Sacramento Kings, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 38% (5 players with tattoos, 8 without)
The Kings’ tattoo percentage decreased from last year.
Players with tattoos:
DeMarcus Cousins
In August of 2011, Cousins posted a photo on Twitter of his new tattoo reading “Misunderstood” along his calf.
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.
Patrick Patterson
Last year Patterson shared a photo of himself on instagram showing the Martin Luther King Jr. tattoo on his chest. On MLK day in 2013, he revealed on twitter that he has two different King quote tattoos, and was considering a third.
John Salmons
Salmons has Chinese characters on his right arm. According to the website NiuBBall.com, it’s identical to Jermaine O’Neal’s Chinese tattoo, and means “person who sells coffins.”
Isaiah Thomas
Thomas is another NBA player from the northwest, raised in Tacoma, Washington. In the summer of 2012, he and Jamal Crawford (raised in Seattle), both got tattooed by Randy Harris of Tattoos by Randy. Thomas added a full sleeve representing Tacoma to his already developed collection of tattoos.
Players without tattoos:
Cole Aldrich
Toney Douglas
Tyreke Evans
Jimmer Fredette
Chuck Hayes
Travis Outlaw
Jason Thompson
Marcus Thornton
Patrick Patterson’s chest tattoo
Patrick Patterson recently shared this photo of himself via Instagram. A 2008 profile published while Patterson was a sophomore at University of Kentucky mentions the Martin Luther King Jr. quote tattooed on Patterson’s chest:
“If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live”
But this is the first time I’ve seen a photo of the work.
Houston Rockets, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 40% (6 players with tattoos, 9 without)
The Rockets raised their tattoo percentage just a touch from last year.
Marcus Camby
Canby has the Chinese characters for “strive” and “family” tattooed on his right shoulder. In an interview, Canby claimed to be one of the originators of Chinese character tattoos. When asked how he got on the path, he explained, “I was into a lot of Chinese flicks, a lot of kung fu movies.”
Courtney Fortson
Fortson has tattoos on his right arm.
Courtney Lee
Lee credits his entire professional career to the guidance and mentoring of Danny Rumph, a promising point guard who died of a heart condition at the age of 21. The two met at Western Kentucky University, where Rumph’s positive influence kept Lee in school and focused on basketball. Following Rumph’s death, Lee designed a tribute to his friend, tattooed on his right arm. As described by Fran Blinebury for NBA.com:
“The tattoo on his right biceps is a drawing of his friend wearing his Philadelphia Phillies baseball cap on his head, with wings sprouting from his shoulders and holding a basketball with the No. 11 inside. A couple of other Western Kentucky teammates, Anthony Winchester and Elgrace Wilborn, have the same tattoo that Lee had sketched out.”
Marcus Morris
Morris was selected by the Houston Rockets with the 14th pick in the 2011 NBA draft. His twin brother, Markieff Morris, was taken by Phoenix with the 13th pick. This is the first year these identical twins have played apart, after years together in youth leagues, high school, and three years with the Kansas Jayhawks. They even had the same major (American Studies) at college. The pair also 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.”
Patrick Patterson
During his years at UK, Patterson had a Martin Luther King Jr. quote tattooed on his chest: “If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”
Malcolm Thomas
A U-T San Diego article written during Thomas’s years at San Diego State University discusses the player’s relationship with his daughter. One paragraph describes the tattoo he received several days before her birth: “Thomas had a tattoo added to his right arm, next to the one for his mother. It is a rose with “Mikeala” written beneath it.”
Players without tattoos:
Earl Boykins
Chase Budinger
Samuel Dalembert
Goran Dragic
Kyle Lowry
Kevin Martin: Martin is uninterested in tattoos, for several reasons: “I’m never going to get a tattoo. I don’t like needles, so I’m not going to let a needle on me. But I also want to be a clean-cut guy. That’s just how I am.”
Chandler Parsons
Luis Scola: Once said tattoos are not cute (“no quedan lindos”)
Greg Smith
No longer on roster:
Jeff Adrien: no tattoos
Houston Rockets 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 36% (5 players with tattoos, 9 without)
Obviously their major story this year has been Yao Ming’s absence, but slowly this story is transforming to the way this otherwise young team is coming together. More than half of the Houston Rockets are under 25, and while Luis Scola is still a major force, the players to watch are clearly the younger ones. Following the storyline of their tattoos, it’s obvious these guys have been through some trials, and rebuilding a post-Yao team seems like a walk through the park by comparison.
—
Players with tattoos:
Jordan Hill
While at college, the heavily tattooed Hill described his tattoos for the Arizona Daily Wildcat, including the tribute for his mother: “My mom passed when I was 3, so I got “in love and memory”, the year she was born and when she died, a basketball and a banner with her name in it, Carol. And on the bottom I got ‘Doing it for you.’”
Courtney Lee
A 2010 NBA.com article revisited the end of Lee’s freshman year of college, when his roommate and close friend Danny Rumph died from a heart attack. To commemorate their friendship, and pay tribute, Lee got a tattoo on his right arm.
Brad Miller
Miller has a tattoo of cartoon character Scrappy Doo.
Patrick Patterson
While still at Kentucky, Patterson had a Martin Luther King Jr. quote tattooed on his chest: “If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”
Terrence Williams
Another of the heavily-tattooed players born and raised in Seattle, Williams has a tattoo of the number 8 resting in a spiderweb, a reference to the Section 8 housing that he and Nate Robinson and their other friends grew up in, a tattoo that many of them have.
Players without tattoos:
Marqus Blakely
Chase Budinger
Goran Dragic
Chuck Hayes
Kyle Lowry
Kevin Martin: Martin is uninterested in tattoos, for several reasons: “I’m never going to get a tattoo. I don’t like needles, so I’m not going to let a needle on me. But I also want to be a clean-cut guy. That’s just how I am.”
Luis Scola: Once said tattoos are not cute (“no quedan lindos”).
Hasheem Thabeet
Yao Ming
Sacramento Kings, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 38% (5 players with tattoos, 8 without)
The Kings’ tattoo percentage decreased from last year.
Players with tattoos:
DeMarcus Cousins
In August of 2011, Cousins posted a photo on Twitter of his new tattoo reading “Misunderstood” along his calf.
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.
Patrick Patterson
Last year Patterson shared a photo of himself on instagram showing the Martin Luther King Jr. tattoo on his chest. On MLK day in 2013, he revealed on twitter that he has two different King quote tattoos, and was considering a third.
John Salmons
Salmons has Chinese characters on his right arm. According to the website NiuBBall.com, it’s identical to Jermaine O’Neal’s Chinese tattoo, and means “person who sells coffins.”
Isaiah Thomas
Thomas is another NBA player from the northwest, raised in Tacoma, Washington. In the summer of 2012, he and Jamal Crawford (raised in Seattle), both got tattooed by Randy Harris of Tattoos by Randy. Thomas added a full sleeve representing Tacoma to his already developed collection of tattoos.
Players without tattoos:
Cole Aldrich
Toney Douglas
Tyreke Evans
Jimmer Fredette
Chuck Hayes
Travis Outlaw
Jason Thompson
Marcus Thornton
Patrick Patterson’s chest tattoo
Patrick Patterson recently shared this photo of himself via Instagram. A 2008 profile published while Patterson was a sophomore at University of Kentucky mentions the Martin Luther King Jr. quote tattooed on Patterson’s chest:
“If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live”
But this is the first time I’ve seen a photo of the work.
Houston Rockets, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 40% (6 players with tattoos, 9 without)
The Rockets raised their tattoo percentage just a touch from last year.
Marcus Camby
Canby has the Chinese characters for “strive” and “family” tattooed on his right shoulder. In an interview, Canby claimed to be one of the originators of Chinese character tattoos. When asked how he got on the path, he explained, “I was into a lot of Chinese flicks, a lot of kung fu movies.”
Courtney Fortson
Fortson has tattoos on his right arm.
Courtney Lee
Lee credits his entire professional career to the guidance and mentoring of Danny Rumph, a promising point guard who died of a heart condition at the age of 21. The two met at Western Kentucky University, where Rumph’s positive influence kept Lee in school and focused on basketball. Following Rumph’s death, Lee designed a tribute to his friend, tattooed on his right arm. As described by Fran Blinebury for NBA.com:
“The tattoo on his right biceps is a drawing of his friend wearing his Philadelphia Phillies baseball cap on his head, with wings sprouting from his shoulders and holding a basketball with the No. 11 inside. A couple of other Western Kentucky teammates, Anthony Winchester and Elgrace Wilborn, have the same tattoo that Lee had sketched out.”
Marcus Morris
Morris was selected by the Houston Rockets with the 14th pick in the 2011 NBA draft. His twin brother, Markieff Morris, was taken by Phoenix with the 13th pick. This is the first year these identical twins have played apart, after years together in youth leagues, high school, and three years with the Kansas Jayhawks. They even had the same major (American Studies) at college. The pair also 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.”
Patrick Patterson
During his years at UK, Patterson had a Martin Luther King Jr. quote tattooed on his chest: “If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”
Malcolm Thomas
A U-T San Diego article written during Thomas’s years at San Diego State University discusses the player’s relationship with his daughter. One paragraph describes the tattoo he received several days before her birth: “Thomas had a tattoo added to his right arm, next to the one for his mother. It is a rose with “Mikeala” written beneath it.”
Players without tattoos:
Earl Boykins
Chase Budinger
Samuel Dalembert
Goran Dragic
Kyle Lowry
Kevin Martin: Martin is uninterested in tattoos, for several reasons: “I’m never going to get a tattoo. I don’t like needles, so I’m not going to let a needle on me. But I also want to be a clean-cut guy. That’s just how I am.”
Chandler Parsons
Luis Scola: Once said tattoos are not cute (“no quedan lindos”)
Greg Smith
No longer on roster:
Jeff Adrien: no tattoos
Houston Rockets 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 36% (5 players with tattoos, 9 without)
Obviously their major story this year has been Yao Ming’s absence, but slowly this story is transforming to the way this otherwise young team is coming together. More than half of the Houston Rockets are under 25, and while Luis Scola is still a major force, the players to watch are clearly the younger ones. Following the storyline of their tattoos, it’s obvious these guys have been through some trials, and rebuilding a post-Yao team seems like a walk through the park by comparison.
—
Players with tattoos:
Jordan Hill
While at college, the heavily tattooed Hill described his tattoos for the Arizona Daily Wildcat, including the tribute for his mother: “My mom passed when I was 3, so I got “in love and memory”, the year she was born and when she died, a basketball and a banner with her name in it, Carol. And on the bottom I got ‘Doing it for you.’”
Courtney Lee
A 2010 NBA.com article revisited the end of Lee’s freshman year of college, when his roommate and close friend Danny Rumph died from a heart attack. To commemorate their friendship, and pay tribute, Lee got a tattoo on his right arm.
Brad Miller
Miller has a tattoo of cartoon character Scrappy Doo.
Patrick Patterson
While still at Kentucky, Patterson had a Martin Luther King Jr. quote tattooed on his chest: “If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”
Terrence Williams
Another of the heavily-tattooed players born and raised in Seattle, Williams has a tattoo of the number 8 resting in a spiderweb, a reference to the Section 8 housing that he and Nate Robinson and their other friends grew up in, a tattoo that many of them have.
Players without tattoos:
Marqus Blakely
Chase Budinger
Goran Dragic
Chuck Hayes
Kyle Lowry
Kevin Martin: Martin is uninterested in tattoos, for several reasons: “I’m never going to get a tattoo. I don’t like needles, so I’m not going to let a needle on me. But I also want to be a clean-cut guy. That’s just how I am.”
Luis Scola: Once said tattoos are not cute (“no quedan lindos”).
Hasheem Thabeet
Yao Ming
