Miami Heat, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 60% (9 players with tattoos, 6 without)
The Heat’s tattoo percentage remained even with last year.
Players with tattoos:
Chris Andersen
Inked Magazine published an in-depth interview with Andersen about tattoos in 2011.
Chris Bosh
Bosh has an elaborate tattoo that covers his entire back.
Mario Chalmers
As reported by Fox Sports Florida, Chalmers got a tattoo reading “Mister Clutch” after being drafted by the Heat in 2008. According to the article, Chalmers worked with an artist recommended to him by teammate Udonis Haslem.
Udonis Haslem
Haslem has a great tattoo on the inside of his right arm reading “THE Under Dog.” The artist, Junk Roxxx, shared a photo of the newly-completed work on his website in 2010.
Juwan Howard
A 1996 Sports Illustrated profile reported that Howard has two tattoos: his grandmother’s name tattooed over his heart, and “Dr. J”, a tribute to his childhood idol Julius Erving, tattooed on his arm.
LeBron James
The website “nikelebron.net” has a highly detailed timeline of James’ tattoos, going back to his high school days.
James Jones
Jones recently added the text “Man of My Destiny” to the tattoo of a basketball on his left shoulder.
Rashard Lewis
In September of 2012, Miami’s Unfamous tattoo shop posted photos of Lewis getting three tattoos in one session by shop artist Alex Torres.
Mike Miller
Miller has a handful of tattoos, including a Celtic Tree of Life on his right shoulder, a onetime mystery unraveled by the great blog Son of Sam Bowie.
Players without tattoos:
Ray Allen
Joel Anthony
Shane Battier
Norris Cole
Jarvis Varnado
Dwayne Wade
LeBron James’s tattoo artist
The latest issue of Urban Ink Magazine features an interview with Cleveland-based artist Jimmy Hayden of Focused Tattoo shop. Towards the end of the interview, Hayden discusses the work he’s done for LeBron James:
Can you talk to us about meeting and tattoing Lebron James?
Meeting Lebron was phenomenal. Obviously, I had seen him coming up from when he first got in the league and always wanted to work on him. When he first came in I was excited. At first, we started with a lot of cover-ups of old work he had from when he was younger. After that, he started coming to me with different designs. After the Olympics he came with the lion design with the definition of “king.” He was great to work with because he knew what he wanted and brought ideas to me as opposed to just wanting a tattoo. It was a partnership for sure. He helped me get in with Nike and got me some projects with them.
What were some other pieces you did for him?
His “Chosen One” back piece is my work. The chest piece, his legs with “Witness” and “History,” the “330” for the Akron area code on his arm—everything.
The piece includes some nice images of Hayden’s other work, also a photo of him tattooing someone in a Cavs shirt that looks a bit like Leon Powe I guess? Hayden also talks about how he still roots for James even after the departure to Miami.
Gary Forbes rates tattoos
Bleacher Report issued a great video this week where Gary Forbes talks through his favorite tattoos in the NBA. There are some nice bits of information scattered in his monologue. For example, I didn’t know that he was a Godparent for Al Harrington’s daughter. He also shows off his Brooklyn tattoo (above). Part one available below, part two comes out next week:
Miami Heat, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 60% (9 players with tattoos, 6 without)
So glad the Heat picked up Eddy Curry this year so I could share that quote from his tattoo video. With Mike Bibby and Eddie House off their roster, the Heat have a lower tattoo percentage than last year, but their core of tattooed players remains surprisingly similar, with Bosh and Chalmers adding new designs in the off season.
Players with tattoos:
Chris Bosh
Bosh has an elaborate tattoo that covers most of his back.
Mario Chalmers
Last summer, Chalmers had Junk Roxxx of Junkyard studios cover up a tattoo on his right shoulder with a “laugh now/cry later” design.
Eddy Curry
One year, my sister and I celebrated her birthday by getting floor seats for the Knicks/Cavs game. It ended up being the first time LeBron dropped 50 on the Knicks. It was a tough game for Curry, and we sat among a bunch of longtime season ticket holders who were relentless, pointing out how long it took him to get from one end of the court to the other and booing every time he touched the ball. But I have to say, dude is kind of a charmer. In this video interview, he talks through his tattoos with a lot of smiles and a few jokes, including this deadpan: “”I was sixteen when I got my first tattoo. It was somebody’s name. So let’s talk about my second tattoo.”“
Udonis Haslem
Haslem, born and raised in Miami, loves Florida. Enough that he left $14 million on the table to re-sign with the Heat rather than go to Dallas or Denver. Enough that he got a map of the state tattooed on his back.
Juwan Howard
A 1996 Sports Illustrated profile reported that Howard has two tattoos: his grandmother’s name tattooed over his heart, and “Dr. J”, a tribute to his childhood idol Julius Erving, tattooed on his arm.
LeBron James
The website “nikelebron.net” has a highly detailed timeline of James’ tattoos, going back to his high school days.
James Jones
Jones has a tattoo of a basketball on his left shoulder.
Mike Miller
Miller has a handful of tattoos, including a Celtic Tree of Life on his right shoulder, a onetime mystery unraveled by the great blog Son of Sam Bowie.
Ronny Turiaf
Turiaf has some great tattoos including a lion’s head and the letters “N L F” for “Never Lose Faith,” but when asked to describe his tattoos in this video, he goes straight to the Chinese character on his neck: “”Well I have the first one right here on my neck and it means family because I’m a big family guy.”
Players without tattoos:
Joel Anthony
Shane Battier
Norris Cole
Terrel Harris
Dexter Pittman
Dwayne Wade
Anonymous asked: Hello! Any insight into who the artists are who've tattooed many of the NBA players? (Or a list of some of the most famous?) Thanks!
Sure! There are a couple artists who can claim to have tattooed the most NBA players.
The first is Mr. Cartoon, based in Los Angeles. Cartoon is best known for his work with rappers and other musicians—his wikipedia page lists Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Prodigy, Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé. He’s done tattoos for many of the most notoriously tattooed NBA players, including Amar’e Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer. He’s also done some charity work with LeBron James, but I’m not sure he he’s done any LBJ’s tattoos.
I think the dude that’s responsible for tattooing the most NBA players has to be Randy Harris from Tattoos by Randy, based in Atlanta. His myspace page is an incredible source of photos of NBA players—Marvin Williams, Josh Smith, Jamal Crawford, Carmelo Anthony, Jason Richardson, Quentin Richardson, Shelden Williams. The list is long, I mean, Stephen Jackson actually has his own portfolio. If you check his twitter page, you’ll see a lot of dialogue with NBA players. He and Kevin Durant exchanged a lot of discussion about new designs via twitter last summer, culminating in a photo of Randy and Durant’s massive backpiece. The OKC connection doesn’t stop there, as Randy has also done work for Royal Ivey and Eric Maynor. Randy has also done a lot of work for Monta Ellis, and apparently the two go fishing together as well.
I keep meaning to do a rundown of all of the players Randy has tattooed, but in the meantime I saw today on twitter that iHoopAround will premiere a piece about Tattoos by Randy with input from Durant, Maynor, and Daequan Cook. I’ll post a link when that happens….
Can’t believe I missed this. Tattoo Time with Mike Tyson is a segment on Jimmy Kimmel where Iron Mike runs down celebrity tattoos. In the clip above, he covers Kobe Bryant, DeShawn Stevenson, and Kenyon Martin. He’s got punchlines for Bryant and Martin, but the DeShawn Stevenson bit is just kind of weird and unfinished. There are two other clips available online—one covers LeBron James, Marquis Daniels, and Chris Andersen and the other covers Stephen Jackson and Robert Swift.
Miami Heat, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 67% (10 players with tattoos, 5 without)
With a good percentage of tattooed players, the Heat do a great job of covering all the bases: sketchy hand-done letters to $700/hour Mr. Cartoon work; literal, inspirational text to mystical Celtic designs; born day commemorations to new babies and heartfelt tributes to deceased grandparents. Their depth is undeniable!
—
Players with tattoos:
Mike Bibby
There’s a part in V. Vale’s Modern Primitives where some influential 1970s tattoo artist laments that her generation didn’t really realize how many tattoos they were actually going to get and as a consequence, everyone ended up with random assortments of unharmonized designs, instead of planning together how everything would go together. Bibby’s many tattoos demonstrates a similar lack of planning. Respect where respect is due: the 3D on “MIA” is pretty sick.
Chris Bosh
Bosh’s DVD First Ink is heavily derided as a documentary about getting a tattoo, but it’s mostly about his off-season preparations, gaining 20 pounds to make him a more physical player: “It’s time to take care of business, I’m trying to really just blow people away. Like I want to shock and awe when they see it.” On the other hand, his full back tattoo does achieve all of that, as evidenced by photos posted of the work in progress on the parlor’s website.
Mario Chalmers
The Heat website reports that Chalmers has four tattoos, including the words “quickness” and “confidence” on his wrists.
Udonis Haslem
Haslem, born and raised in Miami, loves Florida. Enough that he left $14 million on the table to re-sign with the Heat rather than go to Dallas or Denver. Enough that he got a map of the state tattooed on his back.
Eddie House
LOL at someone on answers.com claiming House’s grim reaper tattoo is a character from Where the Wild Things Are.
Juwan Howard
A 1996 Sports Illustrated profile reported that Howard has two tattoos: his grandmother’s name tattooed over his heart, and “Dr. J”, a tribute to his childhood idol Julius Erving, tattooed on his arm.
LeBron James
The website “nikelebron.net” has a highly detailed timeline of James’ tattoos, going back to his high school days.
James Jones
Jones has a tattoo of a basketball on his left shoulder.
Jamaal Magloire
Technically, Magloire belongs on the “players without” list now as he had his one tattoo, text reading “Mister Magloire” on his left arm, removed in 2008. When asked about the decision, Magloire explained to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, “”I got my tattoo in high school, and I was in a different frame of mind. I’m just getting older, a little more conservative. I have a son coming up and just want to lead by example.”
Mike Miller
Miller has a handful of tattoos, including a Celtic Tree of Life on his right shoulder, a onetime mystery unraveled by the great blog Son of Sam Bowie.
Players without tattoos:
Joel Anthony
Erick Dampier
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Dexter Pittman
Dwayne Wade
Miami Heat, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 60% (9 players with tattoos, 6 without)
The Heat’s tattoo percentage remained even with last year.
Players with tattoos:
Chris Andersen
Inked Magazine published an in-depth interview with Andersen about tattoos in 2011.
Chris Bosh
Bosh has an elaborate tattoo that covers his entire back.
Mario Chalmers
As reported by Fox Sports Florida, Chalmers got a tattoo reading “Mister Clutch” after being drafted by the Heat in 2008. According to the article, Chalmers worked with an artist recommended to him by teammate Udonis Haslem.
Udonis Haslem
Haslem has a great tattoo on the inside of his right arm reading “THE Under Dog.” The artist, Junk Roxxx, shared a photo of the newly-completed work on his website in 2010.
Juwan Howard
A 1996 Sports Illustrated profile reported that Howard has two tattoos: his grandmother’s name tattooed over his heart, and “Dr. J”, a tribute to his childhood idol Julius Erving, tattooed on his arm.
LeBron James
The website “nikelebron.net” has a highly detailed timeline of James’ tattoos, going back to his high school days.
James Jones
Jones recently added the text “Man of My Destiny” to the tattoo of a basketball on his left shoulder.
Rashard Lewis
In September of 2012, Miami’s Unfamous tattoo shop posted photos of Lewis getting three tattoos in one session by shop artist Alex Torres.
Mike Miller
Miller has a handful of tattoos, including a Celtic Tree of Life on his right shoulder, a onetime mystery unraveled by the great blog Son of Sam Bowie.
Players without tattoos:
Ray Allen
Joel Anthony
Shane Battier
Norris Cole
Jarvis Varnado
Dwayne Wade
LeBron James’s tattoo artist
The latest issue of Urban Ink Magazine features an interview with Cleveland-based artist Jimmy Hayden of Focused Tattoo shop. Towards the end of the interview, Hayden discusses the work he’s done for LeBron James:
Can you talk to us about meeting and tattoing Lebron James?
Meeting Lebron was phenomenal. Obviously, I had seen him coming up from when he first got in the league and always wanted to work on him. When he first came in I was excited. At first, we started with a lot of cover-ups of old work he had from when he was younger. After that, he started coming to me with different designs. After the Olympics he came with the lion design with the definition of “king.” He was great to work with because he knew what he wanted and brought ideas to me as opposed to just wanting a tattoo. It was a partnership for sure. He helped me get in with Nike and got me some projects with them.
What were some other pieces you did for him?
His “Chosen One” back piece is my work. The chest piece, his legs with “Witness” and “History,” the “330” for the Akron area code on his arm—everything.
The piece includes some nice images of Hayden’s other work, also a photo of him tattooing someone in a Cavs shirt that looks a bit like Leon Powe I guess? Hayden also talks about how he still roots for James even after the departure to Miami.
Gary Forbes rates tattoos
Bleacher Report issued a great video this week where Gary Forbes talks through his favorite tattoos in the NBA. There are some nice bits of information scattered in his monologue. For example, I didn’t know that he was a Godparent for Al Harrington’s daughter. He also shows off his Brooklyn tattoo (above). Part one available below, part two comes out next week:
Miami Heat, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 60% (9 players with tattoos, 6 without)
So glad the Heat picked up Eddy Curry this year so I could share that quote from his tattoo video. With Mike Bibby and Eddie House off their roster, the Heat have a lower tattoo percentage than last year, but their core of tattooed players remains surprisingly similar, with Bosh and Chalmers adding new designs in the off season.
Players with tattoos:
Chris Bosh
Bosh has an elaborate tattoo that covers most of his back.
Mario Chalmers
Last summer, Chalmers had Junk Roxxx of Junkyard studios cover up a tattoo on his right shoulder with a “laugh now/cry later” design.
Eddy Curry
One year, my sister and I celebrated her birthday by getting floor seats for the Knicks/Cavs game. It ended up being the first time LeBron dropped 50 on the Knicks. It was a tough game for Curry, and we sat among a bunch of longtime season ticket holders who were relentless, pointing out how long it took him to get from one end of the court to the other and booing every time he touched the ball. But I have to say, dude is kind of a charmer. In this video interview, he talks through his tattoos with a lot of smiles and a few jokes, including this deadpan: “”I was sixteen when I got my first tattoo. It was somebody’s name. So let’s talk about my second tattoo.”“
Udonis Haslem
Haslem, born and raised in Miami, loves Florida. Enough that he left $14 million on the table to re-sign with the Heat rather than go to Dallas or Denver. Enough that he got a map of the state tattooed on his back.
Juwan Howard
A 1996 Sports Illustrated profile reported that Howard has two tattoos: his grandmother’s name tattooed over his heart, and “Dr. J”, a tribute to his childhood idol Julius Erving, tattooed on his arm.
LeBron James
The website “nikelebron.net” has a highly detailed timeline of James’ tattoos, going back to his high school days.
James Jones
Jones has a tattoo of a basketball on his left shoulder.
Mike Miller
Miller has a handful of tattoos, including a Celtic Tree of Life on his right shoulder, a onetime mystery unraveled by the great blog Son of Sam Bowie.
Ronny Turiaf
Turiaf has some great tattoos including a lion’s head and the letters “N L F” for “Never Lose Faith,” but when asked to describe his tattoos in this video, he goes straight to the Chinese character on his neck: “”Well I have the first one right here on my neck and it means family because I’m a big family guy.”
Players without tattoos:
Joel Anthony
Shane Battier
Norris Cole
Terrel Harris
Dexter Pittman
Dwayne Wade
Anonymous asked: Hello! Any insight into who the artists are who've tattooed many of the NBA players? (Or a list of some of the most famous?) Thanks!
Sure! There are a couple artists who can claim to have tattooed the most NBA players.
The first is Mr. Cartoon, based in Los Angeles. Cartoon is best known for his work with rappers and other musicians—his wikipedia page lists Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Prodigy, Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé. He’s done tattoos for many of the most notoriously tattooed NBA players, including Amar’e Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer. He’s also done some charity work with LeBron James, but I’m not sure he he’s done any LBJ’s tattoos.
I think the dude that’s responsible for tattooing the most NBA players has to be Randy Harris from Tattoos by Randy, based in Atlanta. His myspace page is an incredible source of photos of NBA players—Marvin Williams, Josh Smith, Jamal Crawford, Carmelo Anthony, Jason Richardson, Quentin Richardson, Shelden Williams. The list is long, I mean, Stephen Jackson actually has his own portfolio. If you check his twitter page, you’ll see a lot of dialogue with NBA players. He and Kevin Durant exchanged a lot of discussion about new designs via twitter last summer, culminating in a photo of Randy and Durant’s massive backpiece. The OKC connection doesn’t stop there, as Randy has also done work for Royal Ivey and Eric Maynor. Randy has also done a lot of work for Monta Ellis, and apparently the two go fishing together as well.
I keep meaning to do a rundown of all of the players Randy has tattooed, but in the meantime I saw today on twitter that iHoopAround will premiere a piece about Tattoos by Randy with input from Durant, Maynor, and Daequan Cook. I’ll post a link when that happens….
Can’t believe I missed this. Tattoo Time with Mike Tyson is a segment on Jimmy Kimmel where Iron Mike runs down celebrity tattoos. In the clip above, he covers Kobe Bryant, DeShawn Stevenson, and Kenyon Martin. He’s got punchlines for Bryant and Martin, but the DeShawn Stevenson bit is just kind of weird and unfinished. There are two other clips available online—one covers LeBron James, Marquis Daniels, and Chris Andersen and the other covers Stephen Jackson and Robert Swift.
Miami Heat, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 67% (10 players with tattoos, 5 without)
With a good percentage of tattooed players, the Heat do a great job of covering all the bases: sketchy hand-done letters to $700/hour Mr. Cartoon work; literal, inspirational text to mystical Celtic designs; born day commemorations to new babies and heartfelt tributes to deceased grandparents. Their depth is undeniable!
—
Players with tattoos:
Mike Bibby
There’s a part in V. Vale’s Modern Primitives where some influential 1970s tattoo artist laments that her generation didn’t really realize how many tattoos they were actually going to get and as a consequence, everyone ended up with random assortments of unharmonized designs, instead of planning together how everything would go together. Bibby’s many tattoos demonstrates a similar lack of planning. Respect where respect is due: the 3D on “MIA” is pretty sick.
Chris Bosh
Bosh’s DVD First Ink is heavily derided as a documentary about getting a tattoo, but it’s mostly about his off-season preparations, gaining 20 pounds to make him a more physical player: “It’s time to take care of business, I’m trying to really just blow people away. Like I want to shock and awe when they see it.” On the other hand, his full back tattoo does achieve all of that, as evidenced by photos posted of the work in progress on the parlor’s website.
Mario Chalmers
The Heat website reports that Chalmers has four tattoos, including the words “quickness” and “confidence” on his wrists.
Udonis Haslem
Haslem, born and raised in Miami, loves Florida. Enough that he left $14 million on the table to re-sign with the Heat rather than go to Dallas or Denver. Enough that he got a map of the state tattooed on his back.
Eddie House
LOL at someone on answers.com claiming House’s grim reaper tattoo is a character from Where the Wild Things Are.
Juwan Howard
A 1996 Sports Illustrated profile reported that Howard has two tattoos: his grandmother’s name tattooed over his heart, and “Dr. J”, a tribute to his childhood idol Julius Erving, tattooed on his arm.
LeBron James
The website “nikelebron.net” has a highly detailed timeline of James’ tattoos, going back to his high school days.
James Jones
Jones has a tattoo of a basketball on his left shoulder.
Jamaal Magloire
Technically, Magloire belongs on the “players without” list now as he had his one tattoo, text reading “Mister Magloire” on his left arm, removed in 2008. When asked about the decision, Magloire explained to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, “”I got my tattoo in high school, and I was in a different frame of mind. I’m just getting older, a little more conservative. I have a son coming up and just want to lead by example.”
Mike Miller
Miller has a handful of tattoos, including a Celtic Tree of Life on his right shoulder, a onetime mystery unraveled by the great blog Son of Sam Bowie.
Players without tattoos:
Joel Anthony
Erick Dampier
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Dexter Pittman
Dwayne Wade
