Indiana Pacers, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 40% (6 players with tattoos, 9 without)
The Pacers saw their tattoo percentage drop from last year.
Players with tattoos:
D.J. Augustin
On Augustin’s back is a touching tribute to his deceased grandmother in which pair of hands hold a basketball beside the text “thanks for the rock” to memorialize his first ball, which was purchased by his grandmother for his fifth birthday. The design is pretty awe-inspiring.
Paul George
George added two new tattoos last summer. As he described to ESPN: “I got two tattoos: one of a lion on one hand, and one of a tiger on the other hand. They are my favorite animals, and they represent who I feel I am on the court. They are silent, but they are beasts.”
Gerald Green
Green has a tattoo representing his hometown with a city skyline and the word “Houston” on his forearm.
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!
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
Among West’s several tattoos are the words “Carpe Diem” tattooed on the backs of his calves.
Players without tattoos:
Danny Granger
Ben Hansbrough
Tyler Hansbrough
Roy Hibbert
Orlando Johnson
Ian Mahinmi
Jeff Pendergraph
Miles Plumlee
Sam Young
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
Indiana Pacers 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 40% (6 players with tattoos, 9 without)
The Pacers recent play underscores the fallacy of the tattoos=thug equation, as neither Josh McRoberts nor Jeff Foster have tattoos.
—
Players with tattoos:
Paul George
George has tattoos along his right arm from his shoulder to his wrist.
Solomon Jones
Jones has tattoos on both arms.
Dahntay Jones
Among his many tattoos, Jones has the words “Never Satisfied” although in this picture you can only see the word “Satisfied” which would be a cool tattoo for a different person I guess.
James Posey
On Posey’s left shoulder is a tattoo of the letter P, a basketball going through a hoop, and the letter Z. If the basketball is viewed as the letter O, the tattoo phonetically spells out his name: P-O-Z.
Brandon Rush
Rush has a collection of tattoos along both arms.
Lance Stephenson
At the age of 16, Stephenson was given the nickname “Born Ready” by Bobbito Garcia. Bobbito founded the greatest independent rap label of the 90s, Fondle Em, and introduced me to maybe half of my favorite songs via his radio show with Stretch Armstrong, so I’m always ready to take his word for whatever. Apparently Stephenson feels the same way, as the had the nickname tattooed on his right shoulder alongside a figure with a basketball and an outline of Coney Island’s skyline (where he grew up).
Players without tattoos:
Darren Collison
Mike Dunleavy
T.J. Ford
Jeff Foster
Danny Granger
Tyler Hansbrough
Roy Hibbert
Josh McRoberts
A.J. Price
Indiana Pacers, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 40% (6 players with tattoos, 9 without)
The Pacers saw their tattoo percentage drop from last year.
Players with tattoos:
D.J. Augustin
On Augustin’s back is a touching tribute to his deceased grandmother in which pair of hands hold a basketball beside the text “thanks for the rock” to memorialize his first ball, which was purchased by his grandmother for his fifth birthday. The design is pretty awe-inspiring.
Paul George
George added two new tattoos last summer. As he described to ESPN: “I got two tattoos: one of a lion on one hand, and one of a tiger on the other hand. They are my favorite animals, and they represent who I feel I am on the court. They are silent, but they are beasts.”
Gerald Green
Green has a tattoo representing his hometown with a city skyline and the word “Houston” on his forearm.
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!
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
Among West’s several tattoos are the words “Carpe Diem” tattooed on the backs of his calves.
Players without tattoos:
Danny Granger
Ben Hansbrough
Tyler Hansbrough
Roy Hibbert
Orlando Johnson
Ian Mahinmi
Jeff Pendergraph
Miles Plumlee
Sam Young
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
Indiana Pacers 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 40% (6 players with tattoos, 9 without)
The Pacers recent play underscores the fallacy of the tattoos=thug equation, as neither Josh McRoberts nor Jeff Foster have tattoos.
—
Players with tattoos:
Paul George
George has tattoos along his right arm from his shoulder to his wrist.
Solomon Jones
Jones has tattoos on both arms.
Dahntay Jones
Among his many tattoos, Jones has the words “Never Satisfied” although in this picture you can only see the word “Satisfied” which would be a cool tattoo for a different person I guess.
James Posey
On Posey’s left shoulder is a tattoo of the letter P, a basketball going through a hoop, and the letter Z. If the basketball is viewed as the letter O, the tattoo phonetically spells out his name: P-O-Z.
Brandon Rush
Rush has a collection of tattoos along both arms.
Lance Stephenson
At the age of 16, Stephenson was given the nickname “Born Ready” by Bobbito Garcia. Bobbito founded the greatest independent rap label of the 90s, Fondle Em, and introduced me to maybe half of my favorite songs via his radio show with Stretch Armstrong, so I’m always ready to take his word for whatever. Apparently Stephenson feels the same way, as the had the nickname tattooed on his right shoulder alongside a figure with a basketball and an outline of Coney Island’s skyline (where he grew up).
Players without tattoos:
Darren Collison
Mike Dunleavy
T.J. Ford
Jeff Foster
Danny Granger
Tyler Hansbrough
Roy Hibbert
Josh McRoberts
A.J. Price
