by Andrew on Thu Jun 05, 2003 1:21 pm
I don't think there'll be much of a rivalry, at least not a celebrated one. Neither Stoudemire nor Ming are the top guys on their respective teams, so a Suns/Rockets matchup would likely be billed as Marbury vs Francis, not Stoudemire vs Ming.
Also, the NBA marketing machine likes to bill matchups of players who play the same position. I didn't see any Suns/Rockets games this year, so I can't comment on how many times Stoudemire and Ming matched up against each other during the course of a game.
I think the NBA would rather build up Shaq vs Ming. Amare Stoudemire is a big man, but Shaq and Ming are two of the biggest athletes in the NBA. They both play centre, and pose a similar threat to each other - a legitimate opponent who rivals their own tremendous size.