Amar’e Stoudemire tweeted this picture of his stitched up hand today. As you can see, the reports that “half his hand was hanging off” aren’t that much of an exaggeration. His palm looks like a baseball. To Amar’e's credit, he seems to want to play on Sunday in Game 4. Ultimately, it is not going to save the Knicks, but it says a lot about Amar’e at least trying to make this right.

What he did was stupid and unfortunate, but when athletes lose, things get kicked, punched, shoved and yelled at. It’s true. Not everyone loses control like that, but some people do. People throw remotes when their favorite teams lose. Try and tell me you don’t know someone who has thrown a video game controller or two in his day.

Competitors are happy when they win and just as mad when they lose. It doesn’t make it right, but that is the way it is. Coaches tell you to calm down – they’ve seen guys break bones in their hands from punching the padded walls in a gym. I’ve been that guy. I was fortunate not to get hurt any of those times. You don’t think about the possible consequences. You just want to fucking hit something.

Sometimes things like this happen. Amar’e is now a cautionary tale for coaches to tell their players about  before they throw their clipboard and kick the garbage can in the locker room at halftime. These things happen. Doesn’t make them right or excusable, but what can you do? Amar’e punched glass and paid the consequence. Hopefully, he can put this behind him so that it just becomes a footnote on a long career. He should do it for himself and his fans, but most of all he should do it for everyone who has ever had a coach say, “Don’t hit anything. If you hurt yourself you’re really going to be pissed.”

[ESPN, WaPo, Twitter]

Previously: Amar’e Stoudemire Punched a Fire Extinguisher, Cut His Hand, Required Stitches