Detroit Pistons, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 57% (8 players with tattoos, 6 without)
Last year I noted that it was the Pistons’ veterans-Hamilton, Wallace, and McGrady-who had the most tattoos while their younger players, Austin Daye and Greg Monroe, avoided them. This year they added a few young players, including Brandon Knight, who’s also tattoo-free, but Macklin and Russell are heavily covered. I’m psyched to see what this team looks like in a year or two.
Players with tattoos:
Will Bynum
While still in high school, Bynum had the NBA logo tattooed on his left arm. Confidence!
Ben Gordon
Gordon entered the league with a tattoo of an angel giving a basketball to a kneeling figure.
Vernon Macklin
Among Macklin’s “Forty or something” tattoos, the name “Rashawn Finney” tattooed on his left forearm is one of the most treasured, according to a Gatorsports.com article. Finney, one of Macklin’s best friends from childhood, was murdered at the age of 18. “I rub this every game before tipoff,” Macklin explained to Gatorsports, “every time before I go on the [free-throw] line.”
Jason Maxiell
Maxiell has a tattoo on his left shoulder.
Walker Russell Jr.
Russell has tattoos covering both arms.
Rodney Stuckey
Stuckey’s right shoulder features an elaborate design with what appears to be a skyline, a river, and a prince holding a basketball.
Ben Wallace
Wallace has a tattoo reading “No Pain No Game” on his left shoulder.
Damien Wilkins
Photographer Janet Klinger made some portraits of Wilkins and his wife that show off the tattoos on his chest and arm.
Players without tattoos:
Austin Daye
Jonas Jerebko
Brandon Knight
Greg Monroe
Tayshaun Prince
Charlie Villaneuva
Every Team’s Got One: Central Division
About one-sixth of NBA players have a tattoo of a basketball. It makes sense, lots of people commemorate their passions via tattoos: cyclists, chefs, shredders, LL Cool J. Still, what’s amazing is that every team has at least one player with a basketball tattoo, even the Hornets, who only have two tattooed players. Basketball tattoos range from iconic (Jordan jumpman; NBA logo), to narcissistic (Carlos Boozer’s self portrait), to symbolic (basketball wearing a crown, basketball meshed with a cross), to weird (Rip Hamilton’s gravestone). Going division by division, Every Team’s Got One will sort out the the highlights across the league, continuing here with the Central division. Click HERE to view other divisions.
Chicago Bulls
Carlos Boozer:
Ronnie Brewer:
Derrick Rose:
Cleveland Cavaliers
Alonzo Gee:
Detroit Pistons
Ben Gordon:
Rip Hamilton:
Tracy McGrady:
Rodney Stuckey:
Ben Wallace:
Indiana Pacers
Solomon Jones:
James Posey:
Brandon Rush:
Milwaukee Bucks
Brandon Jennings:
No Pain…
Onetime teammates Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups are both willing to put up with pain for the right reward:
Chauncey Billups: No Pain, No Fame:
Ben Wallace: No Pain, No Game:
Detroit Pistons, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 67% (10 players with tattoos, 5 without)
The Pistons are currently one of the most tattooed teams in the league. While tattoos in the NBA seemed to reach their peak in the mid-2000s, in the years following Iverson’s dominance, it’s Detroit’s oldest players—Rip Hamilton, Ben Wallace, and Tracy McGrady—who have the most tattoos on the team, and the players in their mid-20s, who got their start during AI’s era, that avoided them.
—
Players with tattoos:
Will Bynum
Bynum demonstrated considerable confidence in himself by getting the NBA logo tattooed on his arm in high school.
Ben Gordon
Gordon’s left arm manages to combine two of the most popular themes for NBA tattoos—basketball and religious iconography—into one design where an angel bequeaths a ball to a prostrate figure.
Richard Hamilton
Rip Hamilton has a few tattoos, including a tribute to his grandfather and a lion. He described one of his favorites for the NBA mailbag: “I have R.I.P. coming out the ground on a tombstone that means basketball for life, basketball till I die. Yeah.”
Jason Maxiell
Has a tattoo on his left shoulder.
Tracy McGrady
McGrady, who has suffered a lot of criticism from announcers and analysts, has a response on his right shoulder, just below a speeding basketball and his nickname. Against a curled scroll, a poignant bit of scripture: “AND EVERY TONGUE THAT SHALL RISE UP AGAINST THEE IN JUDGEMENT SHALL BE COMDEMNED—ISAIAH 54:17.”
Rodney Stuckey
Stuckey’s right shoulder features an elaborate design with what appears to be a skyline, a river, and a prince holding a basketball.
DaJuan Summers
Summers has both arms well covered, but it’s his first tattoo, acquired in high school, that he looks to for comfort: “‘It has my name on it,’ says his mother, Twana, a supermarket meat cutter who raised her three kids alone in Baltimore after her husband died when DaJuan was just 3. ‘And it has the names of [his sister] Regina and [brother] Malik. He says when things get tight, he grabs that tattoo.’”
Ben Wallace
While the literal embrace of his nickname, Big Ben, is his most distinct tattoo, Wallace’s “No Pain No Game” design has a direct message that speaks to his physical game.
Terrico White
Bucking the trend of young players not getting tattoos because it might mess up sponsorship deals, White entered the league at 20 years old with almost-full sleeves, including a lengthy text passage on his right wrist.
Chris Wilcox
Wilcox has a sunburst on his right shoulder, and a portrait of Christ on his left.
Players without tattoos:
Austin Daye
Jonas Jerebko
Greg Monroe
Tayshaun Prince
Charlie Villaneuva
Detroit Pistons, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 57% (8 players with tattoos, 6 without)
Last year I noted that it was the Pistons’ veterans-Hamilton, Wallace, and McGrady-who had the most tattoos while their younger players, Austin Daye and Greg Monroe, avoided them. This year they added a few young players, including Brandon Knight, who’s also tattoo-free, but Macklin and Russell are heavily covered. I’m psyched to see what this team looks like in a year or two.
Players with tattoos:
Will Bynum
While still in high school, Bynum had the NBA logo tattooed on his left arm. Confidence!
Ben Gordon
Gordon entered the league with a tattoo of an angel giving a basketball to a kneeling figure.
Vernon Macklin
Among Macklin’s “Forty or something” tattoos, the name “Rashawn Finney” tattooed on his left forearm is one of the most treasured, according to a Gatorsports.com article. Finney, one of Macklin’s best friends from childhood, was murdered at the age of 18. “I rub this every game before tipoff,” Macklin explained to Gatorsports, “every time before I go on the [free-throw] line.”
Jason Maxiell
Maxiell has a tattoo on his left shoulder.
Walker Russell Jr.
Russell has tattoos covering both arms.
Rodney Stuckey
Stuckey’s right shoulder features an elaborate design with what appears to be a skyline, a river, and a prince holding a basketball.
Ben Wallace
Wallace has a tattoo reading “No Pain No Game” on his left shoulder.
Damien Wilkins
Photographer Janet Klinger made some portraits of Wilkins and his wife that show off the tattoos on his chest and arm.
Players without tattoos:
Austin Daye
Jonas Jerebko
Brandon Knight
Greg Monroe
Tayshaun Prince
Charlie Villaneuva
Every Team’s Got One: Central Division
About one-sixth of NBA players have a tattoo of a basketball. It makes sense, lots of people commemorate their passions via tattoos: cyclists, chefs, shredders, LL Cool J. Still, what’s amazing is that every team has at least one player with a basketball tattoo, even the Hornets, who only have two tattooed players. Basketball tattoos range from iconic (Jordan jumpman; NBA logo), to narcissistic (Carlos Boozer’s self portrait), to symbolic (basketball wearing a crown, basketball meshed with a cross), to weird (Rip Hamilton’s gravestone). Going division by division, Every Team’s Got One will sort out the the highlights across the league, continuing here with the Central division. Click HERE to view other divisions.
Chicago Bulls
Carlos Boozer:
Ronnie Brewer:
Derrick Rose:
Cleveland Cavaliers
Alonzo Gee:
Detroit Pistons
Ben Gordon:
Rip Hamilton:
Tracy McGrady:
Rodney Stuckey:
Ben Wallace:
Indiana Pacers
Solomon Jones:
James Posey:
Brandon Rush:
Milwaukee Bucks
Brandon Jennings:
No Pain…
Onetime teammates Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups are both willing to put up with pain for the right reward:
Chauncey Billups: No Pain, No Fame:
Ben Wallace: No Pain, No Game:
Detroit Pistons, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 67% (10 players with tattoos, 5 without)
The Pistons are currently one of the most tattooed teams in the league. While tattoos in the NBA seemed to reach their peak in the mid-2000s, in the years following Iverson’s dominance, it’s Detroit’s oldest players—Rip Hamilton, Ben Wallace, and Tracy McGrady—who have the most tattoos on the team, and the players in their mid-20s, who got their start during AI’s era, that avoided them.
—
Players with tattoos:
Will Bynum
Bynum demonstrated considerable confidence in himself by getting the NBA logo tattooed on his arm in high school.
Ben Gordon
Gordon’s left arm manages to combine two of the most popular themes for NBA tattoos—basketball and religious iconography—into one design where an angel bequeaths a ball to a prostrate figure.
Richard Hamilton
Rip Hamilton has a few tattoos, including a tribute to his grandfather and a lion. He described one of his favorites for the NBA mailbag: “I have R.I.P. coming out the ground on a tombstone that means basketball for life, basketball till I die. Yeah.”
Jason Maxiell
Has a tattoo on his left shoulder.
Tracy McGrady
McGrady, who has suffered a lot of criticism from announcers and analysts, has a response on his right shoulder, just below a speeding basketball and his nickname. Against a curled scroll, a poignant bit of scripture: “AND EVERY TONGUE THAT SHALL RISE UP AGAINST THEE IN JUDGEMENT SHALL BE COMDEMNED—ISAIAH 54:17.”
Rodney Stuckey
Stuckey’s right shoulder features an elaborate design with what appears to be a skyline, a river, and a prince holding a basketball.
DaJuan Summers
Summers has both arms well covered, but it’s his first tattoo, acquired in high school, that he looks to for comfort: “‘It has my name on it,’ says his mother, Twana, a supermarket meat cutter who raised her three kids alone in Baltimore after her husband died when DaJuan was just 3. ‘And it has the names of [his sister] Regina and [brother] Malik. He says when things get tight, he grabs that tattoo.’”
Ben Wallace
While the literal embrace of his nickname, Big Ben, is his most distinct tattoo, Wallace’s “No Pain No Game” design has a direct message that speaks to his physical game.
Terrico White
Bucking the trend of young players not getting tattoos because it might mess up sponsorship deals, White entered the league at 20 years old with almost-full sleeves, including a lengthy text passage on his right wrist.
Chris Wilcox
Wilcox has a sunburst on his right shoulder, and a portrait of Christ on his left.
Players without tattoos:
Austin Daye
Jonas Jerebko
Greg Monroe
Tayshaun Prince
Charlie Villaneuva
