Hall of Famer Amar'e Stoudemire graduates from the police academy and will join the Miami-Dade schools police

Amar'e Stoudemire spent 14 seasons running the floor in the NBA. His next job comes with a badge.

The 43-year-old Hall of Famer graduated Wednesday from the Miami Dade College School of Justice Basic Law Enforcement Academy. He did not just get through it. Stoudemire received the Harry "Coach" Everett Award for his contributions to the success of the academy program during his training.

His next step is in-house training with the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department.

A dream since grade school

Stoudemire said this was never a whim. "It's something I always wanted to do since I was a kid," he said in an interview. "I remember back when I was in grade school, elementary school. They asked you on career day, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' And my initial response was a police officer."

It is also a family business. "It runs in the family. My uncle was a captain. His brother was a deputy. My cousin is a captain. My sister's in the academy. So, it's a family tradition, basically."

Harder than the NBA?

Stoudemire spent nearly 11 months in the academy with classroom work and military-style training drills. He said the running was tougher than anything he did on the court.

"Obviously, in the NBA you run short distances, right?" he said. "And the police academy, you're running more long-distance mileage."

He admitted his wife was worried at first about the danger that comes with the job. He said good training is the answer. "If you are well-trained and you understand your policies and procedures, you're able to somewhat have officer safety," he said.

A Hall of Fame career

Stoudemire was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Aug. 15. He was the 2003 Rookie of the Year and a six-time All-Star who averaged 18.9 points and 7.8 rebounds over 846 games.

He starred for the Phoenix Suns after they drafted him in 2002, played five seasons with the New York Knicks from 2010 to 2015 and later suited up for Dallas and Miami. He finished his playing days overseas with Hapoel Jerusalem, the Fujian Sturgeons and Maccabi Tel Aviv before retiring in 2020.

He is not the first NBA big man to pin on a badge. His former Suns teammate Shaquille O'Neal trained with the Los Angeles Port Police and has served as a reserve officer in Florida and Georgia. Now Stoudemire gets his turn to serve.