Charles Barkley Says NY Knicks Star Amar'e Stoudemire Is 'Finished'

Former NBA superstar Charles Barkley believes that the New York Knicks is in deep trouble after losing starting center Tyson Chandler, saying that Amar'e Stoudemire cannot fill in the gap left by the defensive-minded center.

In an interview with ESPN, Barkley said that Knicks fans have seen the best of Stoudemire, hinting that the career of the All-Star power forward is "finished".

"You all in trouble with Amar'e," Barkley said. "I like Amar'e as a person, but I don't see him doing anything in the NBA, to be honest with you. I think he has lost his skill. He lost his talent."

According to Barkley, Stoudemire is nowhere near his form during the time he signed a lucrative $99.7 million deal with the Knicks in 2010 after being hounded by recurring knee injuries.

This season, the 30-year-old power forward is under strict minutes restriction as he only played in two regular-season games, averaging just 3.5 points and 2.0 rebounds in 11.0 minutes per game.

"He played the game on talent when he was younger," said Barkley on Stoudemire. "He played the game 100 percent on talent. And now he has lost his talent and he is in serious trouble."

Barkley also gave his take on the loss of Chandler, who is expected to miss four to six weeks due to a non-displaced fracture of his right fibula. Barkley said that while Carmelo Anthony is the recognized superstar of the Knicks, Chandler is the most important player of the Knicks.

"They got no answer for him," Barkley said. "He is the most important player. I mean obviously Carmelo Anthony is important, but Tyson Chandler -- I am a big Tyson Chandler fan -- without him, they are in serious trouble."

Without their best defensive player and rebounder, Barkley said that that Knicks should to try to run and gun in order to have a chance against their next opponents.

"You're not going to be that good defensively. You are not going to be able to rebound the ball. I think you just got to run and gun, to be honest with you. They just got to run and gun now," Barkley said.