Anthony Shocked Wade Signed With Bulls

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Published on July 29 2016 6:21 am
Last Updated on July 29 2016 6:30 am

By ESPN

Like many people around the NBA, New York Knicks superstar Carmelo Anthony couldn't believe that Dwyane Wade actually decided to leave the Miami Heat and sign with the Chicago Bulls.

"I was shocked," Anthony said before Thursday's Team USA practice at the United Center. "I was shocked more from a standpoint it was just hard to see. It's hard to see some players in different uniforms and he's one of those guys who I never thought I would see in a different uniform other than Miami. But it happened, and I got a chance to talk to him and sit down with him and really dig deep about his feelings and what happened. He's at peace now. And when he's at peace, I'm at peace with it."

Wade surprised many in the league by spurning the Heat to sign a two-year deal with the Bulls earlier this month. Anthony, who was wooed by the Bulls two summers ago but ultimately decided to re-sign with the Knicks, acknowledged that the free-agency process can be mentally taxing for players.

"I don't think the masses really understand how difficult those decisions are," Anthony said. "And what goes into those decisions. And as athletes what's going through our mind during those decisions. A lot of people think we can just wake up and we can just make those decisions -- it's not that easy."

Anthony's comments come just a few weeks after two of the most successful Bulls in recent memory, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, landed in New York. Rose was dealt to the Knicks last month. Noah signed as a free agent.


Stoudemire Went Where He Was Wanted

Amar'e Stoudemire, who signed a contract Tuesday with the New York Knicks to formally retire with them, says he had made overtures to do the same over the past two years with the Phoenix Suns but "wasn't getting any positive response."

"That would've been the perfect way to go out," Stoudemire told The Arizona Republic on Thursday. "I didn't want to beg Phoenix. My heart was in two places -- Phoenix and New York. I just went where I was wanted."

Stoudemire, 33, averaged 18.9 points and 7.8 rebounds in 846 career games over 14 seasons for Phoenix, New York, Dallas and Miami, the first eight of which were for the Suns.

The 6-foot-10 forward/center was a six-time All-Star and an All-NBA first-team selection in 2006-07, forming one-half of a formidable pick-and-roll duo in Phoenix with point guard Steve Nash.

"I'm at peace with it because I gave everything that I had," Stoudemire told the newspaper. "It took a while. The game is such a beautiful game. I was truly in love with it, but there were no teams who needed my position."