Detroit Pistons, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 50% (7 players with tattoos, 7 without)
The tattoo percentage for the Pistons is slightly lower than last year.
Players with tattoos:
Will Bynum
While still in high school, Bynum had the NBA logo tattooed on his left arm.
Andre Drummond
Drummond recently had the names of his sister and mother tattooed on his fingers.
Corey Maggette
Maggette has a tattoo on his right shoulder of a wizard with a basketball and several planets.
Jason Maxiell
Pistons.com has a nice video interview with Maxiell where he discusses his tattoos, focusing primarily on the cross on his shoulder. As he explains:
“My favorite tattoo is on my left shoulder. I got it after my grandmother passed. She was somebody close to me, very special, so once I got to the next level playing basketball I decided to take a whole day and design a tattoo for her and put her on my body for the rest of my life. Being my first tattoo, it was painful at time, then it got numb.”
Greg Monroe
Monroe has a tattoo that occasionally peeks out of the left side of his jersey.
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.
Charlie Villanueva
Villanueva got his first tattoos this past summer. As he explained to the Detroit Free Press (via Piston Powered), “I waited so long because I didn’t know what I want or exactly what I wanted to do. At the same time, once I did one, I thought it was going to hurt a lot more. I actually liked the pain, which is kind of weird so I was like keep going.”
Players without tattoos:
Jose Calderon
Kim English
Jonas Jerebko
Brandon Knight
Viacheslav Kravtsov
Khris Middleton
Kyle Singler
Charlotte Bobcats, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 43% (6 players with tattoos, 8 without)
The Bobcats are having a tough year. They have fewer tattoos then they did last year, and one of the lowest percentages of tattooed players in the league.
Players with tattoos:
D.J. Augustin
Last summer Houston-based tattoo artist Kevo posted a video of himself giving a tattoo to D.J. Augustin. The finished “Family First” design on his chest joins the others as listed by Augustin on his website: “I have a cross on my arm that says truly blessed. On the other arm I have praying hands. I have a scroll on my chest and a basketball with a crown on the other side.” On his back is a touching tribute to his deceased grandmother in which pair of hands hold a basketball beside the text “thanks for the rock” to memorialize his first ball, which was purchased by his grandmother for his fifth birthday. The design is pretty awe-inspiring.
Gerald Henderson
It’s impossible to make out the design, but Henderson has a tattoo on his back that peeks out of the left side of his jersey.
Corey Maggette
Maggette has a tattoo on his right shoulder of a wizard with a basketball and several planets.
Byron Mullens
Mullens used go to by BJ Mullens, and has B tattooed on his left forearm and J tattooed on his right forearm.
Tyrus Thomas
Easily the most heavily tattooed players on the Bobcats, Thomas admits to disliking his first tattoo: “The name was just like the first one. I think a lot of people usually get their name as the first one. If I could do it over I wouldn’t. You know, I know my name.
Reggie Williams
Williams has a portrait tattooed on his left shoulder and another design on his right forearm.
Players without tattoos:
Bismack Biyombo
Derrick Brown
Matt Carroll
DeSagana Diop
Cory Higgins: there’s no evidence that Higgins has tattoos, however he posted this on Twitter in February of this year…
Eduardo Najera
Kemba Walker
D.J. White
Milwaukee Bucks, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 71% (10 with tattoos, 4 without)
The Bucks have had a tough time establishing an identity over the last few decades, with their marquee players falling to injury and many seasons passing without much note. In the last year this “fear the deer” movement has started though, and fittingly, the Bucks have assembled a bunch of oddballs and unpredictable players who can embrace both the silliness and the necessity of the slogan. Their tattoos follow suit.
—
Players with tattoos:
Andrew Bogut
Bogut has a tattoo on his back but he’s not really willing to discuss it: “The tattoo is a mix of things, a lot of it is kind of personal,” he explained one one of those NBA.com player chats, “There’s some Australian stuff and also some Croatian stuff in it.” Which is hilarious considering all of the topics he is willing to open his big mouth about.
Jon Brockman
As a teenager, Brockman got a tattoo of the tree of life on his lower back, as did his older brother and sister. “My mom doesn’t like it at all,” he explained to the Seattle Times in 2008, “Neither does my dad. But it’s in a place where no one sees it. It’s something close to me and it reminds me of my brother and sister when I don’t get to see them for a long time. So I like it.”
Carlos Delfino
Delfino sports a dragon on his left shoulder.
Keyon Dooling
On Dooling’s left shoulder is a tattoo of a cross.
Chris Douglas-Roberts
Douglas Roberts is great at twitter, his steady feed a mixture of funny observations, style tips, and hurting feelings. Given his many tattoos, a fan recently asked him for his advice, and CDR replied: “get somem original….& Them shits hurt really bad.”
Drew Gooden
Gooden has historically put a lot of effort into unconventional looks, such as this haircut or this beard. A 2007 Akron Beacon-Journal article focuses in on Gooden’s then-recent tattoo, his first new design since he was 15 years old. The article reports that the tattoo is Dali-like, featuring a melting clock, set to 11:11 for good luck. At opposite sides of the clock a pair of angels and a devil observe time, completing this fittingly outlandish design for Gooden. Still, nothing really beats actually seeing it.
Brandon Jennings
During Jennings’ rookie year, he answered questions for a Hoops Hype interview, including one about his many tattoos: “On my right arm, it’s laugh now, cry later. It’s for all the haters who said I would never make it in life. And there’s a man holding a ball with a city behind him, which is basically me holding a basketball with my city behind me. On the left one, it’s my mom (Alice Knox) and my brother (Terrence). It shows I’m blessed.”
Corey Maggette
Maggette has a tattoo on his right shoulder.
John Salmons
Salmons has Chinese characters on his right arm. According to the website NiuBBall.com, it’s identical to Jermaine O’Neal’s Chinese tattoo, and means “person who sells coffins.”
Larry Sanders
Maybe ten years ago someone I knew had to spend some time in prison. He wasn’t exactly a tough guy, so before he went in he decided to get a tattoo that might make him look hard enough that he could avoid fights. He had two full-size pistols tattooed on his waistline, so it looked like the guns were tucked into his pants. It was an intense decision, and one that only half worked.
I’d never seen anyone else with the design until Sanders was drafted by the Bucks and this photo appeared on his twitter page.
Players without tattoos:
Earl Boykins
Ersan Ilyasova
Luc Mbah a Moute
Michael Redd
Detroit Pistons, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 50% (7 players with tattoos, 7 without)
The tattoo percentage for the Pistons is slightly lower than last year.
Players with tattoos:
Will Bynum
While still in high school, Bynum had the NBA logo tattooed on his left arm.
Andre Drummond
Drummond recently had the names of his sister and mother tattooed on his fingers.
Corey Maggette
Maggette has a tattoo on his right shoulder of a wizard with a basketball and several planets.
Jason Maxiell
Pistons.com has a nice video interview with Maxiell where he discusses his tattoos, focusing primarily on the cross on his shoulder. As he explains:
“My favorite tattoo is on my left shoulder. I got it after my grandmother passed. She was somebody close to me, very special, so once I got to the next level playing basketball I decided to take a whole day and design a tattoo for her and put her on my body for the rest of my life. Being my first tattoo, it was painful at time, then it got numb.”
Greg Monroe
Monroe has a tattoo that occasionally peeks out of the left side of his jersey.
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.
Charlie Villanueva
Villanueva got his first tattoos this past summer. As he explained to the Detroit Free Press (via Piston Powered), “I waited so long because I didn’t know what I want or exactly what I wanted to do. At the same time, once I did one, I thought it was going to hurt a lot more. I actually liked the pain, which is kind of weird so I was like keep going.”
Players without tattoos:
Jose Calderon
Kim English
Jonas Jerebko
Brandon Knight
Viacheslav Kravtsov
Khris Middleton
Kyle Singler
Charlotte Bobcats, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 43% (6 players with tattoos, 8 without)
The Bobcats are having a tough year. They have fewer tattoos then they did last year, and one of the lowest percentages of tattooed players in the league.
Players with tattoos:
D.J. Augustin
Last summer Houston-based tattoo artist Kevo posted a video of himself giving a tattoo to D.J. Augustin. The finished “Family First” design on his chest joins the others as listed by Augustin on his website: “I have a cross on my arm that says truly blessed. On the other arm I have praying hands. I have a scroll on my chest and a basketball with a crown on the other side.” On his back is a touching tribute to his deceased grandmother in which pair of hands hold a basketball beside the text “thanks for the rock” to memorialize his first ball, which was purchased by his grandmother for his fifth birthday. The design is pretty awe-inspiring.
Gerald Henderson
It’s impossible to make out the design, but Henderson has a tattoo on his back that peeks out of the left side of his jersey.
Corey Maggette
Maggette has a tattoo on his right shoulder of a wizard with a basketball and several planets.
Byron Mullens
Mullens used go to by BJ Mullens, and has B tattooed on his left forearm and J tattooed on his right forearm.
Tyrus Thomas
Easily the most heavily tattooed players on the Bobcats, Thomas admits to disliking his first tattoo: “The name was just like the first one. I think a lot of people usually get their name as the first one. If I could do it over I wouldn’t. You know, I know my name.
Reggie Williams
Williams has a portrait tattooed on his left shoulder and another design on his right forearm.
Players without tattoos:
Bismack Biyombo
Derrick Brown
Matt Carroll
DeSagana Diop
Cory Higgins: there’s no evidence that Higgins has tattoos, however he posted this on Twitter in February of this year…
Eduardo Najera
Kemba Walker
D.J. White
Milwaukee Bucks, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 71% (10 with tattoos, 4 without)
The Bucks have had a tough time establishing an identity over the last few decades, with their marquee players falling to injury and many seasons passing without much note. In the last year this “fear the deer” movement has started though, and fittingly, the Bucks have assembled a bunch of oddballs and unpredictable players who can embrace both the silliness and the necessity of the slogan. Their tattoos follow suit.
—
Players with tattoos:
Andrew Bogut
Bogut has a tattoo on his back but he’s not really willing to discuss it: “The tattoo is a mix of things, a lot of it is kind of personal,” he explained one one of those NBA.com player chats, “There’s some Australian stuff and also some Croatian stuff in it.” Which is hilarious considering all of the topics he is willing to open his big mouth about.
Jon Brockman
As a teenager, Brockman got a tattoo of the tree of life on his lower back, as did his older brother and sister. “My mom doesn’t like it at all,” he explained to the Seattle Times in 2008, “Neither does my dad. But it’s in a place where no one sees it. It’s something close to me and it reminds me of my brother and sister when I don’t get to see them for a long time. So I like it.”
Carlos Delfino
Delfino sports a dragon on his left shoulder.
Keyon Dooling
On Dooling’s left shoulder is a tattoo of a cross.
Chris Douglas-Roberts
Douglas Roberts is great at twitter, his steady feed a mixture of funny observations, style tips, and hurting feelings. Given his many tattoos, a fan recently asked him for his advice, and CDR replied: “get somem original….& Them shits hurt really bad.”
Drew Gooden
Gooden has historically put a lot of effort into unconventional looks, such as this haircut or this beard. A 2007 Akron Beacon-Journal article focuses in on Gooden’s then-recent tattoo, his first new design since he was 15 years old. The article reports that the tattoo is Dali-like, featuring a melting clock, set to 11:11 for good luck. At opposite sides of the clock a pair of angels and a devil observe time, completing this fittingly outlandish design for Gooden. Still, nothing really beats actually seeing it.
Brandon Jennings
During Jennings’ rookie year, he answered questions for a Hoops Hype interview, including one about his many tattoos: “On my right arm, it’s laugh now, cry later. It’s for all the haters who said I would never make it in life. And there’s a man holding a ball with a city behind him, which is basically me holding a basketball with my city behind me. On the left one, it’s my mom (Alice Knox) and my brother (Terrence). It shows I’m blessed.”
Corey Maggette
Maggette has a tattoo on his right shoulder.
John Salmons
Salmons has Chinese characters on his right arm. According to the website NiuBBall.com, it’s identical to Jermaine O’Neal’s Chinese tattoo, and means “person who sells coffins.”
Larry Sanders
Maybe ten years ago someone I knew had to spend some time in prison. He wasn’t exactly a tough guy, so before he went in he decided to get a tattoo that might make him look hard enough that he could avoid fights. He had two full-size pistols tattooed on his waistline, so it looked like the guns were tucked into his pants. It was an intense decision, and one that only half worked.
I’d never seen anyone else with the design until Sanders was drafted by the Bucks and this photo appeared on his twitter page.
Players without tattoos:
Earl Boykins
Ersan Ilyasova
Luc Mbah a Moute
Michael Redd
