Finally some good news for Amar’e Stoudemire.
With his left hand healed, the Knicks forward has now asked for the hand in marriage of his longtime girlfriend today in Paris, according to his publicist.
Stoudemire’s publicist, Ashley Smith Becker said Stoudemire proposed to Alexis Welch at their hotel overlooking the Eiffel Tower. Welch is the mother of Stoudemire’s three kids and they have been a couple since 2002.
Stoudemire said in a statement, “I have been planning my proposal for a while and overlooking the Paris skyline seemed like a perfect place,’’ I am so happy she said yes and now we can continue to build our life together as husband and wife.’’
The basketball star posted a photo of the happy couple on his Twitter page, in which he gushed: “When she said yes, it was surreal. I’m still floating.”
It was Stoudemire’s first visit to the City of Lights since the Knicks made a preseason trip there in 2010. The wedding will be in 2013, according to Smith, who added Stoudemire’s hand is “fine.’’
Stoudemire was involved in controversy during the Knicks brief playoff run when he punched a glass-enclosed fire extinguisher in Miami after Game 2, slicing up his hand and needing surgery, capping a miserable , injury-wracked season in which his brother died tragically in a car crash. Stoudemire missed Game 3 after needing hand surgery but returned to play in Games 4 and 5 in bandages.
Stoudemire also suffered a bulging disk in his back late in the season but said he would not require offseason surgery.