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Amar’e Stoudemire on beef with Carmelo Anthony: ‘The media is full of tricks’

Feb 2, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Miami Heat forward Amar'e Stoudemire (5) during the game against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Amar’e Stoudemire made headlines recently when it seemed as if he was piling on ex-teammate Carmelo Anthony for running Jeremy Lin out of town and for failing to be a leader for the New York Knicks. The Miami Heat center called Anthony on Tuesday to clear the air, and he sent out an interesting Instagram post as well on the topic.

Speaking with reporters Tuesday night, Stoudemire attempted to set the record straight.

“I never mentioned his name once,” Stoudemire said, via Al Iannazzone of Newsday. “We’re close friends, family. Our wives are very close friends. He knows I wasn’t talking about him.”

As an added measure, he shared a picture on Instagram that pointed the finger of blame to the media.

Included was this caption:

“I’m hearing a lot of bull shyt about my brother. Don’t let the NY Media try to separate our brotherhood. They (NY Media) play a dirty game. They are known for putting words and names in people mouths. Don’t feed into the BS. Continue to be the Great Player, Great Father, Great Husband, Great Teammate you are. #FamilyForLife”

To be fair to Stoudemire, he never did name names when throwing shade in the general direction of the Knicks as it pertains to Lin.

To be fair to the New York media, he did answer a specific question about Anthony in which he seemed to be saying the small forward was lacking leadership.

Then again, the statement could also be construed as Stoudemire simply saying his former teammate and self-proclaimed brother just had a big task ahead of him. Here’s what he originally said when asked about Anthony’s role on a team that appears poised to miss the playoffs for a third straight season:

“You get involved in this situation, you have to take ownership of it. Ownership has to be make sure you make the right decisions for your team and teammates,” Stoudemire said, via the New York Post. “You have to become a complete player to bring your team out of a rut. And everyone can’t do it. It’s not always easy.’’

It’s easy to understand why Stoudemire might be upset with the media for putting words and thoughts into the spaces in between what he did say.

Given the way everything is sensationalized in the media these days, it’s likely that his original intent was certainly not to throw Anthony under the bus than anything else. Yet his unspoken words did provoke quite a firestorm, which is why it’s so important for athletes to be careful about what they say, and about what they don’t say.

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