Starting with the engraving of his son's face on his right biceps, the tattoos that adorn Kenyon Martin's body represent a catalog of all the things that give his life meaning. But unless you can read the Chinese message stenciled on the inside of Martin's left forearm, you could miss the two words that explain his growth into the complementary star who could keep Jason Kidd in New Jersey and make the Nets an NBA power for years to come:

"Never satisfied."

Occasionally, Kidd says, Martin writes those words on the tape on his ankles before a game, as if to reinforce the message for himself and for the players around him. Martin got his "never satisfied" tattoo as a junior at Cincinnati the year before he became college player of the year and the No. 1 pick of the 2001 draft.

"It's worked up to this point," Martin said. "It's something I believe in night in and night out in everyday life. You can't be satisfied with just things that life presents. You can always make a situation better."