That's Amar'e!: How Amar'e Stoudemire Is Changing Basketball In New York City

This just in. The New York Knicks are relevant for the first time in over a decade!

The Knicks are sitting in second place in the Atlantic Division with 16 wins. They only had 29 last season, and haven't had a winning record since 2001. Their acquisition of superstar Amar'e Stoudemire has elated the city and put Knick basketball back on the map.

Stoudemire is averaging 26.7 points per game, and has a nine game streak of at least 30 points. His defensive game has also improved since his arrival in the Big Apple, and he is making players around him better.

Raymond Felton, the Knicks starting point guard, is averaging nearly 19 points a game to go with nine assists. He has been excellent feeding off of Stoudemire's presence, and is establishing himself as a great point guard in the NBA.

Danilo Gallinari has also benefited from Stoudemire's presence, and together they have become a dual threat in the paint.

When Stoudemire arrived in New York, many critics were quick to say the Knicks overpaid for him. He's making over $16 million a season, and he's proving right now he is worth the wealthy investment. These same critics who questioned Stoudemire's contract are the same critics who said Stoudemire couldn't succeed without Steve Nash.

He's proven before he can be great without Nash, and he is showing everyone how current point guard, Felton, is better with him on the court as well. As long as Stoudemire can stay healthy, the Knicks will be a contender in the Eastern Conference.

They're second in the league in scoring averaging nearly 109 points per game, but they're giving up 107 points per game, which ranks 28th best in the NBA. Although the regular season is less than a third of the way over, the Knicks have a nice cushion in the Eastern Conference. They're second in the Atlantic Division behind the Boston Celtics, and tied for fifth in the sub-par Eastern Conference.

Head coach Mike D'Antoni finally has a great thing in New York right now. He's got a star worthy of being called one of the elite players in the league in Stoudemire—who he previously coached in Phoenix. He has a fan base that is excited for the return of great basketball to its city, and a potential playoff team under his watch. Needless to say the Garden is in full effect.

If the Knicks want to prove to the NBA they are for real, they need to show they can hang with the "big boys" of the league.

Over the course of the next month, the Knicks play the Miami Heat twice, the Central Division leading Chicago Bulls, the always dangerous Orlando Magic, the Western Conference leading Spurs and on January 9th they travel to Los Angeles to take on the two-time defending champion Lakers.

With all the hype surrounding Big Apple basketball, and Spike Lee making running celebrations on the court, the Knicks have something to look forward to for the first time since the Patrick Ewing days. And it all starts with Amar'e Stoudemire.