It was an Amar’e Christmas yesterday for the Knicks and Garden fans, including an inconspicious individual seated courtside front row, opposite the Bulls’ bench.
She goes by Carrie, wears her hair in long blonde braids and really is not inconspicious at all.
She is Carrie Stoudemire, the 54-year-old mother of Amar’e Stoudemire, and she experienced her best Christmas ever yesterday as she watched her son block six shots, score 20 points, glare down the Bulls’ best player, Derrick Rose, and continue leading the Knicks’ renaissance in a 103-95 matinee victory.
“This is his dream,” Carrie Stoudemire told The Post from her Garden seat after the victory. “He feels more at home now. More accepted than ever, very comfortable now.
“For one thing, Amar’e never did get his props, the whole eight years he was in the league in Phoenix. He was always on the back burner. The club never looked at him for who he really is. He never got the opportunity to shine and be who he is.
“Now New York has given him this opportunity.”
Carrie, in town for the holidays, still lives in Phoenix. She did not need to explain. The Suns were Steve Nash’s team, not Amar’e’s. People wondered how Stoudemire would fare without Nash, not the other way around.
Carrie now is also getting a chance to shine after having lived a tough life. The Google search is not kind to Carrie Stoudemire, who has had DUI arrests, drug possession arrests, even a prostitution charge back from the Stoudemires’ days in Florida, where Amar’e starred at Cypress Creek High in Orlando before turning pro. Carrie says she no longer has to attend alcohol classes.
Carrie seems more comfortable discussing her difficult past than Amar’e’s revelation last summer during his trip to Israel that his mother may have Jewish roots.
“That’s true,” Carrie said. “I know I do [have Jewish blood]. Let’s leave it there. I teach it, too — Hebrew and Greek.”
Carrie Stoudemire is now trying to help troubled youths. She has what she calls a “street ministry” in Phoenix and a new website where she tells her uncomfortable tale — my29andahalfyearsministries.org. Carrie said she visits street corners of Phoenix to preach.
“My life is good now,” Carrie said as Knicks fans merrily left the building. “I’m happy with my life now. You have to go through things to get to some things. I can tell young girls and boys what life is all about. How can you tell someone something if you’ve never been through it? We all got a little something in the closet, but some of us are ashamed of it. There’s no shame in my game.”
Carrie Stoudemire has given birth to New York’s basketball messiah. Amar’e spent yesterday flying around the Garden again, blocking shots, driving on the break and in the half-court for dunks and nifty shots in the lane. Carrie spent the game waving her right arm in celebration.
More than anything, Amar’e gives the Knicks an Oakley-esque toughness they haven’t had in 10 years. After his all-ball block on Rose, he stared Rose down. In the fourth quarter, when the Knicks slammed the door shut on the Bulls’ offense, holding them to four points in the first 10 minutes, Stoudemire laid a hard foul on Rose, who yapped at him. Stoudemire ripped the ball from his hands, causing a player commotion.
Amar’e’s father died when he was 12. “I think he got his toughness from his mother,” Carrie said with a smile. “His mom was always his role model even though others put his mom down.”
Amar’e is plenty tough for New York. He and his family lived in plenty-tough Newburgh when Amar’e was between 12 and 14 years old.
“We lived in New York before,” Carrie said. “It was always instilled inside of him. I’m very happy for him. This is a long time coming.”
For both of them.
marc.berman@nypost.com