It’s finally happened. After years of rumors of Amar’e Stoudemire leaving the Phoenix Suns, it finally becomes official today as Stoudemire becomes a member of the New York Knicks. With Stoudemire’s departure, we can definitely expect some things to be different around Phoenix.
Amar'e has bolted to Manhattan. Enjoy the Broadway shows. AP photo
Back in February, I wrote about some changes we could expect to see off the basketball court if Stoudemire were to be traded. One of those things was Stoudemire’s Downtown changing its name. I predicted the owner of Stoudemire’s would get together to open a BBQ restaurant with Taylor Griffin. Instead, Stoudemire’s has changed over to Downtown Sports Grill. I don’t like that name, and I don’t think it fits their clientele. We’ll have to work on that.
Over at 7th and Roosevelt streets, the longstanding mural of Stoudemire on the tire shop wall has already been painted over. They didn’t even wait for STAT to leave town. It’s just a plain boring wall now. The last thing our Downtown needs is to lose art.
Even the local housing market has been affected. Stoudemire owns no less than four different properties, all of them in the city of Phoenix. Esplanade Place now has an empty penthouse. Can we really afford to have another empty penthouse? I say not!
As a direct result of Stoudemire leaving town, we’re left with a restaurant with a bad name, an bland orange wall and more empty houses, but fear not, I have a solution for all three! That solution comes in the form of the Suns’ second-round pick, Gani Lawal. Don’t look so shocked.
First, is fixing the restaurant formerly known as Stoudemire’s. Although I’ve never been inside, from the outside it looks to be targeting more of a club/nightlife scene. A name like Downtown Sports Grill isn’t going to attract many clubgoers. However, a name like “Gani’s” just might. Factor in that Lawal is from Atlanta, so he probably knows exactly how to run a club. I think we have ourselves a winner!
An empty wall on 7th and Roosevelt? Sounds like the perfect place to put up an ad for Lawal’s brand new club. I’m sure Brett Walker would be willing to paint Lawal’s image on the wall for free, too!
Now that Lawal is an NBA player and successful nightclub owner, he’s going to need a place to live. That leads us back to the empty penthouse now available at the Biltmore. The location is conveniently located by both of Lawal’s places of employment. Why wouldn’t he want to live there? That is, assuming the Suns give him a large contract.
So, while Stoudemire leaving town will definitely result in some changes on and off the court, at least Lawal is here to fix them all. Hail #31!
