As if losing a second playoff game to the Miami Heat was bad enough, the Knicks' $99.7 million power forward decided to make things worse by apparently punching a fire extinguisher's glass case at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. According to ESPN's league source, Amar'e Stoudemire is "'almost certain' to miss Game 3 on Thursday in New York and there is a possibility that Stoudemire could miss the rest of the series."
Stoudemire left the arena with his arm in a sling. The Daily News reports, "A Knicks official confirmed that Stoudemire had cut his non-shooting hand when he punched a small glass door that protects a fire extinguisher just outside the Knicks’ locker room. Stoudemire’s hand shattered the pane and he needed an undetermined number of stitches to close the wound."
Some of the scuttlebutt on sports radio is that Stoudemire was frustrated with his limited action on the court: Yes, he did have 18 points, but only had nine shots (he sank six). On the other hand, Carmelo Anthony made 26 shots (he ended up with 30 points for the night).
Stoudemire later Tweeted, "I am so mad at myself right now, I want to apologize to the fans and my team, not proud of my actions, headed home for a new start," and "We all have done thing out of anger that we regret. That makes us human. Bad timing on my part. Sorry guys. This to shall pass."
Teammate Tyson Chandler said, "Your emotions run high. In a split second, a decision can alter things. You can’t fault anybody. We got to deal with the repercussions." And, yes, someone has created an AAA Fire Extinguisher Twitter account, "Where's my apology?"
