When Amar’e Stoudemire first arrived in New York last month, he said Carmelo Anthony was ready to join him with the Knicks if he decided to come here.
Now that Stoudemire is a Knick, and rumors continue to swirl about Anthony wanting to join him, he still hopes the partnership will take place.
“I hope it does happen,” Stoudemire told The Post. “Carmelo is a phenomenal player . . . he could help us a lot. We’re still not sure how things will work out, but the team we’ve got now, the personnel we have now has what it takes to win, so we’ve just got to keep working at it.
“With me signing, I think that’s the first step. I think now it’s about working hard, and if we can bring more players in to join us, that would be great.”
Stoudemire rode through Times Square atop a double-decker tour bus with kids from the Garden of Dreams foundation to get a first look at his brand-new billboard promoting the upcoming Knicks season. Even as the bus pulled away from it, he couldn’t help but keep glancing up at it.
“It was great to see it,” Stoudemire said. “Having a billboard in Times Square is definitely a goal for most athletes, most entertainers, to have a billboard in Times Square to promote whatever you’re promoting. I think for the Knicks it’s gonna be great to get the fans excited about coming and watching the games this year.”
As the bus stopped to give Stoudemire a chance to look at the billboard, fans gathered around the bus to snap pictures. He said the support from the fans since signing with the Knicks early last month has been impressive.
“It’s been more than what I expected, to be honest with you,” he said. “The fans are amazing here, they really are. I just want to make sure that we continue to work hard so we can give it all we’ve got every night. You win some games, you lose some games, but the fact of the matter remains that we’re gonna work hard every night.
“Everybody is just so [excited] about the New York Knicks again, and they’re so proud that I’ve joined the team,” he said. “I kind of anticipated the fans would be pretty hyped, but they’re extremely hyped.”