Minnesota Timberwolves, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 47% (7 players with tattoos, 8 without)
The Timberwolves kept their tattoo percentage the same as last year.
Players with tattoos:
Dante Cunningham
As of his senior year of college (2009), Cunningham has nine tattoos, including one that reads “TROUBLE” on his left arm.
Mickael Gelabale
Gelabale has a tattoo on his right arm.
Chris Johnson
Johnson has tattoos on both arms.
Andrei Kirilenko
In the spring of 2011, Kirilenko got his first tattoo, a huge portrait of a dragon on his back.
Nicola Pekovic
Pekovic’s tattoo of a knight standing atop a heap of skulls is one of the best-loved tattoos in the league.As described by a 2012 StarTribune profile, a lesser-known tattoo on his back depicts “the Ostrog Monastery in Montenegro, which was built on the side of a mountain cliff in the 17th century and dedicated to St. Basil of Ostrog.” The article goes on to quote Pekovic about its significance: “For us, it’s a special place.”
Ricky Rubio
Rubio’s sole tattoo is a Chinese character on his wrist.
Derrick Williams
As reported by 5th Quarter Magazine, Williams added a large tattoo to his back this year.
Players without tattoos:
JJ Barea
Chase Budinger
Malcolm Lee
Kevin Love
Luke Ridnour
Brandon Roy
Alexey Shved
Greg Stiemsma
Memphis Grizzlies, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 71% (10 players with tattoos, 4 without)
Players with tattoos:
Gilbert Arenas
The Washington Post website has a great video of Arenas talking through his tattoos. When they come to the tiger that covers most of his stomach, the interviewer asks “why the tiger?” to which Arenas replies: “That’s what I am a fierce beast, king of the jungle.” The reporter replies that many people believe that the lion is king of the jungle, but in Agent Zero’s usual enigmatic way, he replies simply, and definitively: “Tiger’s king of the jungle.”
Darrell Arthur
Arthur has a great tattoo on his back.
Mike Conley
Conley has tattoos on both arms.
Dante Cunningham
As of his senior year of college (2009), Cunningham has nine tattoos, including one that reads “TROUBLE” on his left arm.
Rudy Gay
In February of 2011, Gay separated his shoulder in a season-ending injury that required seven months of rehab. The down time sent Gay into new territory, as reported by the website Go Grizzlies on the one-year anniversary of his injury: “I tried not to get depressed but it happened,” Gay said. “I was doing stuff I normally wouldn’t do and I’ve got tattoos to show for it.”
Hamed Haddadi
The NBA’s first Iranian player has a stylized dragon tattooed on his left shoulder.
O.J. Mayo
While still in high school, Mayo had his childhood nickname, “Juice Monster,” and his hoped-for nickname, “King Kong,” (“I’d like that to be my motto; I’m King Kong of the court,” he said in 2007) tattooed on his arms.
Zach Randolph
Randolph has tattoos on both arms.
Josh Selby
Selby is one of four Kansas Jayhawks with a “FOE” tattoo, which stands for “Family Over Everything.” The other three are Thomas Robinson and the Morris twins. Selby was the originator, however, having added the design while in eighth grade. Selby is rumored to have a tattoo that reads “Only God Can Guard Me” which flips the common NBA tattoo Only God Can Judge Me sported by Kevin Garnett, Mike Bibby, and Derrick Rose among others. Sadly, there’s no confirmation or photographic proof of the design.
Marreese Speights
Speights has several tattoos on his arms, including his mother’s name on his forearm.
Players without tattoos:
Tony Allen
Marc Gasol
Jeremy Pargo: Pargo doesn’t have any tattoos, but Wale has him almost convinced to start
Quincy Pondexter
No longer on roster:
Josh Davis: no tattoos
Brian Skinner: tattoos on both arms
Charlotte Bobcats 2010-2011
Tattoo percentage: 47% (7 players with tattoos, 8 without)
Did you know that Michael Jordan has a brand? It’s hard to make out in photos, but he has a Greek letter burned into his chest to represent his fraternity, Omega Psi Phi. In my imagination, Jordan is weird and competitive enough that this is an issue for players on the Bobcats, who have less tattooed players than most of the league. Even their tattooed players feel toned down compared to other teams, with the obvious exceptions of Stephen Jackson and Tyrus Thomas.
—
Players with tattoos:
D.J. Augustin
Has a touching tribute to his deceased grandmother tattooed on his back. A 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.
Kwame Brown
Has a tattoo below his right elbow.
Dante Cunningham
As of his senior year of college (2009), Cunningham has nine tattoos, including one that reads “TROUBLE” on his left arm.
Stephen Jackson
Proud owner of one of the most hectic tattoos in the league: the standard praying hands on his stomach, but in this design the hands cradle an automatic handgun. When asked about the tattoo’s significance, Jackson explained the design was literal: “I pray I never have to use it again.”
Dominic McGuire
It’s tough to get a good look at McGuire’s open hands tattoo on his right bicep, but it looks incredible.
Joel Przybilla
Among his several tattoos are a basketball player on his right bicep accompanied by the text “Not in my house” and his wife’s name in a heart with roses.
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.”
Players without tattoos:
Matt Carroll
Boris Diaw
DeSagana Diop
Gerald Henderson
Shaun Livingston
Eduardo Najera
Garrett Temple
D.J. White
Minnesota Timberwolves, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 47% (7 players with tattoos, 8 without)
The Timberwolves kept their tattoo percentage the same as last year.
Players with tattoos:
Dante Cunningham
As of his senior year of college (2009), Cunningham has nine tattoos, including one that reads “TROUBLE” on his left arm.
Mickael Gelabale
Gelabale has a tattoo on his right arm.
Chris Johnson
Johnson has tattoos on both arms.
Andrei Kirilenko
In the spring of 2011, Kirilenko got his first tattoo, a huge portrait of a dragon on his back.
Nicola Pekovic
Pekovic’s tattoo of a knight standing atop a heap of skulls is one of the best-loved tattoos in the league.As described by a 2012 StarTribune profile, a lesser-known tattoo on his back depicts “the Ostrog Monastery in Montenegro, which was built on the side of a mountain cliff in the 17th century and dedicated to St. Basil of Ostrog.” The article goes on to quote Pekovic about its significance: “For us, it’s a special place.”
Ricky Rubio
Rubio’s sole tattoo is a Chinese character on his wrist.
Derrick Williams
As reported by 5th Quarter Magazine, Williams added a large tattoo to his back this year.
Players without tattoos:
JJ Barea
Chase Budinger
Malcolm Lee
Kevin Love
Luke Ridnour
Brandon Roy
Alexey Shved
Greg Stiemsma
Memphis Grizzlies, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 71% (10 players with tattoos, 4 without)
Players with tattoos:
Gilbert Arenas
The Washington Post website has a great video of Arenas talking through his tattoos. When they come to the tiger that covers most of his stomach, the interviewer asks “why the tiger?” to which Arenas replies: “That’s what I am a fierce beast, king of the jungle.” The reporter replies that many people believe that the lion is king of the jungle, but in Agent Zero’s usual enigmatic way, he replies simply, and definitively: “Tiger’s king of the jungle.”
Darrell Arthur
Arthur has a great tattoo on his back.
Mike Conley
Conley has tattoos on both arms.
Dante Cunningham
As of his senior year of college (2009), Cunningham has nine tattoos, including one that reads “TROUBLE” on his left arm.
Rudy Gay
In February of 2011, Gay separated his shoulder in a season-ending injury that required seven months of rehab. The down time sent Gay into new territory, as reported by the website Go Grizzlies on the one-year anniversary of his injury: “I tried not to get depressed but it happened,” Gay said. “I was doing stuff I normally wouldn’t do and I’ve got tattoos to show for it.”
Hamed Haddadi
The NBA’s first Iranian player has a stylized dragon tattooed on his left shoulder.
O.J. Mayo
While still in high school, Mayo had his childhood nickname, “Juice Monster,” and his hoped-for nickname, “King Kong,” (“I’d like that to be my motto; I’m King Kong of the court,” he said in 2007) tattooed on his arms.
Zach Randolph
Randolph has tattoos on both arms.
Josh Selby
Selby is one of four Kansas Jayhawks with a “FOE” tattoo, which stands for “Family Over Everything.” The other three are Thomas Robinson and the Morris twins. Selby was the originator, however, having added the design while in eighth grade. Selby is rumored to have a tattoo that reads “Only God Can Guard Me” which flips the common NBA tattoo Only God Can Judge Me sported by Kevin Garnett, Mike Bibby, and Derrick Rose among others. Sadly, there’s no confirmation or photographic proof of the design.
Marreese Speights
Speights has several tattoos on his arms, including his mother’s name on his forearm.
Players without tattoos:
Tony Allen
Marc Gasol
Jeremy Pargo: Pargo doesn’t have any tattoos, but Wale has him almost convinced to start
Quincy Pondexter
No longer on roster:
Josh Davis: no tattoos
Brian Skinner: tattoos on both arms
Charlotte Bobcats 2010-2011
Tattoo percentage: 47% (7 players with tattoos, 8 without)
Did you know that Michael Jordan has a brand? It’s hard to make out in photos, but he has a Greek letter burned into his chest to represent his fraternity, Omega Psi Phi. In my imagination, Jordan is weird and competitive enough that this is an issue for players on the Bobcats, who have less tattooed players than most of the league. Even their tattooed players feel toned down compared to other teams, with the obvious exceptions of Stephen Jackson and Tyrus Thomas.
—
Players with tattoos:
D.J. Augustin
Has a touching tribute to his deceased grandmother tattooed on his back. A 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.
Kwame Brown
Has a tattoo below his right elbow.
Dante Cunningham
As of his senior year of college (2009), Cunningham has nine tattoos, including one that reads “TROUBLE” on his left arm.
Stephen Jackson
Proud owner of one of the most hectic tattoos in the league: the standard praying hands on his stomach, but in this design the hands cradle an automatic handgun. When asked about the tattoo’s significance, Jackson explained the design was literal: “I pray I never have to use it again.”
Dominic McGuire
It’s tough to get a good look at McGuire’s open hands tattoo on his right bicep, but it looks incredible.
Joel Przybilla
Among his several tattoos are a basketball player on his right bicep accompanied by the text “Not in my house” and his wife’s name in a heart with roses.
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.”
Players without tattoos:
Matt Carroll
Boris Diaw
DeSagana Diop
Gerald Henderson
Shaun Livingston
Eduardo Najera
Garrett Temple
D.J. White
