Phoenix Suns, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 67% (10 players with tattoos, 5 without)
In the biggest single-year jump in the past three years, the Suns nearly doubled their tattoo percentage from last year.
Players with tattoos:
Michael Beasley
Among Beasley’s many tattoos is the word “H.O.O.D.” on his chest, an acronym for “Holding Our Own Destinies.”
Shannon Brown
In 2009, during Brown’s first season with the Lakers, Meghan Brennan asked the player about his tattoos for a Mouthpiecesports interview. Brown quickly ran down the tatooos on his right arm and hand, which include the word “Believe,” “Proverbs 3: 5-6” (although not the proverb text itself); his initials “SB,” and his mother’s name, “Sandra.”
Channing Frye
A 2013 profile in the Oregonian discusses the tattoo on Frye’s right forearm. It’s a pretty complicated narrative:
“His idyllic scene is etched on the inside of his right forearm, where his favorite tattoo depicts a mountain with several steps leading up to a rising sun. It is a place of esteem, for to reach the top, where the view is far-reaching and the sun rays stretch like exclamation points, one must overcome the steps of Doubt, Yourself, Fear, Hate, Lies and Envy, before reaching Happiness.”
Diante Garrett
While still at Iowa State, Garrett was interviewed about his tattoos by the Des Moines Register. He discusses all of his tattoos, including his parents’ names, the phrase “Carpe Diem,” and his first tattoo, a gift-wrapped basketball with the text “God’s Gift.”
Marcin Gortat
During his second season in the NBA, Gortat made it to the finals as a backup center for the Magic. On the magnified stage of the championship round, it came to the attention of his sponsor, Reebok, that Gortat had Nike’s Michael Jordan Jumpman logo tattooed on his ankle. They requested that he wear long socks to cover the rival logo, or efface it with makeup. Gortat refused: “I’ve heard from other people that even other players, if they don’t know my name, they know I’m the big white guy with the Jordan tattoo. I like that. Reebok will have to get used to that.” Gortat is no longer sponsored by Reebok.
Hamed Haddadi
The NBA’s first Iranian player has a stylized dragon tattooed on his left shoulder.
Marcus Morris
Morris and his twin brother, Markieff Morris, share identical tattoo designs, including one that reads “FOE” which stands for Family Over Everything; one that reads “Death is a Promise”; and one that reads “Twin Towers.”
Markieff Morris
[see above]
Jermaine O’Neal
O’Neal’s right shoulder features a muscular figure surrounded by the text “Year of the Resurrection.” Asked about the tattoo in 2011, O’Neal couldn’t remember when or where he got it, stressing instead that the tattoo isn’t fixed to one year, but constantly refreshes: “It better be this year… I look at it like every year has been a resurrection year — being challenged, being knocked down and getting back up – but I’ve had a lot of trials and tribulations this year.”
P.J. Tucker
Tucker has tattoos on both arms.
Players without tattoos:
Goran Dragic
Jared Dudley
Wes Johnson
Kendall Marshall
Luis Scola
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
Middle East
At the end of the 2010-11 regular season, there were 433 players in the NBA. 345 of these players are United States citizens, the other 88 represent 39 countries spread across 6 continents. Arranged by oversimplified regional groupings, the next few posts will examine tattoos geographically, continuing now with Asia and Australia. To view other regions, click HERE for Africa, HERE for Western Europe, HERE for Eastern Europe, HERE for the Americas, and HERE for Asia/Australia.
There are seven NBA players that are citizens of the Middle East. Considering what the Torah has to say about tattoos: “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:28), it’s not a surprise that Israeli Omri Casspi doesn’t have any tattoos. It is perhaps a surprise that the only tattoo on this list is the dragon on Iranian Hamed Haddadi’s shoulder.
Iran
Tattoo percentage: 100% (1 player with tattoos, 0 without)
Israel
Tattoo percentage: 0% (0 players with tattoos, 1 without)
Turkey
Tattoo percentage: 0% (0 players with tattoos, 1 without)
Turkey
Tattoo percentage: 25% (0 players with tattoos, 4 without)
Memphis Grizzlies, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 36% (5 players with tattoos, 9 without)
A lot of talk about how the Grizzlies came out of nowhere in these playoffs. Definitely watching them take out the Spurs was the best story of the first round, and on a personal level, having watched Z-Bo in Portland and in New York, I’m happy to see him playing so well. Anyway, I guess “out of nowhere” means “there aren’t a lot of photos of them on the internet” because I really can’t find great evidence or images of their tattoos. Sorry.
—
Players with tattoos:
Darrell Arthur
Arthur has tattoos on both shoulders and a “King Arthur” backpiece.
Mike Conley
Conley has a tattoo on his left shoulder.
Hamed Haddadi
On Haddadi’s left shoulder is a stylized dragon.
O.J. Mayo
“Juice Monster” is a crazy tattoo, even if it was Mayo’s childhood nickname. His “dedication” and “sacrifice” bicep tattoos are meaningful, but it’s his King Kong design that speaks the most: “I’d like that to be my motto; I’m King Kong of the court,” he said in a 2007 interview.
Zach Randolph
Randolph has tattoos on both arms. Nike had him pose with a sword once.
Players without tattoos:
Tony Allen
Shane Battier: Asked he ever wanted a tattoo, Battier confessed, “No. You know what, I’m not cool enough to pull it off. If I got one it’d be really dorky — it would look funny on me.”
Marc Gasol
Rudy Gay
Xavier Henry
Leon Powe
Ishmael Smith
Greivis Vasquez
Sam Young
Phoenix Suns, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 67% (10 players with tattoos, 5 without)
In the biggest single-year jump in the past three years, the Suns nearly doubled their tattoo percentage from last year.
Players with tattoos:
Michael Beasley
Among Beasley’s many tattoos is the word “H.O.O.D.” on his chest, an acronym for “Holding Our Own Destinies.”
Shannon Brown
In 2009, during Brown’s first season with the Lakers, Meghan Brennan asked the player about his tattoos for a Mouthpiecesports interview. Brown quickly ran down the tatooos on his right arm and hand, which include the word “Believe,” “Proverbs 3: 5-6” (although not the proverb text itself); his initials “SB,” and his mother’s name, “Sandra.”
Channing Frye
A 2013 profile in the Oregonian discusses the tattoo on Frye’s right forearm. It’s a pretty complicated narrative:
“His idyllic scene is etched on the inside of his right forearm, where his favorite tattoo depicts a mountain with several steps leading up to a rising sun. It is a place of esteem, for to reach the top, where the view is far-reaching and the sun rays stretch like exclamation points, one must overcome the steps of Doubt, Yourself, Fear, Hate, Lies and Envy, before reaching Happiness.”
Diante Garrett
While still at Iowa State, Garrett was interviewed about his tattoos by the Des Moines Register. He discusses all of his tattoos, including his parents’ names, the phrase “Carpe Diem,” and his first tattoo, a gift-wrapped basketball with the text “God’s Gift.”
Marcin Gortat
During his second season in the NBA, Gortat made it to the finals as a backup center for the Magic. On the magnified stage of the championship round, it came to the attention of his sponsor, Reebok, that Gortat had Nike’s Michael Jordan Jumpman logo tattooed on his ankle. They requested that he wear long socks to cover the rival logo, or efface it with makeup. Gortat refused: “I’ve heard from other people that even other players, if they don’t know my name, they know I’m the big white guy with the Jordan tattoo. I like that. Reebok will have to get used to that.” Gortat is no longer sponsored by Reebok.
Hamed Haddadi
The NBA’s first Iranian player has a stylized dragon tattooed on his left shoulder.
Marcus Morris
Morris and his twin brother, Markieff Morris, share identical tattoo designs, including one that reads “FOE” which stands for Family Over Everything; one that reads “Death is a Promise”; and one that reads “Twin Towers.”
Markieff Morris
[see above]
Jermaine O’Neal
O’Neal’s right shoulder features a muscular figure surrounded by the text “Year of the Resurrection.” Asked about the tattoo in 2011, O’Neal couldn’t remember when or where he got it, stressing instead that the tattoo isn’t fixed to one year, but constantly refreshes: “It better be this year… I look at it like every year has been a resurrection year — being challenged, being knocked down and getting back up – but I’ve had a lot of trials and tribulations this year.”
P.J. Tucker
Tucker has tattoos on both arms.
Players without tattoos:
Goran Dragic
Jared Dudley
Wes Johnson
Kendall Marshall
Luis Scola
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
Middle East
At the end of the 2010-11 regular season, there were 433 players in the NBA. 345 of these players are United States citizens, the other 88 represent 39 countries spread across 6 continents. Arranged by oversimplified regional groupings, the next few posts will examine tattoos geographically, continuing now with Asia and Australia. To view other regions, click HERE for Africa, HERE for Western Europe, HERE for Eastern Europe, HERE for the Americas, and HERE for Asia/Australia.
There are seven NBA players that are citizens of the Middle East. Considering what the Torah has to say about tattoos: “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:28), it’s not a surprise that Israeli Omri Casspi doesn’t have any tattoos. It is perhaps a surprise that the only tattoo on this list is the dragon on Iranian Hamed Haddadi’s shoulder.
Iran
Tattoo percentage: 100% (1 player with tattoos, 0 without)
Israel
Tattoo percentage: 0% (0 players with tattoos, 1 without)
Turkey
Tattoo percentage: 0% (0 players with tattoos, 1 without)
Turkey
Tattoo percentage: 25% (0 players with tattoos, 4 without)
Memphis Grizzlies, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 36% (5 players with tattoos, 9 without)
A lot of talk about how the Grizzlies came out of nowhere in these playoffs. Definitely watching them take out the Spurs was the best story of the first round, and on a personal level, having watched Z-Bo in Portland and in New York, I’m happy to see him playing so well. Anyway, I guess “out of nowhere” means “there aren’t a lot of photos of them on the internet” because I really can’t find great evidence or images of their tattoos. Sorry.
—
Players with tattoos:
Darrell Arthur
Arthur has tattoos on both shoulders and a “King Arthur” backpiece.
Mike Conley
Conley has a tattoo on his left shoulder.
Hamed Haddadi
On Haddadi’s left shoulder is a stylized dragon.
O.J. Mayo
“Juice Monster” is a crazy tattoo, even if it was Mayo’s childhood nickname. His “dedication” and “sacrifice” bicep tattoos are meaningful, but it’s his King Kong design that speaks the most: “I’d like that to be my motto; I’m King Kong of the court,” he said in a 2007 interview.
Zach Randolph
Randolph has tattoos on both arms. Nike had him pose with a sword once.
Players without tattoos:
Tony Allen
Shane Battier: Asked he ever wanted a tattoo, Battier confessed, “No. You know what, I’m not cool enough to pull it off. If I got one it’d be really dorky — it would look funny on me.”
Marc Gasol
Rudy Gay
Xavier Henry
Leon Powe
Ishmael Smith
Greivis Vasquez
Sam Young
