Amar’e Stoudemire was in a personal funk during his second season with the Knicks , forced to deal with several issues that ultimately took their toll.

“Last season,” the Knicks power forward said Monday, “was probably the hardest season I’ve had in my career.”

Enter Hakeem Olajuwon .

Stoudemire has developed a new low-post game during the offseason with private lessons down in Houston with Hall-of-Fame center Olajuwon. Knicks coach Mike Woodson is a former teammate of Olajuwon, and he asked him to work with Stoudemire.

via Roderick Boone of Newsday