Amar’e Stoudemire said in an interview over the weekend the new plan once his back is fully healed is to gather a handful of Knicks mates at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., to train instead of Los Angeles.
A source close to Stoudemire said such a camp wouldn’t commence until September.
First-round pick Iman Shumpert is starting to train at IMG. Stoudemire is expected to visit China in late August for promotional purposes and may be medically cleared to work out next week.
Responding to China Basketball Association vet Stephon Marbury telling The Post that Carmelo Anthony and Stoudemire can’t handle the grit of Asian basketball, Stoudemire said to SI.com, “I’m from the streets of Polk County [Orlando, Fla.], man. So I grew up playing rough. I don’t think it’s that bad over there.”
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Knicks owner James Dolan has attempted to keep some of the Madison Square Garden traditions safe with his $850 million arena transformation
, including the famed pinwheeled ceiling that will go untouched. But the Garden will lose one tradition in this transformation:Â the Willis Reed midcourt tunnel.
The spot where the Knicks and Rangers have emerged from is history, replaced by prime-time center-court seats.
The Knicks instead will enter the court from the corner, and Dolan will try to create a new tradition, as the players have to pass through the plush Delta Sky360Club, frequented only by elite season-ticket holders. Patrons there can watch the Knicks or Rangers take the stage through windows.
However, the Reed tunnel is already a goner, as the new seats — Yankees-blue in color — are in place, encased in plastic wrap.
Before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals, an injured Reed dramatically hobbled through the tunnel onto the court minutes before tip-off to spark the Knicks’ first championship. The Garden was one of the few places where players entered the arena at midcourt, center stage.