Indiana Pacers, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 50% (7 players with tattoos; 7 without)
Last year, I used this space to complain about Jeff Foster and Josh McRoberts, neither of whom are now on the Pacers. More embarrassingly, the accompanying photo of Solomon Jones is from his days on the Hawks. While the Pacers have one of the lowest tattoo percentages of NBA teams, I have to say their tattoos are really interesting and kind of unsolvable, which I appreciate.
Players with tattoos:
Lou Amundson
Amundson’s sole tattoo was described in a 2009 Phoenix New Times article about tattoos on the Suns. That Phoenix team included Shaq, STAT, and Matt Barnes, so the article is mostly given over to their work, but buried in the text is this heartbreaking description of Amundson’s tattoo: “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.”
Leandro Barbosa
Barbosa has a tribute to his mother tattooed on his ribs.
Paul George
George has a pretty great chess-themed sleeve on his left arm.
George Hill
In May of 2011, Hill posted a photo of a new tattoo on his twitter page. The design features the state of Indiana with a star emerging from Hill’s birthplace, Indianapolis. In June of 2011, Hill was traded from the Spurs to the Pacers. Homecoming!
Dahntay Jones
Another Pacer representing his home state through tattoo is Jones, born in Trenton, whose right shoulder shows the state of New Jersey wearing a crown.
Lance Stephenson
Playing in a summer league at the age of 15, Stephenson so impressed Bobbito Garcia that Bobbito gave him the nickname “Born Ready,” citing the young guard’s ability to go up against older players, even NBA players. Stephenson had the nickname tattooed on his shoulder alongside the skyline of Coney Island, where he grew up.
David West
For a 2008 Sports Illustrated profile, West discussed the tattoos on his wrist, one reading “LIVE FREE” and the other reading “BLACK SOUL.” He described the former as “self-explanatory,” but was much more enigmatic about the latter: “It has to do with a dark mystery I’m associated with; I won’t talk about that.”
Players without tattoos:
Darren Collison
Kyrylo Fesenko
Danny Granger
Tyler Hansbrough
Roy Hibbert
Jeff Pendergraph
A.J. Price
No longer on roster:
Jeff Foster: no tattoos
Utah Jazz, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 35% (5 players with tattoos, 9 without)
It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that the handful of tattoos that grace Salt Lake City’s players revolve around Christ or Christ-like figures with basketballs: new recruit Derrick Favors has a glowing Jesus cradling a ball, while 10+ year journeyman Raja Bell has a lion standing watch over the ball. It’s also unsurprising that the Jazz have one of the lowest tattoo percentages in the league.
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Players with tattoos:
Raja Bell
For most of the decade, Bell’s right shoulder displayed a tribute to his sister’s fiance, Chris Campbell, a college linebacker who died in a car crash in 2002. The design included Campbell’s jersey number (48) and his favorite saying: “Y’all don’t see da dawg.” In recent years, this tattoo has been overcome by a larger half-sleeve design that covers it completely.
Derrick Favors
His Jesus with possession tattoo was featured in Dime Magazine’s best new ink column in 2010.
Devin Harris
Harris has a slowly-growing design on his left bicep that seems to have a few details added each year.
Paul Millsap
Millsap has a pair of praying hands tattooed on his left arm.
Earl Watson
When they were teammates on the Sonics, Kevin Durant described Watson’s backpiece as one of his favorites in the league: “Earl has a cool one on his back that says, ‘La Familia [ the family]’ with the cars on the back, I like that one, too.”
Players without tattoos:
Francisco Elson
Jeremy Evans
Kyrylo Fesenko
Gordon Hayward
Al Jefferson
Andrei Kirilenko: Kirilenko believes that tattoos are a mistake, and is out to prove to the youth that they can be expressive in other ways, for example, his variety of hairstyles: “I’m just trying to bring a new energy to the game because basketball becomes so routine. If we are role models for young kids, it’s better to mess with your hair than tattoos, piercing, smoking or drinking. Young kids want to prove their independence. I’m here to show them it’s better to mess with your hair than anything else.”
C.J. Miles: no tattoos yet, but he’s thinking about it…
Mehmet Okur
Ronnie Price
Indiana Pacers, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 50% (7 players with tattoos; 7 without)
Last year, I used this space to complain about Jeff Foster and Josh McRoberts, neither of whom are now on the Pacers. More embarrassingly, the accompanying photo of Solomon Jones is from his days on the Hawks. While the Pacers have one of the lowest tattoo percentages of NBA teams, I have to say their tattoos are really interesting and kind of unsolvable, which I appreciate.
Players with tattoos:
Lou Amundson
Amundson’s sole tattoo was described in a 2009 Phoenix New Times article about tattoos on the Suns. That Phoenix team included Shaq, STAT, and Matt Barnes, so the article is mostly given over to their work, but buried in the text is this heartbreaking description of Amundson’s tattoo: “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.”
Leandro Barbosa
Barbosa has a tribute to his mother tattooed on his ribs.
Paul George
George has a pretty great chess-themed sleeve on his left arm.
George Hill
In May of 2011, Hill posted a photo of a new tattoo on his twitter page. The design features the state of Indiana with a star emerging from Hill’s birthplace, Indianapolis. In June of 2011, Hill was traded from the Spurs to the Pacers. Homecoming!
Dahntay Jones
Another Pacer representing his home state through tattoo is Jones, born in Trenton, whose right shoulder shows the state of New Jersey wearing a crown.
Lance Stephenson
Playing in a summer league at the age of 15, Stephenson so impressed Bobbito Garcia that Bobbito gave him the nickname “Born Ready,” citing the young guard’s ability to go up against older players, even NBA players. Stephenson had the nickname tattooed on his shoulder alongside the skyline of Coney Island, where he grew up.
David West
For a 2008 Sports Illustrated profile, West discussed the tattoos on his wrist, one reading “LIVE FREE” and the other reading “BLACK SOUL.” He described the former as “self-explanatory,” but was much more enigmatic about the latter: “It has to do with a dark mystery I’m associated with; I won’t talk about that.”
Players without tattoos:
Darren Collison
Kyrylo Fesenko
Danny Granger
Tyler Hansbrough
Roy Hibbert
Jeff Pendergraph
A.J. Price
No longer on roster:
Jeff Foster: no tattoos
Utah Jazz, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 35% (5 players with tattoos, 9 without)
It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that the handful of tattoos that grace Salt Lake City’s players revolve around Christ or Christ-like figures with basketballs: new recruit Derrick Favors has a glowing Jesus cradling a ball, while 10+ year journeyman Raja Bell has a lion standing watch over the ball. It’s also unsurprising that the Jazz have one of the lowest tattoo percentages in the league.
—
Players with tattoos:
Raja Bell
For most of the decade, Bell’s right shoulder displayed a tribute to his sister’s fiance, Chris Campbell, a college linebacker who died in a car crash in 2002. The design included Campbell’s jersey number (48) and his favorite saying: “Y’all don’t see da dawg.” In recent years, this tattoo has been overcome by a larger half-sleeve design that covers it completely.
Derrick Favors
His Jesus with possession tattoo was featured in Dime Magazine’s best new ink column in 2010.
Devin Harris
Harris has a slowly-growing design on his left bicep that seems to have a few details added each year.
Paul Millsap
Millsap has a pair of praying hands tattooed on his left arm.
Earl Watson
When they were teammates on the Sonics, Kevin Durant described Watson’s backpiece as one of his favorites in the league: “Earl has a cool one on his back that says, ‘La Familia [ the family]’ with the cars on the back, I like that one, too.”
Players without tattoos:
Francisco Elson
Jeremy Evans
Kyrylo Fesenko
Gordon Hayward
Al Jefferson
Andrei Kirilenko: Kirilenko believes that tattoos are a mistake, and is out to prove to the youth that they can be expressive in other ways, for example, his variety of hairstyles: “I’m just trying to bring a new energy to the game because basketball becomes so routine. If we are role models for young kids, it’s better to mess with your hair than tattoos, piercing, smoking or drinking. Young kids want to prove their independence. I’m here to show them it’s better to mess with your hair than anything else.”
C.J. Miles: no tattoos yet, but he’s thinking about it…
Mehmet Okur
Ronnie Price
