mid-December with his debut coming in early January.
“Yeah, I think (not having Kyrie) hurt us,” Stoudemire said on May 12. “It definitely hurt us because we didn’t have the consistency with Kyrie enough to build chemistry for the group with the team. He plays only on away games depending on which city it is, can’t play in New York, therefore you have different lineups and different matchups depending on the game schedule.
“So it made it difficult for us coaches to figure out who’s going to play in spite of Kyrie. The chemistry is not where we would like it to be, so it was difficult for us to manage that.”
Stoudemire clarified those comments on Instagram on Wednesday after multiple local and national news outlets posted stories suggesting his comments were a dig at Irving on his way out the Nets’ doors.
“Why would I criticize someone who’s as similar as I am? I also fast during the NBA season for Yom Kippur,” he said. “I’m also a guy who has religious intake. I’m also a guy who’s an activist, who speaks about African American communities. So why would I criticize someone who’s as similar as I am?
“The media will try to turn your words against your fellow friend or organization to provide more viewers or clicks to their article,” he continued. “I’m not gonna allow that to happen. You’re not gonna turn me against Kyrie, you’re not gonna turn me against the Nets, you’re not gonna turn me against anyone. So you can forget about it.”
The short-lived Nets player development coach also said he spoke to Nash prior to going onto First Take and left his job because he didn’t feel it was a good fit from a scheduling standpoint.
Stoudemire converted to Judaism in August of 2020 and said his inability to work during Shabbat — from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday — made him feel he couldn’t grow in the coaching space.
“Not working on Friday night and Saturdays is difficult for anyone to grow in the coaching space because coaching is such a grind. It requires you to be there full time,” he said. “And for me, I was unable to grow in that space, so I did not want to continue coaching, and on the flip side, the Nets organization wants people who can be there full-time, and I totally understand that. Therefore, it was a mutual organization between them and I.
“(The Nets are a) beautiful organization, Sean Marks and I are great friends, Steve Nash and I are good friends,” he continued. “I had a beautiful time, an amazing experience with the organization. There’s no hard feelings no way, no how. There’s no quitting on my side. I was there for 2 years sacrificing my time away from my family for those 2 year but still was able to hold down the fort and fulfill my obligation. So there’s no quitting from that standpoint.”
