Dallas Mavericks, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 40% (6 players with tattoos, 9 without)
The tattoo percentage for Dallas remained even with last year.
Players with tattoos:
Jae Crowder
Crowder has tattoos on both arms.
Mike James
Mike James attended Amityville High School in Long Island, alma mater to Wizards guard AJ Price and to rap group De La Soul. James has an Amityville tattoo on his right shoulder.
Bernard James
Bernard James has tattoos on both arms.
Shawn Marion
Among Marion’s several tattoos is a hoop and flaming basketball surrounded by the text “Mr. Marion” and “Matrix.”
O.J. Mayo
Mayo has his name lettered on his back, in almost precisely the same place as the name on his jersey.
Anthony Morrow
Dime Magazine had a great profile of Morrow earlier this year with detailed photos and quotes about his work. Morrow used the article to remind readers that you shouldn’t judge people based on their tattoos: “But like I always say, it’s not a measure of your mind or your heart… It’s really about what you want, what you really love or care about and you express it through body art.”
Players without tattoos:
Josh Akognon
Rodrigue Beaubois
Elton Brand
Vince Carter
Darren Collison
Jared Cunningham
Chris Kaman
Dirk Nowitzki
Brandan Wright
No longer on roster:
Dominique Jones: yes
Delonte West: yes
Dallas Mavericks, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 40% (6 players with tattoos, 9 players without)
The Mavs tattoo percentage dropped a little from last year, which seems inevitable considering they lost both DeShawn Stevenson and Tyson Chandler in the offseason. Still the only team with two Larry O’Brien tattoos, and probably will stay that way, regardless of future championships.
Players with tattoos:
Dominique Jones
While still a junior in college, Jones was included in an article about tattoos on the USF basketball team. The piece reports that he had more than 20 tattoos at that time, listing several of them, including two Michael Jordan quotes tattooed on his stomach: “The game is my wife. It demands loyalty and responsibility, and it gives me back fulfillment and peace.” And, “Basketball is my escape, my refuge. It seems that everything else is so … so busy and complicated.”
Jason Kidd
Kidd’s rarely seen panther tattoo speaks to his longtime love of big cats: “I got this tattoo so long ago. All the way back to about the time I was drafted by the Mavericks. I got it done at a shop in the Bay Area (San Francisco). I just like tigers, panthers, cats in general. I have always wanted to own a panther.”
Shawn Marion
Marion has a noble creature tattooed on his right shoulder that he described as a bull, to represent his Taurean nature: “I’m a Taurus at heart baby!” he declares, in a 2010 Ro Parrish video interview.
Lamar Odom
When it comes to tattoos, Odom keeps it simple: “My tattoos are just reminders of people who are close to me.”
Jason Terry
At the beginning of the 2010-11 season, Terry got the Larry O’Brien trophy tattooed on his right bicep to inspire himself and his teammates. At the end of that season, the Mavs won their first championship.
Delonte West
Among his many tattoos (including a Christian religious narrative that starts on his neck and runs down his chest) is script along his ribs reads: “For those I love I sacrifice.” In an interview he elaborated, “I definitely sacrificed getting them on these ribs, I’ll tell you that.”
Players without tattoos:
Kelenna Azubuike
Rodrique Beaubois
Brian Cardinal
Vince Carter
Brendan Haywood
Yi Jianlian
Ian Mahinmi
Dirk Nowitzki
Brandan Wright
No longer on roster:
Sean Williams: no tattoos
New Jersey Nets, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 47% (7 players with tattoos, 8 without)
From panthers to blood puddles to pirates to vaguely Simpsons-related art, the Nets really showcase the diversity of tattoos present in the NBA.
—
Players with tattoos:
Jordan Farmar
Insted were a late 80s posicore band from Anaheim who formed the same year that Farmar was born just 20 miles away in Los Angeles. Farmar has a tattoo that looks suspiciously like the cover of Insted’s first LP, Bonds of Friendship, but according to an interview, has a totally different origin: “I got it after my freshman year of college. It’s a picture drawn by my first basketball coach, he’s an artist for the Simpsons.”
Dan Gadzuric
Gadzuric’s mother is from Serbia, his father from Saint Vincent. Although the two countries are separated by an ocean, and have never been in direct conflict, they both have violent histories, a story told in Gadzuric’s back tattoo: “The tattoo on my back are two countries joining together with praying hands, covered with blood creating a puddle on the bottom. The two countries represent my two ethnicities.”
Damion James
Among James’ many tattoos is the classic cross/basketball design on his right shoulder.
Anthony Morrow
Morrow has full sleeves on both his arms, and a tribute to his family across his chest.
Johan Petro
Petro has tattoos on both arms.
Mario West
On West’s left shoulder is a tattoo of a pirate.
Deron Williams
Williams famously got one panther tattoo covered by a different panther tattoo. Among his many tattoos, including tributes to his family, basketball, and the state of Texas, Williams said, “It’s a way to express yourself. I probably won’t like them when I’m 90. But right now I do.”
Players without tattoos:
Sundiata Gaines
Stephen Graham
Kris Humphries
Brook Lopez
Travis Outlaw
Ben Uzoh
Sasha Vujacic
Brandan Wright
Dallas Mavericks, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 40% (6 players with tattoos, 9 without)
The tattoo percentage for Dallas remained even with last year.
Players with tattoos:
Jae Crowder
Crowder has tattoos on both arms.
Mike James
Mike James attended Amityville High School in Long Island, alma mater to Wizards guard AJ Price and to rap group De La Soul. James has an Amityville tattoo on his right shoulder.
Bernard James
Bernard James has tattoos on both arms.
Shawn Marion
Among Marion’s several tattoos is a hoop and flaming basketball surrounded by the text “Mr. Marion” and “Matrix.”
O.J. Mayo
Mayo has his name lettered on his back, in almost precisely the same place as the name on his jersey.
Anthony Morrow
Dime Magazine had a great profile of Morrow earlier this year with detailed photos and quotes about his work. Morrow used the article to remind readers that you shouldn’t judge people based on their tattoos: “But like I always say, it’s not a measure of your mind or your heart… It’s really about what you want, what you really love or care about and you express it through body art.”
Players without tattoos:
Josh Akognon
Rodrigue Beaubois
Elton Brand
Vince Carter
Darren Collison
Jared Cunningham
Chris Kaman
Dirk Nowitzki
Brandan Wright
No longer on roster:
Dominique Jones: yes
Delonte West: yes
Dallas Mavericks, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 40% (6 players with tattoos, 9 players without)
The Mavs tattoo percentage dropped a little from last year, which seems inevitable considering they lost both DeShawn Stevenson and Tyson Chandler in the offseason. Still the only team with two Larry O’Brien tattoos, and probably will stay that way, regardless of future championships.
Players with tattoos:
Dominique Jones
While still a junior in college, Jones was included in an article about tattoos on the USF basketball team. The piece reports that he had more than 20 tattoos at that time, listing several of them, including two Michael Jordan quotes tattooed on his stomach: “The game is my wife. It demands loyalty and responsibility, and it gives me back fulfillment and peace.” And, “Basketball is my escape, my refuge. It seems that everything else is so … so busy and complicated.”
Jason Kidd
Kidd’s rarely seen panther tattoo speaks to his longtime love of big cats: “I got this tattoo so long ago. All the way back to about the time I was drafted by the Mavericks. I got it done at a shop in the Bay Area (San Francisco). I just like tigers, panthers, cats in general. I have always wanted to own a panther.”
Shawn Marion
Marion has a noble creature tattooed on his right shoulder that he described as a bull, to represent his Taurean nature: “I’m a Taurus at heart baby!” he declares, in a 2010 Ro Parrish video interview.
Lamar Odom
When it comes to tattoos, Odom keeps it simple: “My tattoos are just reminders of people who are close to me.”
Jason Terry
At the beginning of the 2010-11 season, Terry got the Larry O’Brien trophy tattooed on his right bicep to inspire himself and his teammates. At the end of that season, the Mavs won their first championship.
Delonte West
Among his many tattoos (including a Christian religious narrative that starts on his neck and runs down his chest) is script along his ribs reads: “For those I love I sacrifice.” In an interview he elaborated, “I definitely sacrificed getting them on these ribs, I’ll tell you that.”
Players without tattoos:
Kelenna Azubuike
Rodrique Beaubois
Brian Cardinal
Vince Carter
Brendan Haywood
Yi Jianlian
Ian Mahinmi
Dirk Nowitzki
Brandan Wright
No longer on roster:
Sean Williams: no tattoos
New Jersey Nets, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 47% (7 players with tattoos, 8 without)
From panthers to blood puddles to pirates to vaguely Simpsons-related art, the Nets really showcase the diversity of tattoos present in the NBA.
—
Players with tattoos:
Jordan Farmar
Insted were a late 80s posicore band from Anaheim who formed the same year that Farmar was born just 20 miles away in Los Angeles. Farmar has a tattoo that looks suspiciously like the cover of Insted’s first LP, Bonds of Friendship, but according to an interview, has a totally different origin: “I got it after my freshman year of college. It’s a picture drawn by my first basketball coach, he’s an artist for the Simpsons.”
Dan Gadzuric
Gadzuric’s mother is from Serbia, his father from Saint Vincent. Although the two countries are separated by an ocean, and have never been in direct conflict, they both have violent histories, a story told in Gadzuric’s back tattoo: “The tattoo on my back are two countries joining together with praying hands, covered with blood creating a puddle on the bottom. The two countries represent my two ethnicities.”
Damion James
Among James’ many tattoos is the classic cross/basketball design on his right shoulder.
Anthony Morrow
Morrow has full sleeves on both his arms, and a tribute to his family across his chest.
Johan Petro
Petro has tattoos on both arms.
Mario West
On West’s left shoulder is a tattoo of a pirate.
Deron Williams
Williams famously got one panther tattoo covered by a different panther tattoo. Among his many tattoos, including tributes to his family, basketball, and the state of Texas, Williams said, “It’s a way to express yourself. I probably won’t like them when I’m 90. But right now I do.”
Players without tattoos:
Sundiata Gaines
Stephen Graham
Kris Humphries
Brook Lopez
Travis Outlaw
Ben Uzoh
Sasha Vujacic
Brandan Wright
