goldie92689
As a Yankee fan I can tell you this is a very special thing for franchise, player and the fans. Although this practice of returning to your home franchise to retire has not caught on in the baseball world, the idea of trying to play with one franchise is an accolade that many players and fans truly appreciate. I would assume the next best thing is coming back to hang them up and end your career in the colors you wore when it began.
Yankee fans assign their favorite players a very special title. It is the title of "Yankee" it is a 100 year old tradition. Once you have that title you can play elsewhere and always welcomed home when your ready to return. This practice solidifies your bond with the fan of that franchise forever and ever. It also provides a title that can be called upon throughout the rest of the player’s life.
So it is not a useless practice, while entirely symbollic it is very special to the fans for a player to acknowledge the relationship and show gratitude on their way out.
As for Amare, in my opinion while NY appreciates Amare, he never really had the moment he needed to be immortalized in the lore of New York sports. Amare has a great appreciation for the gratitude NY fans bestowed on him after the Donnie Walsh/Lebron fiasco summer. As a player who often felt unappreciated and overlooked Amare’s half season of dominance was very special to him as for once he felt like he was the leader and primary player on a team and he delivered during that time until Melo came and Amare succombed to his health issues. I have to beleive that time was very special to Amare thus I’m sure he wants to be able to return to NY and be recognized as a "Knick" and not just a player who played for the Knicks.