He was on site at the ESPN offices all day yesterday discussing the lockout from the view of a player but took a little time out of his day to have some fun.

In the video you see Amar’e in his suit talking with an ESPN employee who points out that it might be some time before we see more footage of him dunking on people, something he regularly does during the season.

They bring him to a room where supposedly Blake Griffin is standing by waiting to defend the hoop.

Unfortunately it is just a cardboard cutout and a mini-hoop, but that doesn’t stop Stoudemire from taking him on with the same intensity as he would in a real NBA game.

Amar’e eyes him up and then tells the camera that this is for the fans and for the real Blake Griffin.

He then shakes his invisible defender and gets one-on-one with the cutout, takes a power hop and slams it down, bringing the rim with him and nearly putting Blake and the basket support through a window.

These two guys obviously have a respect for each other, and Stoudemire actually recognized Griffin during a regular season game in which he posterized his former teammate, Timofey Mozgov.

Griffin threw down a monster one-handed jam and seemingly hung in the air for a time that did not seem human.

Stoudemire and Griffin are two of the most dynamic dunk artists in the league, and it’s always exciting to watch them flush it down, even if it is on a mini-hoop in an office environment.

Hopefully the lockout ends soon so we can see some actual rim rattlers this year. 

Read more New York Knicks news on BleacherReport.com

Drafted ninth overall in 2002 straight out of Cypress Creek High School, the league had never witnessed this level of raw athleticism and explosiveness at the power forward spot.

In Stoudemire, the Phoenix Suns discovered a 19-year-old with an NBA-ready body who was also a work-in-progress. However, his relentless ferocity around the rim made for plenty of highlight-reel facials and alley-oops.

In no time, Stoudemire became a household name and captured the 2003 Rookie of the Year Award. Sound familiar?

While the final outcome is similar, the path Griffin took to get there is rather unique.

The Los Angeles Clippers were anxious for the 2009-10 season to get underway in order to see if their No. 1 pick was all he was cracked up to be. An impressive preseason was foreshadowing a promising rookie campaign.

Then, to Griffin and the team’s dismay, he suffered a non-displaced stress fracture to the left patella during an exhibition game on Oct. 23. In layman’s terms, he had broken his left kneecap.

Just one week before Opening Night, Griffin was blindsided by this season-ending injury that ultimately required surgical repair via a two-step procedure.

After a successful operation and a summer of strenuous rehab, Griffin certainly was flying under the radar heading into the 2010-11 campaign; fellow class of 2009 alumnus Tyreke Evans’ first-year accomplishments had placed him in the company of all-time greats, and incoming draftees John Wall and Evan Turner were all the rage.

It was the ideal arrangement for Griffin to return like a gangbuster, stun the NBA and give Clippers fans a reason to show their faces at the Staples Center.

With all the lofty expectations typically placed upon a first-overall pick, Griffin still managed to shock us all in grand fashion.

No one had ever seen a player perform an above-the-rim act of this variety during competition. Heck, I’m not even sure LeBron James has the gift to pull off the kind of inconceivable slams that had only previously been executed by gamers with joysticks in-hand.

And yet, somehow Griffin makes the humanly impossible look effortless.

The hype surrounding Griffin reached a fever pitch during a matchup with the New York Knicks on Nov. 20, 2010. Not only did he rattle off an entire season’s worth of SportsCenter Top 10s, but he also amassed a stat line of 44 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists.

Stoudemire, who went head-to-head with Griffin for much of the night, dwarfed in comparison with 39 points, 11 rebounds and two assists—a monster game by anybody’s standards, but not in this context.

Blake Griffin had arrived and a new superstar was born.

Griffin never looked back. The 22-year-old boy-wonder demolished opposing defenses and catapulted out of gyms everywhere, compiling triple-doubles, appearing in February’s All-Star Game and sweeping the ROY vote.

He was an unstoppable muscle mass of boundless energy who displayed no signs of fatigue or susceptibility to injury, starting all 82 games.

During his award-winning inaugural season, Stoudemire was also a model of consistency; he appeared in every game. But by the fall of 2005, his reckless-abandon style of play had caught up with him.

It was during training camp that the pain in his left knee had become too unbearable. Stoudemire underwent microfracture surgery to repair the defect, essentially eradicating his entire 2005-06 season.

Any athlete coming off of knee surgery knows they must reestablish their ability to stand, walk and jog prior to running. For a basketball player, this means there’s a window of opportunity to practice the art of shooting.

Before jumping can resume, it’s not uncommon to catch a recovering player shooting flat-footed, with an emphasis on perfecting their form. Once they’ve rehabilitated to full health and mobility, the time dedicated to shooting will have paid off.

Since microfracture surgery is a relatively cutting-edge process, not enough data has been compiled to determine an accurate success rate. However, based on the analyses done thus far, in general, the outlook has not been promising.

As a result, Stoudemire has slightly modified his game in the wake of his operation to accommodate a career of longevity.

While thunderous dunks and vicious blocks are still major staples, Stoudemire has implemented a low-post game rather than constantly attempting to barrel through and leap over opponents as Griffin does.

Most importantly, Stoudemire has drastically improved his outside shot to an extent that he possesses legitimate three-point range that he won’t hesitate to flaunt if left open. Recently, Stoudemire even won a three-point shooting contest during a trip to China.

These supplementary weapons in Stoudemire’s offensive arsenal serve double-duty. Not only do they make him a more formidable force, but they also assist in relieving some of the stress on his lower extremities and save him from constant grounding and pounding.

Stoudemire has shown no ill-effects in his surgically-repaired knee throughout the last six years, and his balanced attack has undoubtedly contributed to maintaining his physical well-being.

Normally, sportsmen and women are encouraged to put forth 100 percent when on the playing field or—in this case—the court. But, given Griffin’s rambunctious vertical approach to the game, the wear and tear on his legs could prove to be career-threatening unless he diversifies and slows things down on occasion—especially considering he’s already suffered a serious knee injury so early on.

A boring, mid-range, turnaround, fade-away bank shot periodically peeks through Griffin’s offensive fireworks extravaganza, but this is a start, and it’s likely a component of his game that he’s worked hard to develop this summer.

While Stoudemire is currently in his prime, it’s scary to think Griffin has years to evolve before entering his. Nonetheless, Griffin’s youth increases the odds of him getting hurt as even more productive years loom on the horizon.

No athlete can play with confidence if he frets over bumps and bruises, but the prospect of another catastrophic knee injury is likely always in the back of Griffin’s mind. Concentrating on enhancing the aspects of his game that will alleviate severe strain on his body will also help curb some of the mental unrest.

Just like it has for Stoudemire, this subconscious trepidation will eventually subside as more and more healthy seasons come to pass.

If Stoudemire isn’t already one of Griffin’s role models, he certainly should regard him as a reliable mentor. Despite the age disparity, they are practically carbon copies of each other, and Griffin can learn some valuable lessons concerning career preservation from the author of one of the NBA’s greatest comeback stories in recent memory.

Taking a couple of cues from Stoudemire could be the difference between Griffin fizzling out like Larry Johnson or going down in history with Karl Malone.

Read more New York Knicks news on BleacherReport.com

That Amare Stoudemire was going to win the MVP because he was "making the Knicks relevant again," was far and away the lowest bar ever set for an MVP candidate. Gradually, as the Knicks clamored to stay above .500, that conversation began to fade.

Then came the "Carmelo Anthony" trade rumors which were on again and off again. Then when it was finally completed they were immediately compared to the far more talented and capable duo of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

After being quickly spirited from the playoffs by the Boston Celtics, the rumors, begun the year before after a Chris Paul toast and Anthony's wedding began to dominate the headlines and rumor mills once again. 

Chris Paul was going to force a trade to the New York Knicks once again.

Yes, it's only a matter of getting the lockout completed before it's done. The fans and bloggers have it all worked out. The only thing is no one asked Glen Grunwald, general manager of the Knicks. No one asked Dell Demps, general manager of the Hornets. Most importantly, no one asked Chris Paul.

Now let's right away point to the giant distinction between the Knicks pair of stars and the Heat's trio. It's just about dollars. In the year 2013 (the year in which any new contract Paul signs) Anthony and Stoudemire will combine to make 39 million dollars. 

The top two heat players on the other hand will make about 35 million dollars. That's a difference of two million dollars per player. Furthermore, Wade actually makes about a half million less than the other two. 

Or, another way of looking at it, the big three make only about 13 million more than the big two. So then, that leaves one or two certainties. Either Chris Paul is going to have to take significantly less money than Stoudemire and Anthony or there is going to be very little money to sign everyone else.

In Miami that was more amenable for the stars to take less money. First, they all did and second there's no income tax. New York, on the other hand, has the sixth highest tax rate in the country.

Look, even if you cut it in half and speculate that Paul would sign for just 11 million, making about half of what the other two make, then that would only leave about 13 million to sign the other nine players needed to fill out the roster. 

That leaves a million and a half per player. Now before you start arguing Bird Rights and the like, don't get ahead of yourself. That 63 million dollar offer to the players is a "flex cap" with a hard ceiling. They are offering a higher cap if it's hard. 

No one really knows what the new Collective Bargaining Agreement is going to look like. If we did, the lockout would be over. I think it's safe to say though that the days of 70 and 80 million dollar teams is over. 

Will the players get a little more than 63 million? Perhaps or perhaps not, or perhaps it will just be about how the cap works. Whatever it is though, there's going to be some kind of limit and the idea that it's going to work out even more in the players' favor right now is just ludicrous. 

I mean, it shouldn't need to be said, but apparently it does. There's just no way that any team, not the Knicks not the Celtics, not the Bulls and not even the Lakers, are going to be able to carry three max contract players and still have a decent team around them.

So even if the Knicks were to be able to miraculously sign Paul, they'd have to sort through whatever was left on the scrap heap of ring chasers that the Heat hadn't scavenged over before they could get enough minimum contracts to flesh out a roster. And there won't be any Mike Millers or Udonis Haslems on it either.

So, let's not assume that getting Paul is even necessarily a good move for the Knicks. Depth matters, and the Mavericks proved it last year.

While it may not be the best thing for the Knicks, it's probably not the best thing for Paul either, and not just on the money side, on the basketball side.   

Then there is what I can only call the inevitable "Boshing" that could easily incur. What I mean by that is that Chris Bosh's star plummeted this year as he went from being a number one guy to a number three guy. He wouldn't be "Batman" or "Robin." He would be Alfred. Who wants to be Alfred when they have the ability to be Batman?

While Paul is more of a distributor than a scorer, considering Anthony's style of play it wouldn't mesh well with Paul being a distributor. In some ways I could see where the team would easily be better with Paul and Stoudemire than it would be with Anthony and Stoudemire, but with the three of them together it's an odd stew.

I like ice cream and I like bratwurst, but I don't like bratwurst in my ice cream.

Paul is a facilitator that runs an offense with high precision. Anthony is an isolation player who seems to clog every play he's involved in. Yes, he's an outstanding scorer, but he's an offense in and of himself, not so much a component of one.

Witness the Nuggets improving in scoring after 'Melo was gone and there were no more "sticky hands." He ran 775 isolation plays last year. That's more than twice as many as Wade and over 50 percent more than James or Derrick Rose.

In other words, he runs it a lot, and by a lot that's my polite way of saying way too stinking much. The thing is Chris Paul probably knows this. If he goes to New York, he's got a good chance of spending his career watching Carmelo Anthony run isolation plays rather than running an offense. 

So yes, Paul did make a toast a year ago but let's be realistic, it was just a toast. He didn't sign a contract. Don't sign it for him. A lot of people are quick to argue that Paul would sign for less, but that's a bit like "spending other people's money" only it's more "making other people's money." 

Now, New York wants to pretend that it's the only game in town or that the only other places he can go are Atlanta and New York and then they dismiss Atlanta.

Yeah, Atlanta is not very realistic either. They've got that much right. That doesn't mean there's nowhere else to go though.

The way you make this superstar constellation thing work is that you go sign together with another player for less money on a team with a young nucleus and a ton of cap space. If you want to find a team that fits that mold, you need look no further than the second biggest city in the country.

The Lakers have owned the town for years, but imagine a scenario where Dwight Hoard and Chris Paul both sign and/or get traded to the Clippers. They have some expiring contracts and decent young players to trade away.

If they either trade him out or buy him out Mo Williams would free up another eight million. Then the Clippers' entire contract obligation would be less than what Stoudemire or Anthony make all by themselves.

In LA Paul could be Batman playing with Superman instead of being Alfred in New York. Throw in the Wonder Twins for good measure.  

It's easily conceivable that they could figure out how to sign both Howard and Paul to contracts, while keeping Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon.

Look if you have Paul and Gordon in the back court and Howard and Griffin in the front court, you can have Ryan Gomes, Willie Warren or Ronald McDonald as your small forward and you'd still have a winning team.

Chris Paul taking turns passing the ball to Dwight Howard and Blake Griffin for monster dunks, every once in a while deciding to spot up for a three or passing out to Eric Gordon would just be a nasty, nasty experience for any opposition.

The thing is though that would be Paul's team in the sense that he would really be running it. It's not hard to see Paul being able to record up assist numbers in the 20s with regularity with a team like that around him. 

Not only that, what would be even more historic than making the Knicks relevant again? How abut making the Clippers more relevant than the Lakers? If he led an LA takeover it would be huge. There would be no "again" attached to his accomplishment.

Yes, it can be very easily argued that from both a financial standpoint and a legacy standpoint that Chris Paul would be better off other places than New York. And if you want to argue endorsements, I think that Kobe Bryant has made the whole endorsement thing work in LA.  

Finally, why would New Orleans take the deal? While Landry Fields is a nice player and a big surprise, he's a very long way from Chris Paul, and he's about the best the Knicks have to offer, unless you want to say it's Tony Douglas, which let's just say, it doesn't matter. 

The fact is that the best the Knicks can offer is Fields and their 2013 first-round pick. They don't even have a 2012 pick. The Clippers meanwhile will have the Timberwolves pick, which will probably be at the very least, a top four overall pick and potentially the top overall pick, which that player alone would be worth more than Douglass, Fields or both.

So it can be easily argued that it would not be best for the Knicks, the Hornets or for Paul, from a financial level or from a professional level, for Paul to go to the Knicks. So can we please stop drinking the Kool-Aid, or should I say "Paul-Aid?" 

Read more New York Knicks news on BleacherReport.com

It's the main reason why the draft is held in the first place, to allow teams to secure talent that will help them now or down the road.

But how often do teams fail to address their major needs and draft other options that seem pedestrian?

Believe it or not, it happens quite a lot.

This year was no different.

Here are the top 10 teams that did little to nothing to help their own cause on draft day.

Begin Slideshow

It's the main reason why the draft is held in the first place, to allow teams to secure talent that will help them now or down the road.

But how often do teams fail to address their major needs and draft other options that seem pedestrian?

Believe it or not, it happens quite a lot.

This year was no different.

Here are the top 10 teams that did little to nothing to help their own cause on draft day.

Begin Slideshow

These drops in numbers have been no more important than in the relatively meaningless world of fantasy basketball. For that reason, I will not be pinpointing these statistical fall-outs as a negative consequence for the players' teams as a whole (although, there is some mild criticism to be had).  

Begin Slideshow

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