Detroit Pistons, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 50% (7 players with tattoos, 7 without)
The tattoo percentage for the Pistons is slightly lower than last year.
Players with tattoos:
Will Bynum
While still in high school, Bynum had the NBA logo tattooed on his left arm.
Andre Drummond
Drummond recently had the names of his sister and mother tattooed on his fingers.
Corey Maggette
Maggette has a tattoo on his right shoulder of a wizard with a basketball and several planets.
Jason Maxiell
Pistons.com has a nice video interview with Maxiell where he discusses his tattoos, focusing primarily on the cross on his shoulder. As he explains:
“My favorite tattoo is on my left shoulder. I got it after my grandmother passed. She was somebody close to me, very special, so once I got to the next level playing basketball I decided to take a whole day and design a tattoo for her and put her on my body for the rest of my life. Being my first tattoo, it was painful at time, then it got numb.”
Greg Monroe
Monroe has a tattoo that occasionally peeks out of the left side of his jersey.
Rodney Stuckey
Stuckey’s right shoulder features an elaborate design with what appears to be a skyline, a river, and a prince holding a basketball.
Charlie Villanueva
Villanueva got his first tattoos this past summer. As he explained to the Detroit Free Press (via Piston Powered), “I waited so long because I didn’t know what I want or exactly what I wanted to do. At the same time, once I did one, I thought it was going to hurt a lot more. I actually liked the pain, which is kind of weird so I was like keep going.”
Players without tattoos:
Jose Calderon
Kim English
Jonas Jerebko
Brandon Knight
Viacheslav Kravtsov
Khris Middleton
Kyle Singler
Toronto Raptors 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 50% (7 players with tattoos, 7 without)
Raptors are in a rebuilding mode this year, and have fewer tattooed players than they did last year.
Players with tattoos:
Jerryd Bayless
Bayless described his massive backpiece as “a college mistake” and goes on to declare that he “regrets it everyday.” He should check in with his new teammate Jamaal Magloire about tattoo removal.
Ed Davis
Davis has tattoos covering both arms.
DeMar DeRozan
On DeRozan’s forearm is a tribute to his grandmother. He also has a tattoo that reads “the Blessed One,” a nickname given to him by his grandmother.
Gary Forbes
Forbes has an interesting elbow-cobweb that fades into a Brooklyn skyline on his left arm.
Amir Johnson
Over the summer, Johnson added the Afro Samurai character to his stomach.
James Johnson
The collection of tattoos on Johnson’s arms includes a collection of aces, a portrait of Christ, an castle turret, and the air Jordan logo.
Jamaal Magloire
In 2008, Magloire had his “Mister Magloire” tattoo removed from his arm. “Not that there’s anything wrong with tattoos,” he explained to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, “but, for me, this was the right time, the right choice.”
Players without tattoos:
Solomon Alabi
Alan Anderson
Andrea Bargnani
Jose Calderon
Aaron Gray
Linas Kleiza
Ben Uzoh
No longer on roster:
Rasual Butler: Butler has many tattoos.
Anthony Carter: Carter’s tattoos include his own name in script.
Toronto Raptors, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 60% (9 players with tattoos, 6 without)
The Raptors are an international team with an international roster, including players from France, Nigeria, Brazil, Italy, Spain, and Lithuania. American players are far more likely to have tattoos than non-Americans, and a majority of the un-tattooed players on Toronto are from Africa and Europe. However, they do have two of the undeniably rare tattooed foreign players.
—
Players with tattoos:
Alexis Ajinca
Ajinca has a tattoo below his right ear that, as he explained to a reporter in 2010, is ” a symbol that means, ‘The great talent sent from God.’” Apparently it is also the logo for the TV series Heroes, a drama about mutant children.
Leandro Barbosa
Among Barbosa’s few tattoos is the text “Love, sacrifice, and union” on the back of his neck.
Jerryd Bayless
Bayless has a massive backpiece, which he describes as, “a college mistake, I regret it every day.”
Ed Davis
Davis came into the league with heavy coverage of both arms, a rarity in the 2010 rookie class.
DeMar DeRozan
Among DeRozan’s tattoos is a tribute to his grandmother, which he discussed in a 2010 profile: “[Points to his right forearm] This one right here, for my grandmother. I got it done right after last season after she passed. She meant a lot to me — it was only right that I [commemorate her] like that.”
Reggie Evans
Evans has tattoos along both arms, including his mother’s name—Janie—tattooed along his left forearm.
Amir Johnson
His tattoo buddy Sonny Weems posted a photo of Johnson in the tattoo chair on Twitter, and a few hours later posted a detail of the finished design.
James Johnson
Johnson almost sounds defensive when describing his tattoo choices: “All my tattoos mean a little something. I’m not going to put something on myself that doesn’t mean anything. I have a big family so a lot of my tattoos have to do with my family or my religious beliefs.”
Sonny Weems
Clearly a tattoo enabler, not only does Weems accompany his teammates to the tattoo shop, but he occasionally has his artist set up in his house for tattoo parties.
Players without tattoos:
Solomon Alabi
Andrea Bargnani
Jose Calderon
Joey Dorsey
Sundiata Gaines
Linas Kleiza
Julian Wright
Detroit Pistons, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 50% (7 players with tattoos, 7 without)
The tattoo percentage for the Pistons is slightly lower than last year.
Players with tattoos:
Will Bynum
While still in high school, Bynum had the NBA logo tattooed on his left arm.
Andre Drummond
Drummond recently had the names of his sister and mother tattooed on his fingers.
Corey Maggette
Maggette has a tattoo on his right shoulder of a wizard with a basketball and several planets.
Jason Maxiell
Pistons.com has a nice video interview with Maxiell where he discusses his tattoos, focusing primarily on the cross on his shoulder. As he explains:
“My favorite tattoo is on my left shoulder. I got it after my grandmother passed. She was somebody close to me, very special, so once I got to the next level playing basketball I decided to take a whole day and design a tattoo for her and put her on my body for the rest of my life. Being my first tattoo, it was painful at time, then it got numb.”
Greg Monroe
Monroe has a tattoo that occasionally peeks out of the left side of his jersey.
Rodney Stuckey
Stuckey’s right shoulder features an elaborate design with what appears to be a skyline, a river, and a prince holding a basketball.
Charlie Villanueva
Villanueva got his first tattoos this past summer. As he explained to the Detroit Free Press (via Piston Powered), “I waited so long because I didn’t know what I want or exactly what I wanted to do. At the same time, once I did one, I thought it was going to hurt a lot more. I actually liked the pain, which is kind of weird so I was like keep going.”
Players without tattoos:
Jose Calderon
Kim English
Jonas Jerebko
Brandon Knight
Viacheslav Kravtsov
Khris Middleton
Kyle Singler
Toronto Raptors 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 50% (7 players with tattoos, 7 without)
Raptors are in a rebuilding mode this year, and have fewer tattooed players than they did last year.
Players with tattoos:
Jerryd Bayless
Bayless described his massive backpiece as “a college mistake” and goes on to declare that he “regrets it everyday.” He should check in with his new teammate Jamaal Magloire about tattoo removal.
Ed Davis
Davis has tattoos covering both arms.
DeMar DeRozan
On DeRozan’s forearm is a tribute to his grandmother. He also has a tattoo that reads “the Blessed One,” a nickname given to him by his grandmother.
Gary Forbes
Forbes has an interesting elbow-cobweb that fades into a Brooklyn skyline on his left arm.
Amir Johnson
Over the summer, Johnson added the Afro Samurai character to his stomach.
James Johnson
The collection of tattoos on Johnson’s arms includes a collection of aces, a portrait of Christ, an castle turret, and the air Jordan logo.
Jamaal Magloire
In 2008, Magloire had his “Mister Magloire” tattoo removed from his arm. “Not that there’s anything wrong with tattoos,” he explained to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, “but, for me, this was the right time, the right choice.”
Players without tattoos:
Solomon Alabi
Alan Anderson
Andrea Bargnani
Jose Calderon
Aaron Gray
Linas Kleiza
Ben Uzoh
No longer on roster:
Rasual Butler: Butler has many tattoos.
Anthony Carter: Carter’s tattoos include his own name in script.
Toronto Raptors, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 60% (9 players with tattoos, 6 without)
The Raptors are an international team with an international roster, including players from France, Nigeria, Brazil, Italy, Spain, and Lithuania. American players are far more likely to have tattoos than non-Americans, and a majority of the un-tattooed players on Toronto are from Africa and Europe. However, they do have two of the undeniably rare tattooed foreign players.
—
Players with tattoos:
Alexis Ajinca
Ajinca has a tattoo below his right ear that, as he explained to a reporter in 2010, is ” a symbol that means, ‘The great talent sent from God.’” Apparently it is also the logo for the TV series Heroes, a drama about mutant children.
Leandro Barbosa
Among Barbosa’s few tattoos is the text “Love, sacrifice, and union” on the back of his neck.
Jerryd Bayless
Bayless has a massive backpiece, which he describes as, “a college mistake, I regret it every day.”
Ed Davis
Davis came into the league with heavy coverage of both arms, a rarity in the 2010 rookie class.
DeMar DeRozan
Among DeRozan’s tattoos is a tribute to his grandmother, which he discussed in a 2010 profile: “[Points to his right forearm] This one right here, for my grandmother. I got it done right after last season after she passed. She meant a lot to me — it was only right that I [commemorate her] like that.”
Reggie Evans
Evans has tattoos along both arms, including his mother’s name—Janie—tattooed along his left forearm.
Amir Johnson
His tattoo buddy Sonny Weems posted a photo of Johnson in the tattoo chair on Twitter, and a few hours later posted a detail of the finished design.
James Johnson
Johnson almost sounds defensive when describing his tattoo choices: “All my tattoos mean a little something. I’m not going to put something on myself that doesn’t mean anything. I have a big family so a lot of my tattoos have to do with my family or my religious beliefs.”
Sonny Weems
Clearly a tattoo enabler, not only does Weems accompany his teammates to the tattoo shop, but he occasionally has his artist set up in his house for tattoo parties.
Players without tattoos:
Solomon Alabi
Andrea Bargnani
Jose Calderon
Joey Dorsey
Sundiata Gaines
Linas Kleiza
Julian Wright
