Former New York Knicks forward and 15-year NBA veteran Amar’e Stoudemire denied allegations that he struck one of his two teenage daughters during an argument at his Miami home Saturday night.
The news of his arrest made rounds Sunday morning as Miami-Dade County court records showed that Stoudemire was arrested and later released on a $1,500 bond with a no-contact order issued.
According to an arrest report obtained by The Miami Herald, the alleged victim told police that “the 6-foot-10, 255-pound Stoudemire punched her in the jaw and slapped her hard enough to draw blood.”
Furthermore, the report added that the incident started when Stoudemire’s daughter answered, “What?” to her grandmother when she was calling her. Upon hearing it, Stoudemire allegedly confronted his daughter inside her room and asked why she was giving attitude. The child denied having such a tone with her grandmother, to which Stoudemire responded with, ‘You’re talking back again,’ and proceeded to allegedly punch her on the right side of her jaw followed by a slap on her face, bloodying her nose and continued slapping on the left side of her body.
Stoudemire told police his daughter had called her mother to pick her up “because she was sad” and she “was sad because she received a whooping from him for being disrespectful and a liar.”
A few hours after his arrest, Stoudemire broke his silence and declared his innocence via Twitter and Instagram on Sunday night.
A former six-time All-Star, Stoudemire played for the Knicks in five injury-riddled seasons from 2010 to 2014-15 season after spending his first eight seasons in the NBA with the Phoenix Suns, where he won Rookie of the Year award. He finished his NBA career with five All-NBA selections.
After playing for the Knicks, Stoudemire had brief one-season stops in Dallas and Miami before retiring from NBA and going overseas. He finished his basketball career in Israel, winning two championships in 2017 and 2020, where he was also named the Finals MVP.
After playing, Stoudemire took an assistant coaching job with the Brooklyn Nets under his former Suns teammate Steve Nash. His contract was not renewed after last season.
Before the incident with his daughter, Stoudemire posted that he had just received his MBA diploma from the University of Miami.
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