After earning more than $161 million over his Hall of Fame career, Amare Stoudemire has more than enough money to never work again. But instead, his second act will be on the front lines.
The former NBA big man, 43, recently graduated from the police academy in Miami and is now a police officer.
“It’s something I always wanted to do since I was a kid. I remember back when I was in grade school, elementary school. They asked you on career day, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ And my initial response was a police officer,” Stoudemire told Sports Illustrated.
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“It runs in the family. My uncle was a captain. His brother was a deputy. My cousin is a captain. My sister’s in the academy. So, it’s a family tradition, basically.”
Stoudemire took his lessons from the basketball court to the academy, where he endured physical tests and read thousands of pages on policy.
“It’s a similar situation where you have to have discipline. You gotta have a sense of professionalism. You have to be able to communicate properly. I think as an athlete, all those things also are important. Being able to communicate with your fans and the media, but more so, as an officer, you communicate with the community. So I will be able to help steer the next generation in the proper way and catch them before they get in trouble and try to provide some guidance there,” he said.
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Stoudemire admitted his wife “was a little bit concerned because obviously being a police officer, there’s some danger to it.”
“But if you are well-trained and you understand your policies and procedures, you’re able to somewhat have officer safety, which is very important, and that’s the goal,” he said.
Stoudemire said the “business” of “protect[ing] and serv[ing] the community” is what “drew” him to the line of work.
“We’re able to somewhat help protect the community that really needs help and wants protection, and wants to live a comfortable lifestyle. And so, for me, that helped me to want to get involved, and also being able to teach the children. To be hands-on with the young youth, and to steer them in the right direction, not only from an athletic standpoint, but also just from a successful, professional entrepreneur standpoint,” Stoudemire said.
“And also coming from a law enforcement perspective, I’ve had a lot of law enforcement role models in my life growing up. My JV coach was in law enforcement. My uncle, who’s my favorite uncle, was, I mentioned before, also [in] law enforcement, and these are all positive influences that steer me in the right direction.”
Stoudemire averaged 17.8 points and 7.8 rebounds in his career and was a six-time All-Star.