Amare Stoudemire

The New York Knickerbockers, commonly known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . Established in 1946, the organization was a founding member of the... Basketball Association of America, which became the NBA after a merger with the rival National Basketball League in 1949. The Knicks are one of only two teams of the original National Basketball Association still located in its original city . The "Knickerbocker" name comes from the pseudonym used by Washington Irving for his book A History of New York, a name which became applied to the descendants of the original Dutch settlers of what later became New York, and later, by extension, to New Yorkers in general. The Knicks were successful during their early years and were constant playoff contenders. Beginning in 1950, the Knicks made three consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals, all of which were losing efforts.
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Lake Wales is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. The population was 10,194 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 11,802 . It is part of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. Lake Wales is located in central Florida,... west of Lake Kissimmee and east of Tampa. The land around the present city was surveyed in 1879 by Sidney Irving Wailes, who changed the name of a lake, then known as Watts Lake, to Lake Wailes. The city of Lake Wales was established near the lake in 1911-12, planned by the Lake Wales Land Company. The spelling Wales was used for the city, although the lake is still generally spelled Lake Wailes. In 1925 the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad built a new line from Haines City joining lines to Everglades City. A depot was opened on this line at Lake Wales. In 2004, Lake Wales endured the effects of three hurricanes which came through the area: Hurricane Charley, Hurricane Francis and Hurricane Jeanne. The three hurricanes brought hurricane force winds to the Lake Wales area within a space of 44 days. The town lies almost in the exact center of the Florida peninsula.
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