Amar’e Stoudemire charged with punching his daughter at Miami home
Former Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks star Amar’e Stoudemire is facing a misdemeanor battery charge after he allegedly hit one of his teenage daughters in the face.
Miami-Dade County court records show that Stoudemire, 40, was arrested early Sunday and later released on $1,500 bond with a no-contact order issued.
Miami Police officials did not immediately respond to a phone message from The Associated Press.
In a post on Instagram late Sunday, Stoudemire denied harming his daughter and called the allegations “groundless.”
“Over the last 24 hours, an incident at my family home led to my being charged with assaulting my daughter,” he wrote. “It is an allegation that does not square with the facts. I am of the Jewish faith, today Jewish people all over the world celebrate Hanukkah,” he added.
Stoudemire wrote that he believes “as the investigation unfolds, the facts will show the allegations to be groundless.” He suggested that his daughter’s condition “is not the result of being assaulted by a father who is nearly 7 feet tall and weighs 250 pounds. I could never see myself assaulting any person, especially my children.”
Former NBA All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire looks on during a basketball training session with his new club Hapoel Jerusalem in Jerusalem on October 7, 2016. (AFP PHOTO / THOMAS COEX)
The basketball star requested “grace as we secure our space and privacy.”
Stoudemire, a legendary basketball star, converted to Judaism while living in Israel in 2020 after stints playing for local teams Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabi Tel Aviv. He had long been exploring his family’s Hebrew Israelite roots, and moved toward embracing an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle.
In May, Stoudemire announced that he was leaving his job as assistant coach at the Brooklyn Nets after two seasons, stating that he was unable to “grow in the coaching space because I don’t work on Shabbat.”
The Miami Herald, citing a police report, said Stoudemire struck one of his two teenage daughters during an argument at his Miami home Saturday night. The newspaper says he has two daughters, ages 17 and 14, but the report doesn’t specify which one he allegedly struck.
According to the paper, the 6-foot-10 (2.1 meters), 255-pound (115 kilogram) Stoudemire confronted the girl and accused her of being disrespectful to his mother during a phone call. When she denied it, he told her “You’re talking back again,” and punched her in the jaw, leaving her bleeding, the report says.
The girl contacted her mother, Stoudemire’s ex-wife, who came to the home and picked up the two girls, their two brothers and then contacted police.
Former NBA basketball player Amar’e Stoudemire shows off his Israeli national identity card at the Interior Ministry March 13, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
The report says that when officers went to Stoudemire’s home, he told them the teen had called her mother “because she was sad” and she “was sad because she received a whooping from him for being disrespectful and a liar.” He then invoked his right to remain silent.
No attorney for Stoudemire is listed in court records. His Instagram page shows he had received his master’s degree earlier Saturday from the University of Miami.
Stoudemire played 15 seasons in the NBA, winning the Rookie of the Year award after the 2002-03 season after being drafted by the Suns. After eight seasons with Phoenix, he was traded to New York, where he played five years. He finished his NBA career with one season each with the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat, before playing in Israel. He retired in 2017.
