Cleveland Cavaliers 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 57% (8 players with tattoos, 6 without)
With the mid-season trade of Christian Eyenga and Ramon Sessions for Luke Walton the Cavs tattoo numbers raised from a below average 40% last year to over half of the team this year. Number one draft pick Kyrie Irving, who seems to bring some hope to the team this year, also brings a few very emotional and compelling tattoos with him. Also notable: Cavs’ head coach Byron Scott recently revealed he and his wife have matching tattoos.
Players with tattoos:
Alonzo Gee
As a child, Gee was required by his mother to memorize bible verses. One from Isaiah 54:17 is tattooed on his right shoulder: “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.”
Daniel Gibson
Gibson and his wife Keyshia Cole were featured on the cover of Urban Ink Magazine in spring 2011. Cole has a tattoo on her shoulder that reads “Truly Blessed D. Gibson” and some anonymous young woman in Cleveland also has a Boobie Gibson tattoo.
Manny Harris
Harris has “Kill or Be Killed” tattooed on his shoulder.
Kyrie Irving
Irving has several tattoos, which he’s documented via his twitter account. In the beginning of 2010 he added a photo of the tribute to his mother, and towards the end of that year shared the above photo of his “hungry & humble” tattoo.
Antawn Jamison
Tattooed on Jamison’s left shoulder is a scene where an angel stands beneath a cross, a tribute to his grandmother who died when he was in high school. “Ever since she passed, she’s been my angel,” Jamison explained in a 2008 Washington Post article. “As a kid, I thought she was the only person that actually believed I could be an NBA player.”
Donald Sloan
Sloan has tattoos on both shoulders.
Tristan Thompson
Thompson has a tattoo on his left hand, discussed in an October 2011 Sportsnet Magazine article: “It reads ‘G2S’ and stands for Grind to Shine, the motto (and tattoo) he shared with Longhorn freshman Myck Kabongo, the highly rated point guard from Toronto, and other graduates of the elite Grassroots Canada AAU program.”
Luke Walton
Better just to leave it in Walton’s own words: “The first one I got here, I got in college, and I got the Grateful Dead skeletons but with basketballs instead of canes and hats.”
Players without tattoos:
Omri Casspi
Semih Erden
Luke Harangody
Anthony Parker
Samardo Samuels
Anderson Varejao
Cleveland Cavaliers 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 57% (8 players with tattoos, 6 without)
With the mid-season trade of Christian Eyenga and Ramon Sessions for Luke Walton the Cavs tattoo numbers raised from a below average 40% last year to over half of the team this year. Number one draft pick Kyrie Irving, who seems to bring some hope to the team this year, also brings a few very emotional and compelling tattoos with him. Also notable: Cavs’ head coach Byron Scott recently revealed he and his wife have matching tattoos.
Players with tattoos:
Alonzo Gee
As a child, Gee was required by his mother to memorize bible verses. One from Isaiah 54:17 is tattooed on his right shoulder: “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.”
Daniel Gibson
Gibson and his wife Keyshia Cole were featured on the cover of Urban Ink Magazine in spring 2011. Cole has a tattoo on her shoulder that reads “Truly Blessed D. Gibson” and some anonymous young woman in Cleveland also has a Boobie Gibson tattoo.
Manny Harris
Harris has “Kill or Be Killed” tattooed on his shoulder.
Kyrie Irving
Irving has several tattoos, which he’s documented via his twitter account. In the beginning of 2010 he added a photo of the tribute to his mother, and towards the end of that year shared the above photo of his “hungry & humble” tattoo.
Antawn Jamison
Tattooed on Jamison’s left shoulder is a scene where an angel stands beneath a cross, a tribute to his grandmother who died when he was in high school. “Ever since she passed, she’s been my angel,” Jamison explained in a 2008 Washington Post article. “As a kid, I thought she was the only person that actually believed I could be an NBA player.”
Donald Sloan
Sloan has tattoos on both shoulders.
Tristan Thompson
Thompson has a tattoo on his left hand, discussed in an October 2011 Sportsnet Magazine article: “It reads ‘G2S’ and stands for Grind to Shine, the motto (and tattoo) he shared with Longhorn freshman Myck Kabongo, the highly rated point guard from Toronto, and other graduates of the elite Grassroots Canada AAU program.”
Luke Walton
Better just to leave it in Walton’s own words: “The first one I got here, I got in college, and I got the Grateful Dead skeletons but with basketballs instead of canes and hats.”
Players without tattoos:
Omri Casspi
Semih Erden
Luke Harangody
Anthony Parker
Samardo Samuels
Anderson Varejao
