Los Angeles Clippers, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 67% (10 players with tattoos, 5 without)
The Clippers had a decrease in tattoo percentage from last year.
Players with tattoos:
Matt Barnes
In 2008, Barnes founded the Athletes vs. Cancer foundation in memory of his mother, who passed away from lung cancer. In 2010, he added a portrait of his mother, framed by angel’s wings, to his many tattoos. As he explained to Tom Hoffarth of Inside So Cal, “this keeps her around.”
Chauncey Billups
On Billups’s left shoulder is a tattoo of a crowned figure spinning a basketball on his finger. Surrounding the figure are the words “King of the Hill,” a reference to the Denver neighborhood Billups grew up in. In an IGN Sports interview, Billups described it as his favorite tattoo, and explained the significance: “My neighborhood back home is called Park Hill. It’s a hood thing. All of my tats mean something.”
Eric Bledsoe
Bledsoe has tattoos along both arms.
Caron Butler
While on the Wizards, Butler wrote on his blog about tattoos: “Like many other guys in the NBA, I’m big on tattoos too. I may not be a league leader there, though, because I have just four of them. The tat that means the most to me is the one on my left arm. It says “Rest in Peace, Kailo”. That’s my cousin who died in a car accident. She was like a sister to me. I grew up with her and although she’s no longer here, I keep her with me.”
Jamal Crawford
Players from Seattle tend to have a lot of tattoos (Nate Robinson, Jason Terry, Terrence Williams) and Crawford is one of the heaviest. On his left shoulder is one of the dreamiest basketball-themed tattoos in the league: against a background of heavenly clouds, a hoop glows, with “Jamal” lettered across the backboard in Olde English.
DeAndre Jordan
Among Jordan’s many tattoos is a portrait of his grandfather on his stomach, added in 2012.
Lamar Odom
When it comes to tattoos, Odom keeps it simple: “My tattoos are just reminders of people who are close to me.”
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.’”
Ronny Turiaf
In March of 2011, Turiaf began work on a new tattoo on his left arm: a phoenix rising from ashes.
Maalik Wayns
Wayns has tattoos on both arms. In 2011, he posted to twitter: “God I hope I’m living right and sorry for the tattoos.”
Players without tattoos:
Willie Green
Blake Griffin
Grant Hill
Ryan Hollins
Chris Paul
New Orleans Hornets, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 29% (4 players with tattoos, 10 players without)
So last year’s team lost half of their tattoos players (i.e. David West) in free agency. This year’s roster has been a mess since the Chris Paul trade and subsequent injuries, and has gone through a lot of changes. At a couple points, their tattoo percentage was as high as 33%, enough to get them tied with Charlotte for last place, but as of the trade deadline they’ve comfortably reclaimed the fewest tattoos title for themselves.
Players with tattoos:
Al-Farouq Aminu
Aminu came into the league with tattoos on the inside of both arms. It was tough to make out the details last year, but with his increased playing time on the Hornets, there have been a few more glimpses. I believe his right arm’s design includes a stone axe, and his left arm has (I think) feathers. He’s also added a tattoo on his left bicep this year.
Trevor Ariza
Among Ariza’s many tattoos are 5 designs dedicated to his younger brother, who died when they were both children. As described by a New Orleans Times-Picayune profile, these tributes are, “displayed on Ariza’s arms, chest and neck and include a sketch of Tajh’s likeness, clasped hands in prayer over Tajh’s name, and on the inside of Ariza’s left forearm, the words ‘Blood is thicker than water. I am my brother’s keeper. Rest in peace, Tajh. I miss you.’”
Chris Johnson
Among Johnson’s several tattoos is a basketball with his initials.
Lance Thomas
Thomas majored in visual arts while at Duke, using his talents to create posters for each of his teammates. According to an ESPN report, he also designed the tattoo on his right bicep, an elaborate portrait of New Jersey wearing a crown.
Players without tattoos:
Gustavo Ayon
Marco Belinelli
Eric Gordon
Xavier Henry
Jarrett Jack
Chris Kaman
Carl Landry
Emeka Okafor
Jason Smith
Greivis Vasquez
No longer on roster:
Jeff Foote: no tattoos
Trey Johnson: Johnson has tattoos on his left arm
DaJuan Summers: Summers has tattoos of his siblings’ names on his arm
Carldell Johnson: no tattoos
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
Los Angeles Clippers, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 67% (10 players with tattoos, 5 without)
The Clippers had a decrease in tattoo percentage from last year.
Players with tattoos:
Matt Barnes
In 2008, Barnes founded the Athletes vs. Cancer foundation in memory of his mother, who passed away from lung cancer. In 2010, he added a portrait of his mother, framed by angel’s wings, to his many tattoos. As he explained to Tom Hoffarth of Inside So Cal, “this keeps her around.”
Chauncey Billups
On Billups’s left shoulder is a tattoo of a crowned figure spinning a basketball on his finger. Surrounding the figure are the words “King of the Hill,” a reference to the Denver neighborhood Billups grew up in. In an IGN Sports interview, Billups described it as his favorite tattoo, and explained the significance: “My neighborhood back home is called Park Hill. It’s a hood thing. All of my tats mean something.”
Eric Bledsoe
Bledsoe has tattoos along both arms.
Caron Butler
While on the Wizards, Butler wrote on his blog about tattoos: “Like many other guys in the NBA, I’m big on tattoos too. I may not be a league leader there, though, because I have just four of them. The tat that means the most to me is the one on my left arm. It says “Rest in Peace, Kailo”. That’s my cousin who died in a car accident. She was like a sister to me. I grew up with her and although she’s no longer here, I keep her with me.”
Jamal Crawford
Players from Seattle tend to have a lot of tattoos (Nate Robinson, Jason Terry, Terrence Williams) and Crawford is one of the heaviest. On his left shoulder is one of the dreamiest basketball-themed tattoos in the league: against a background of heavenly clouds, a hoop glows, with “Jamal” lettered across the backboard in Olde English.
DeAndre Jordan
Among Jordan’s many tattoos is a portrait of his grandfather on his stomach, added in 2012.
Lamar Odom
When it comes to tattoos, Odom keeps it simple: “My tattoos are just reminders of people who are close to me.”
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.’”
Ronny Turiaf
In March of 2011, Turiaf began work on a new tattoo on his left arm: a phoenix rising from ashes.
Maalik Wayns
Wayns has tattoos on both arms. In 2011, he posted to twitter: “God I hope I’m living right and sorry for the tattoos.”
Players without tattoos:
Willie Green
Blake Griffin
Grant Hill
Ryan Hollins
Chris Paul
New Orleans Hornets, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 29% (4 players with tattoos, 10 players without)
So last year’s team lost half of their tattoos players (i.e. David West) in free agency. This year’s roster has been a mess since the Chris Paul trade and subsequent injuries, and has gone through a lot of changes. At a couple points, their tattoo percentage was as high as 33%, enough to get them tied with Charlotte for last place, but as of the trade deadline they’ve comfortably reclaimed the fewest tattoos title for themselves.
Players with tattoos:
Al-Farouq Aminu
Aminu came into the league with tattoos on the inside of both arms. It was tough to make out the details last year, but with his increased playing time on the Hornets, there have been a few more glimpses. I believe his right arm’s design includes a stone axe, and his left arm has (I think) feathers. He’s also added a tattoo on his left bicep this year.
Trevor Ariza
Among Ariza’s many tattoos are 5 designs dedicated to his younger brother, who died when they were both children. As described by a New Orleans Times-Picayune profile, these tributes are, “displayed on Ariza’s arms, chest and neck and include a sketch of Tajh’s likeness, clasped hands in prayer over Tajh’s name, and on the inside of Ariza’s left forearm, the words ‘Blood is thicker than water. I am my brother’s keeper. Rest in peace, Tajh. I miss you.’”
Chris Johnson
Among Johnson’s several tattoos is a basketball with his initials.
Lance Thomas
Thomas majored in visual arts while at Duke, using his talents to create posters for each of his teammates. According to an ESPN report, he also designed the tattoo on his right bicep, an elaborate portrait of New Jersey wearing a crown.
Players without tattoos:
Gustavo Ayon
Marco Belinelli
Eric Gordon
Xavier Henry
Jarrett Jack
Chris Kaman
Carl Landry
Emeka Okafor
Jason Smith
Greivis Vasquez
No longer on roster:
Jeff Foote: no tattoos
Trey Johnson: Johnson has tattoos on his left arm
DaJuan Summers: Summers has tattoos of his siblings’ names on his arm
Carldell Johnson: no tattoos
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
