AMARE STOUDEMIRE

PHOENIX SUNS

INKED: What was your first tattoo?

STOUDEMIRE: My first tattoo [says] "STAT." It's part of my last name. A lot of people say "Statemire." It's kind of an abbreviation of Stoudemire. I was actually 16.

Where do your ideas come from?

A couple of them I got from a few dreams. I had a dream about [a tattoo that says] "knowing is knowledge and knowledge is power." I can't remember the exact dream, but in that dream some wise man said that quote. I woke up and was like, "Man, that was a pretty strong little statement." I never heard it that way. So I kind of broke it down to see if it was true. If you know something, you have knowledge. And if you have the knowledge of something,then you have the power to know what you're talking about.

So which one is your favorite?

I have a tattoo of a lamppost, like on a street corner. You know how [some lampposts] say Broadway and Third Ave. on the corner? I have a light post with signs for all the cities I grew up in through my childhood. My childhood story is amazing. I've got all my childhood cities on my arm, looking as if they're streets. I have New York, Orlando, Durham. All these cities I lived in as a kid. It's seven signs. But I've got two more that I lived in as a kid, so I'm missing two.

What do your other tattoos mean?

All my tattoos mean something to me. They represent poverty. I've got a tattoo that says "Poverty/Prophecy," and both of those words are off the same P. What that means is when you are in poverty and you're praying for something better, to make it to the NBA or to become a professional skateboarder, you're pretty much prophesizing.


You still skateboarding?

I can skate a little bit still, but I grew up to be 6'10". A lot of my friends who I haven't seen in a long time probably wouldn't believe it, but I grew to be 6 foot 10 inch and my skateboard skills slowly evaporated. I can still ride a little bit, though.