Atlanta Hawks, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 80% (12 players with tattoos, 3 without)
With the additions of Anthony Morrow, DeShawn Stevenson, and Lou Williams, the Hawks tattoo percentage jumped far ahead of last year.
Players with tattoos:
Devin Harris
Harris has an elaborate design tattooed on his left arm. In an interview with The Guardian, Harris explained a bit about the tattoo: “That’s kind of my conscience. It’s just there with me, all the time. I wouldn’t say I designed it but I had a hand in it, me and the tattoo artist himself.”
John Jenkins
Jenkins has a tattoo on his chest, although the design is unknown.
Ivan Johnson
Rembert Browne of Grantland did a great service by transcribing large portions of a 2008 public radio interview with fan favorite Ivan Johnson. In a particularly emotional segment, Johnson describes his mother’s death and his ongoing connection to her:
I talk to her every day. Little stupid stuff I see in the streets. I laugh with her, talk with her, a pillow that she had in the house that she used to sleep on, I keep that with me all the time. Wherever I go, I keep her obituary with me, just so I can see her face, so I won’t forget how she looked. Before she passed, I got her face tattooed on me, so I’ll never forget how she looked. And that means so much to me.
Dahntay Jones
Jones has a number of tattoos across his arms and chest.
Kyle Korver
In 2006, Korver told Sports Illustrated that he promised his mother he’s wait until her death before getting a tattoo. In 2009, as reported by Omaha.com, he and his brother Kaleb got tattoos of their favorite bible verses. Kaleb remarked that their mother was “good with it” and that they’re trying to convince their other two brothers to join in.
Shelvin Mack
It’s difficult to make out the design (I think it’s a “laugh now/cry later”), but Mack has a tattoo on his left arm.
Johan Petro
Petro has tattoos on both arms.
Mike Scott
Rookie Scott came into the league with 13 tattoos, as described in a ESPN profile:
Scott has 13 tattoos (and counting), including the initials of his two little brothers, Antonn and Derrick, tattooed onto his wrists; his mother’s initials are tattooed on one side of his neck and his father’s tattooed onto the other side.
Josh Smith
Among Smith’s many tattoos is a throwback Hawks logo (circa 1972-1995) on his left arm.
DeShawn Stevenson
In a 2010 video interview, after pointing out his most recent tattoos—his wife’s name above his eyebrow, her initials behind his left ear, and his jersey number on his neck—Stevenson states, “my mom, she said no more tattoos on my face, so I got to listen to her.”
Jeff Teague
As soon as the 2011-12 season ended, Teague added a full sleeve to his left arm.
Lou Williams
Williams has the word “MOTIVATION” tattooed across his back. He explained the design of the tattoo for Urban Ink Magazine:
I designed the tattoo myself when I was 17. The idea came to me to get motivation across my back, and I wanted to spell it out for all the people that motivated me. So, what I did was, I wrote down all the names of family members and friends and all of the people that helped me along the way, and I just made it all intertwine, and it came out perfect. It was incredible how the words went together and everything. I was really motivated by my family and my friends, and the people that supported me from day one.
Players without tattoos:
Al Horford
Zaza Pachulia
Anthony Tolliver
Indiana Pacers, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 50% (7 players with tattoos; 7 without)
Last year, I used this space to complain about Jeff Foster and Josh McRoberts, neither of whom are now on the Pacers. More embarrassingly, the accompanying photo of Solomon Jones is from his days on the Hawks. While the Pacers have one of the lowest tattoo percentages of NBA teams, I have to say their tattoos are really interesting and kind of unsolvable, which I appreciate.
Players with tattoos:
Lou Amundson
Amundson’s sole tattoo was described in a 2009 Phoenix New Times article about tattoos on the Suns. That Phoenix team included Shaq, STAT, and Matt Barnes, so the article is mostly given over to their work, but buried in the text is this heartbreaking description of Amundson’s tattoo: “It’s on the right side of his chest and has the words “R.I.P. 34” surrounded by flames. He got the tattoo to commemorate the life of his best friend, Billy Feeney, a teammate at Monarch High School in Louisville, Colorado, and a player for the University of New Mexico Lobos. Feeney hanged himself in August 2003. Amundson doubts he’ll get another tattoo.”
Leandro Barbosa
Barbosa has a tribute to his mother tattooed on his ribs.
Paul George
George has a pretty great chess-themed sleeve on his left arm.
George Hill
In May of 2011, Hill posted a photo of a new tattoo on his twitter page. The design features the state of Indiana with a star emerging from Hill’s birthplace, Indianapolis. In June of 2011, Hill was traded from the Spurs to the Pacers. Homecoming!
Dahntay Jones
Another Pacer representing his home state through tattoo is Jones, born in Trenton, whose right shoulder shows the state of New Jersey wearing a crown.
Lance Stephenson
Playing in a summer league at the age of 15, Stephenson so impressed Bobbito Garcia that Bobbito gave him the nickname “Born Ready,” citing the young guard’s ability to go up against older players, even NBA players. Stephenson had the nickname tattooed on his shoulder alongside the skyline of Coney Island, where he grew up.
David West
For a 2008 Sports Illustrated profile, West discussed the tattoos on his wrist, one reading “LIVE FREE” and the other reading “BLACK SOUL.” He described the former as “self-explanatory,” but was much more enigmatic about the latter: “It has to do with a dark mystery I’m associated with; I won’t talk about that.”
Players without tattoos:
Darren Collison
Kyrylo Fesenko
Danny Granger
Tyler Hansbrough
Roy Hibbert
Jeff Pendergraph
A.J. Price
No longer on roster:
Jeff Foster: no tattoos
Indiana Pacers 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 40% (6 players with tattoos, 9 without)
The Pacers recent play underscores the fallacy of the tattoos=thug equation, as neither Josh McRoberts nor Jeff Foster have tattoos.
—
Players with tattoos:
Paul George
George has tattoos along his right arm from his shoulder to his wrist.
Solomon Jones
Jones has tattoos on both arms.
Dahntay Jones
Among his many tattoos, Jones has the words “Never Satisfied” although in this picture you can only see the word “Satisfied” which would be a cool tattoo for a different person I guess.
James Posey
On Posey’s left shoulder is a tattoo of the letter P, a basketball going through a hoop, and the letter Z. If the basketball is viewed as the letter O, the tattoo phonetically spells out his name: P-O-Z.
Brandon Rush
Rush has a collection of tattoos along both arms.
Lance Stephenson
At the age of 16, Stephenson was given the nickname “Born Ready” by Bobbito Garcia. Bobbito founded the greatest independent rap label of the 90s, Fondle Em, and introduced me to maybe half of my favorite songs via his radio show with Stretch Armstrong, so I’m always ready to take his word for whatever. Apparently Stephenson feels the same way, as the had the nickname tattooed on his right shoulder alongside a figure with a basketball and an outline of Coney Island’s skyline (where he grew up).
Players without tattoos:
Darren Collison
Mike Dunleavy
T.J. Ford
Jeff Foster
Danny Granger
Tyler Hansbrough
Roy Hibbert
Josh McRoberts
A.J. Price
Atlanta Hawks, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 80% (12 players with tattoos, 3 without)
With the additions of Anthony Morrow, DeShawn Stevenson, and Lou Williams, the Hawks tattoo percentage jumped far ahead of last year.
Players with tattoos:
Devin Harris
Harris has an elaborate design tattooed on his left arm. In an interview with The Guardian, Harris explained a bit about the tattoo: “That’s kind of my conscience. It’s just there with me, all the time. I wouldn’t say I designed it but I had a hand in it, me and the tattoo artist himself.”
John Jenkins
Jenkins has a tattoo on his chest, although the design is unknown.
Ivan Johnson
Rembert Browne of Grantland did a great service by transcribing large portions of a 2008 public radio interview with fan favorite Ivan Johnson. In a particularly emotional segment, Johnson describes his mother’s death and his ongoing connection to her:
I talk to her every day. Little stupid stuff I see in the streets. I laugh with her, talk with her, a pillow that she had in the house that she used to sleep on, I keep that with me all the time. Wherever I go, I keep her obituary with me, just so I can see her face, so I won’t forget how she looked. Before she passed, I got her face tattooed on me, so I’ll never forget how she looked. And that means so much to me.
Dahntay Jones
Jones has a number of tattoos across his arms and chest.
Kyle Korver
In 2006, Korver told Sports Illustrated that he promised his mother he’s wait until her death before getting a tattoo. In 2009, as reported by Omaha.com, he and his brother Kaleb got tattoos of their favorite bible verses. Kaleb remarked that their mother was “good with it” and that they’re trying to convince their other two brothers to join in.
Shelvin Mack
It’s difficult to make out the design (I think it’s a “laugh now/cry later”), but Mack has a tattoo on his left arm.
Johan Petro
Petro has tattoos on both arms.
Mike Scott
Rookie Scott came into the league with 13 tattoos, as described in a ESPN profile:
Scott has 13 tattoos (and counting), including the initials of his two little brothers, Antonn and Derrick, tattooed onto his wrists; his mother’s initials are tattooed on one side of his neck and his father’s tattooed onto the other side.
Josh Smith
Among Smith’s many tattoos is a throwback Hawks logo (circa 1972-1995) on his left arm.
DeShawn Stevenson
In a 2010 video interview, after pointing out his most recent tattoos—his wife’s name above his eyebrow, her initials behind his left ear, and his jersey number on his neck—Stevenson states, “my mom, she said no more tattoos on my face, so I got to listen to her.”
Jeff Teague
As soon as the 2011-12 season ended, Teague added a full sleeve to his left arm.
Lou Williams
Williams has the word “MOTIVATION” tattooed across his back. He explained the design of the tattoo for Urban Ink Magazine:
I designed the tattoo myself when I was 17. The idea came to me to get motivation across my back, and I wanted to spell it out for all the people that motivated me. So, what I did was, I wrote down all the names of family members and friends and all of the people that helped me along the way, and I just made it all intertwine, and it came out perfect. It was incredible how the words went together and everything. I was really motivated by my family and my friends, and the people that supported me from day one.
Players without tattoos:
Al Horford
Zaza Pachulia
Anthony Tolliver
Indiana Pacers, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 50% (7 players with tattoos; 7 without)
Last year, I used this space to complain about Jeff Foster and Josh McRoberts, neither of whom are now on the Pacers. More embarrassingly, the accompanying photo of Solomon Jones is from his days on the Hawks. While the Pacers have one of the lowest tattoo percentages of NBA teams, I have to say their tattoos are really interesting and kind of unsolvable, which I appreciate.
Players with tattoos:
Lou Amundson
Amundson’s sole tattoo was described in a 2009 Phoenix New Times article about tattoos on the Suns. That Phoenix team included Shaq, STAT, and Matt Barnes, so the article is mostly given over to their work, but buried in the text is this heartbreaking description of Amundson’s tattoo: “It’s on the right side of his chest and has the words “R.I.P. 34” surrounded by flames. He got the tattoo to commemorate the life of his best friend, Billy Feeney, a teammate at Monarch High School in Louisville, Colorado, and a player for the University of New Mexico Lobos. Feeney hanged himself in August 2003. Amundson doubts he’ll get another tattoo.”
Leandro Barbosa
Barbosa has a tribute to his mother tattooed on his ribs.
Paul George
George has a pretty great chess-themed sleeve on his left arm.
George Hill
In May of 2011, Hill posted a photo of a new tattoo on his twitter page. The design features the state of Indiana with a star emerging from Hill’s birthplace, Indianapolis. In June of 2011, Hill was traded from the Spurs to the Pacers. Homecoming!
Dahntay Jones
Another Pacer representing his home state through tattoo is Jones, born in Trenton, whose right shoulder shows the state of New Jersey wearing a crown.
Lance Stephenson
Playing in a summer league at the age of 15, Stephenson so impressed Bobbito Garcia that Bobbito gave him the nickname “Born Ready,” citing the young guard’s ability to go up against older players, even NBA players. Stephenson had the nickname tattooed on his shoulder alongside the skyline of Coney Island, where he grew up.
David West
For a 2008 Sports Illustrated profile, West discussed the tattoos on his wrist, one reading “LIVE FREE” and the other reading “BLACK SOUL.” He described the former as “self-explanatory,” but was much more enigmatic about the latter: “It has to do with a dark mystery I’m associated with; I won’t talk about that.”
Players without tattoos:
Darren Collison
Kyrylo Fesenko
Danny Granger
Tyler Hansbrough
Roy Hibbert
Jeff Pendergraph
A.J. Price
No longer on roster:
Jeff Foster: no tattoos
Indiana Pacers 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 40% (6 players with tattoos, 9 without)
The Pacers recent play underscores the fallacy of the tattoos=thug equation, as neither Josh McRoberts nor Jeff Foster have tattoos.
—
Players with tattoos:
Paul George
George has tattoos along his right arm from his shoulder to his wrist.
Solomon Jones
Jones has tattoos on both arms.
Dahntay Jones
Among his many tattoos, Jones has the words “Never Satisfied” although in this picture you can only see the word “Satisfied” which would be a cool tattoo for a different person I guess.
James Posey
On Posey’s left shoulder is a tattoo of the letter P, a basketball going through a hoop, and the letter Z. If the basketball is viewed as the letter O, the tattoo phonetically spells out his name: P-O-Z.
Brandon Rush
Rush has a collection of tattoos along both arms.
Lance Stephenson
At the age of 16, Stephenson was given the nickname “Born Ready” by Bobbito Garcia. Bobbito founded the greatest independent rap label of the 90s, Fondle Em, and introduced me to maybe half of my favorite songs via his radio show with Stretch Armstrong, so I’m always ready to take his word for whatever. Apparently Stephenson feels the same way, as the had the nickname tattooed on his right shoulder alongside a figure with a basketball and an outline of Coney Island’s skyline (where he grew up).
Players without tattoos:
Darren Collison
Mike Dunleavy
T.J. Ford
Jeff Foster
Danny Granger
Tyler Hansbrough
Roy Hibbert
Josh McRoberts
A.J. Price
