Golden State Warriors, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 79% (11 players with tattoos, 3 without)
The Warriors’ tattoo percentage went up a bunch from last year. I am having a tough time with the Ellis/Bogut trade.
Players with tattoos:
Keith Benson
An Oakland Post report printed during Benson’s years with Oakland University describes the tattoos on both of his arms. On one arm is his nickname, “Kito” tattooed inside a basketball hoop. On the other, Benson has the words “killa instinct” which he describes as being about basketball: “You have to have the ‘killa instinct’ to defeat your opponent, not just play to play,” Benson said. “You have to cut them off and win.”
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 in an NBA.com chat. “There’s some Australian stuff and also some Croatian stuff in it.”
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.”
Mickell Gladness
Gladness has a full sleeve on his left arm.
Richard Jefferson
One of the most universally derided tattoos in the league, Jefferson’s left shoulder is marked with his initials, which are circled with some cursive text reading “God Family Brothers Parents.” But like elementary school cursive, not the script that most tattoos tend towards. Also the white space in the letter R is a basketball. Looks a lot like it was drawn for/by a child.
David Lee
Lee has his initials tattooed over his right shoulder blade.
Dominic McGuire
The tattoo on McGuire’s right shoulder, of a child holding out its open hands, is one of my all time favorites. Somebody please interview him and ask him what it’s about!
Nate Robinson
Another heavily tattooed Seattle native, Robinson is likely one of the most tattooed in the league, which makes sense, given how early he started: “I was thirteen when I got my first tattoo, and it was the Iverson bulldog because Iverson had it. It says Mr. Robinson at the bottom.”
Brandon Rush
In November of 2011, Native Ink tattoo posted a photo of a design done for Rush that reads “Truly Blessed” in a really strong script.
Jeremy Tyler
Tyler infamously dropped out of high school to play professional basketball in Israel at the age of 17. During his season with the Maccabi Haifa Heat, Howard Schneider profiled Tyler for the Washington Post, opening the article with a description of the many tattoos Tyler had collected while abroad:
Jeremy Tyler displays his life in tattoos. The “S” and “D” on the 18-year-old’s hands are his roots in San Diego, where he sacrificed a high school diploma for professional basketball. The dreamy Virgo design draping down the left shoulder of his 6-foot-11, 260-pound body, encompassing the names of relatives and a basketball, are his aspiration to support his family through his craft. There is a spot for his girlfriend’s name, the initials of a recently deceased friend, and angel wings on his back
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:
Andris Biedrins
Charles Jenkins: Henry Abbott reported for ESPN that Jenkins was asked why he didn’t have any tattoos, to which he replied, “You ever see a bumper sticker on a Maybach?”
Klay Thompson
No longer on roster:
Chris Wright: 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
Golden State Warriors, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 79% (11 players with tattoos, 3 without)
The Warriors’ tattoo percentage went up a bunch from last year. I am having a tough time with the Ellis/Bogut trade.
Players with tattoos:
Keith Benson
An Oakland Post report printed during Benson’s years with Oakland University describes the tattoos on both of his arms. On one arm is his nickname, “Kito” tattooed inside a basketball hoop. On the other, Benson has the words “killa instinct” which he describes as being about basketball: “You have to have the ‘killa instinct’ to defeat your opponent, not just play to play,” Benson said. “You have to cut them off and win.”
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 in an NBA.com chat. “There’s some Australian stuff and also some Croatian stuff in it.”
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.”
Mickell Gladness
Gladness has a full sleeve on his left arm.
Richard Jefferson
One of the most universally derided tattoos in the league, Jefferson’s left shoulder is marked with his initials, which are circled with some cursive text reading “God Family Brothers Parents.” But like elementary school cursive, not the script that most tattoos tend towards. Also the white space in the letter R is a basketball. Looks a lot like it was drawn for/by a child.
David Lee
Lee has his initials tattooed over his right shoulder blade.
Dominic McGuire
The tattoo on McGuire’s right shoulder, of a child holding out its open hands, is one of my all time favorites. Somebody please interview him and ask him what it’s about!
Nate Robinson
Another heavily tattooed Seattle native, Robinson is likely one of the most tattooed in the league, which makes sense, given how early he started: “I was thirteen when I got my first tattoo, and it was the Iverson bulldog because Iverson had it. It says Mr. Robinson at the bottom.”
Brandon Rush
In November of 2011, Native Ink tattoo posted a photo of a design done for Rush that reads “Truly Blessed” in a really strong script.
Jeremy Tyler
Tyler infamously dropped out of high school to play professional basketball in Israel at the age of 17. During his season with the Maccabi Haifa Heat, Howard Schneider profiled Tyler for the Washington Post, opening the article with a description of the many tattoos Tyler had collected while abroad:
Jeremy Tyler displays his life in tattoos. The “S” and “D” on the 18-year-old’s hands are his roots in San Diego, where he sacrificed a high school diploma for professional basketball. The dreamy Virgo design draping down the left shoulder of his 6-foot-11, 260-pound body, encompassing the names of relatives and a basketball, are his aspiration to support his family through his craft. There is a spot for his girlfriend’s name, the initials of a recently deceased friend, and angel wings on his back
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:
Andris Biedrins
Charles Jenkins: Henry Abbott reported for ESPN that Jenkins was asked why he didn’t have any tattoos, to which he replied, “You ever see a bumper sticker on a Maybach?”
Klay Thompson
No longer on roster:
Chris Wright: 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
