Milwaukee Bucks, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 53% (8 players with tattoos, 7 without)
Players with tattoos:
Marquis Daniels
In 2009, Urban Ink magazine published a great interview with Daniels that includes details and explanations of many of his tattoos.
Monta Ellis
Grantland recently published an excellent profile of Ellis by Jonathan Abrams. He includes a great quote from Ellis that really explains why he’s such a treat to watch: “I always approach the game like I approached it when I was a little boy, it’s just basketball.” The set up for this quote is a description of young Monta watching weekend matinee NBA games and then going outside to mimic what he saw. As Abrams describes it: “It always seemed like the games between the Magic and Bulls, Kings and Lakers, Knicks and Heat came down to the last second. After the games ended, Monta would go outside to mimic the last-second shots on his makeshift court, a garbage can on one end and a milk crate on the other.” Ellis paid tribute to these days on his elaborate back tattoo, which includes an image of a boy beside a milkcrate basket.
Drew Gooden
A 2007 Akron Beacon-Journal article focuses on Gooden’s then-recent tattoo, his first new work 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.
John Henson
Henson has the words “Truly Blessed” tattooed on his chest.
Brandon Jennings
Jennings is one of the more heavily tattooed players in the league. In 2011, Jennings told the website Global Grind that he was close to finished with tattoos, as he was running out of space.
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.
J.J. Redick
Via his twitter account, Redick posted a photo of his forearm tattoo, which quotes a Kings of Leon song. At the beginning of the 2012-13 season, he explained to Brooke Thomas of Yardbarker the significance of the quote, which reads: “Single book of matches, gonna burn what’s standing in the way.” As paraphrased by Thomas, “the lyrics mean that he’s given a finite amount of time and resources to do the things he is passionate about. Whatever obstacles and challenges that arise, he has to figure out a way to burn them down.”
Larry Sanders
Sanders is one of the more heavily tattooed players in the league. When asked about his tattoos, he consistently responds that he sees tattoos as artwork, and that creative expression is the only thing a person can really own.
Players without tattoos:
Gustavo Ayon
Samuel Dalembert
Mike Dunleavy
Ersan Ilyasova
Luc Mbah a Moute
Ish Smith
Ekpe Udoh
Milwaukee Bucks, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 47% (7 players with tattoos; 8 without)
The Bucks were one of the most heavily tattooed teams last year, but with the loss of John Salmons, Corey Maggette, and, most notably, Chris Douglas-Roberts, their numbers have fallen this year, even with the addition of Monta Ellis.
Players with tattoos:
Jon Brockman
Brockman and his two siblings all have a tattoo of the Tree of Life. According to their father, “it’s not a real popular topic in our household.” According to Brockman, “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.”
Kwame Brown
Has a tattoo below his right elbow.
Carlos Delfino
There’s something about the stylized, bold lines of Delfino’s dragon tattoo that makes me think it’s a logo or from a flag or something, but I’ve never found any corollary. Someone did get a copy of it in 2009….
Monta Ellis
One of the most heavily tattooed players in the league, Ellis got his start the summer following his rookie year, according to a 2010 USA Today profile: “It started four years ago, when Ellis, 25, who admits to being bored and a homebody, was back home in Jackson, Miss., and Memphis. He got 14 tattoos during an offseason.” According to an interview with Randy Wittman of Tattoos by Randy, whose done most of Ellis’s tattoos, including his well loved chest and back pieces, Ellis can sit for 8-10 hour sessions, which kind of breaks my mind.
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 on Gooden’s then-recent tattoo, his first new work 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, not really beats actually seeing it.
Brandon Jennings
L.A. native Jennings was two years old when N.W.A.’s Efil4zaggin came out, but the record clearly had an impact on Jennings, as evidenced by the “Always Into Somethin’” tattoo on his calf. A couple years ago Jennings posted a photo of the album on tape, but it’s not really worth digging through his twitter pics to find it. Sorry.
Larry Sanders
Last fall Sanders was featured on the internet TV show “Marked Up” where he discussed his path to becoming one of the NBA’s most heavily tattooed players. Interestingly, he gives partial credit to a college professor, who he described as “sleeved up.”
Players without tattoos:
Mike Dunleavy
Tobias Harris
Ersan Ilyasova
Jon Leuer
Shaun Livingston
Luc Mbah a Moute
Ekpe Udoh
Bene Udrih
Players no longer on roster:
Darington Hobson: no tattoos
Golden State Warriors, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 57% (8 players with tattoos, 6 without)
For most of the season, the Warriors have been my favorite team to watch play. I can’t always explain why, but I feel like an examination of their tattoos makes a good analogy for this preference. Monta’s clutch shooting this season has been fun, but more fun has been the nonchalance with which he makes them. His sideways, twisting leaps and scoop shots have the air of a dude having fun at the end of a day of shooting. Just messing around. After they drop, he barely ever celebrates, maybe smiles or raises a fist. This from a guy who got 14 tattoos one summer because he was bored and a homebody. And let’s not ignore the tattoos—somehow intense and good-natured at the same time. Likewise, Lou Amundson’s quiet fury (and occasional ineffectualness) on the court can be read in the intensity of his tattoo. Maybe the best expression of this team made up of discarded pieces from rebuilding teams in the east (Wright from Miami, Lee from the Knicks, Law from Atlanta) is Dorell Wright’s left shoulder, which reads “G.H.O.S.T.” They’re still getting everything together, but the team should have a lot of haunting ahead of it.
—
Players with tattoos:
Louis Amundson
Amundson’s sole tattoo is a heavy one: “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.”
Charlie Bell
Bell is one of four Michigan State players (alongside Antonio Smith, Mateen Cleaves, and Morris Peterson) who got a Flint tattoo to represent their shared hometown in 1999.
Stephen Curry
A Sports Illustrated profile in 2009 described Curry’s minimal tattoo: “His lone tattoo, discreetly inked on the inside of his left wrist, is the motto of Davidson, the small college he guided to the Elite Eight in 2008. “T.C.C.”: Trust, Commitment, Care.”
Monta Ellis
One of the most heavily tattooed players in the league, Ellis got his start the summer following his rookie year, according to a 2010 USA Today profile: “It started four years ago, when Ellis, 25, who admits to being bored and a homebody, was back home in Jackson, Miss., and Memphis. He got 14 tattoos during an offseason.” The narrative on his back is incredibly detailed, tracing his own relationship with basketball from milkcrate days to his current reign as Warriors’ captain.
Acie Law
While playing for Atlanta in 2009, Law kept a blog. The day after the Hawks lost in the second round of the playoffs to Cleveland, Law got some old tattoos touched up and embellished, and posted photos to his blog.
David Lee
It’s impossible to make out the design, but Lee has something tattooed on his back that peeks out of his jersey occasionally.
Reggie Williams
Williams has a portrait tattooed on his left shoulder.
Dorell Wright
In 2009, tattoo artist Raphael Gere Rodriguez posted photos of the “love hate skull” design he did for Wright. I didn’t even know “love hate skull” was a thing.
Players without tattoos:
Jeff Adrien: confirmed that he has no tattoos on Twitter
Andris Biedrins
Jeremy Lin
Vladimir Radmanovic
Al Thornton: Thorton’s mother discussed the reason he wouldn’t ever get a tattoo in a Los Angeles Times article: “’ He knows his mom,’ said Philomenia Thornton. ‘We don’t do tattoos. Maybe one day, that might be something that might help him. People will look for someone clean cut with no tattoos and someone that listens to their mama.’”
Ekpe Udoh
Milwaukee Bucks, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 53% (8 players with tattoos, 7 without)
Players with tattoos:
Marquis Daniels
In 2009, Urban Ink magazine published a great interview with Daniels that includes details and explanations of many of his tattoos.
Monta Ellis
Grantland recently published an excellent profile of Ellis by Jonathan Abrams. He includes a great quote from Ellis that really explains why he’s such a treat to watch: “I always approach the game like I approached it when I was a little boy, it’s just basketball.” The set up for this quote is a description of young Monta watching weekend matinee NBA games and then going outside to mimic what he saw. As Abrams describes it: “It always seemed like the games between the Magic and Bulls, Kings and Lakers, Knicks and Heat came down to the last second. After the games ended, Monta would go outside to mimic the last-second shots on his makeshift court, a garbage can on one end and a milk crate on the other.” Ellis paid tribute to these days on his elaborate back tattoo, which includes an image of a boy beside a milkcrate basket.
Drew Gooden
A 2007 Akron Beacon-Journal article focuses on Gooden’s then-recent tattoo, his first new work 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.
John Henson
Henson has the words “Truly Blessed” tattooed on his chest.
Brandon Jennings
Jennings is one of the more heavily tattooed players in the league. In 2011, Jennings told the website Global Grind that he was close to finished with tattoos, as he was running out of space.
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.
J.J. Redick
Via his twitter account, Redick posted a photo of his forearm tattoo, which quotes a Kings of Leon song. At the beginning of the 2012-13 season, he explained to Brooke Thomas of Yardbarker the significance of the quote, which reads: “Single book of matches, gonna burn what’s standing in the way.” As paraphrased by Thomas, “the lyrics mean that he’s given a finite amount of time and resources to do the things he is passionate about. Whatever obstacles and challenges that arise, he has to figure out a way to burn them down.”
Larry Sanders
Sanders is one of the more heavily tattooed players in the league. When asked about his tattoos, he consistently responds that he sees tattoos as artwork, and that creative expression is the only thing a person can really own.
Players without tattoos:
Gustavo Ayon
Samuel Dalembert
Mike Dunleavy
Ersan Ilyasova
Luc Mbah a Moute
Ish Smith
Ekpe Udoh
Milwaukee Bucks, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 47% (7 players with tattoos; 8 without)
The Bucks were one of the most heavily tattooed teams last year, but with the loss of John Salmons, Corey Maggette, and, most notably, Chris Douglas-Roberts, their numbers have fallen this year, even with the addition of Monta Ellis.
Players with tattoos:
Jon Brockman
Brockman and his two siblings all have a tattoo of the Tree of Life. According to their father, “it’s not a real popular topic in our household.” According to Brockman, “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.”
Kwame Brown
Has a tattoo below his right elbow.
Carlos Delfino
There’s something about the stylized, bold lines of Delfino’s dragon tattoo that makes me think it’s a logo or from a flag or something, but I’ve never found any corollary. Someone did get a copy of it in 2009….
Monta Ellis
One of the most heavily tattooed players in the league, Ellis got his start the summer following his rookie year, according to a 2010 USA Today profile: “It started four years ago, when Ellis, 25, who admits to being bored and a homebody, was back home in Jackson, Miss., and Memphis. He got 14 tattoos during an offseason.” According to an interview with Randy Wittman of Tattoos by Randy, whose done most of Ellis’s tattoos, including his well loved chest and back pieces, Ellis can sit for 8-10 hour sessions, which kind of breaks my mind.
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 on Gooden’s then-recent tattoo, his first new work 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, not really beats actually seeing it.
Brandon Jennings
L.A. native Jennings was two years old when N.W.A.’s Efil4zaggin came out, but the record clearly had an impact on Jennings, as evidenced by the “Always Into Somethin’” tattoo on his calf. A couple years ago Jennings posted a photo of the album on tape, but it’s not really worth digging through his twitter pics to find it. Sorry.
Larry Sanders
Last fall Sanders was featured on the internet TV show “Marked Up” where he discussed his path to becoming one of the NBA’s most heavily tattooed players. Interestingly, he gives partial credit to a college professor, who he described as “sleeved up.”
Players without tattoos:
Mike Dunleavy
Tobias Harris
Ersan Ilyasova
Jon Leuer
Shaun Livingston
Luc Mbah a Moute
Ekpe Udoh
Bene Udrih
Players no longer on roster:
Darington Hobson: no tattoos
Golden State Warriors, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 57% (8 players with tattoos, 6 without)
For most of the season, the Warriors have been my favorite team to watch play. I can’t always explain why, but I feel like an examination of their tattoos makes a good analogy for this preference. Monta’s clutch shooting this season has been fun, but more fun has been the nonchalance with which he makes them. His sideways, twisting leaps and scoop shots have the air of a dude having fun at the end of a day of shooting. Just messing around. After they drop, he barely ever celebrates, maybe smiles or raises a fist. This from a guy who got 14 tattoos one summer because he was bored and a homebody. And let’s not ignore the tattoos—somehow intense and good-natured at the same time. Likewise, Lou Amundson’s quiet fury (and occasional ineffectualness) on the court can be read in the intensity of his tattoo. Maybe the best expression of this team made up of discarded pieces from rebuilding teams in the east (Wright from Miami, Lee from the Knicks, Law from Atlanta) is Dorell Wright’s left shoulder, which reads “G.H.O.S.T.” They’re still getting everything together, but the team should have a lot of haunting ahead of it.
—
Players with tattoos:
Louis Amundson
Amundson’s sole tattoo is a heavy one: “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.”
Charlie Bell
Bell is one of four Michigan State players (alongside Antonio Smith, Mateen Cleaves, and Morris Peterson) who got a Flint tattoo to represent their shared hometown in 1999.
Stephen Curry
A Sports Illustrated profile in 2009 described Curry’s minimal tattoo: “His lone tattoo, discreetly inked on the inside of his left wrist, is the motto of Davidson, the small college he guided to the Elite Eight in 2008. “T.C.C.”: Trust, Commitment, Care.”
Monta Ellis
One of the most heavily tattooed players in the league, Ellis got his start the summer following his rookie year, according to a 2010 USA Today profile: “It started four years ago, when Ellis, 25, who admits to being bored and a homebody, was back home in Jackson, Miss., and Memphis. He got 14 tattoos during an offseason.” The narrative on his back is incredibly detailed, tracing his own relationship with basketball from milkcrate days to his current reign as Warriors’ captain.
Acie Law
While playing for Atlanta in 2009, Law kept a blog. The day after the Hawks lost in the second round of the playoffs to Cleveland, Law got some old tattoos touched up and embellished, and posted photos to his blog.
David Lee
It’s impossible to make out the design, but Lee has something tattooed on his back that peeks out of his jersey occasionally.
Reggie Williams
Williams has a portrait tattooed on his left shoulder.
Dorell Wright
In 2009, tattoo artist Raphael Gere Rodriguez posted photos of the “love hate skull” design he did for Wright. I didn’t even know “love hate skull” was a thing.
Players without tattoos:
Jeff Adrien: confirmed that he has no tattoos on Twitter
Andris Biedrins
Jeremy Lin
Vladimir Radmanovic
Al Thornton: Thorton’s mother discussed the reason he wouldn’t ever get a tattoo in a Los Angeles Times article: “’ He knows his mom,’ said Philomenia Thornton. ‘We don’t do tattoos. Maybe one day, that might be something that might help him. People will look for someone clean cut with no tattoos and someone that listens to their mama.’”
Ekpe Udoh
