Los Angeles Clippers, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 67% (10 players with tattoos, 5 without)
The Clippers had a decrease in tattoo percentage from last year.
Players with tattoos:
Matt Barnes
In 2008, Barnes founded the Athletes vs. Cancer foundation in memory of his mother, who passed away from lung cancer. In 2010, he added a portrait of his mother, framed by angel’s wings, to his many tattoos. As he explained to Tom Hoffarth of Inside So Cal, “this keeps her around.”
Chauncey Billups
On Billups’s left shoulder is a tattoo of a crowned figure spinning a basketball on his finger. Surrounding the figure are the words “King of the Hill,” a reference to the Denver neighborhood Billups grew up in. In an IGN Sports interview, Billups described it as his favorite tattoo, and explained the significance: “My neighborhood back home is called Park Hill. It’s a hood thing. All of my tats mean something.”
Eric Bledsoe
Bledsoe has tattoos along both arms.
Caron Butler
While on the Wizards, Butler wrote on his blog about tattoos: “Like many other guys in the NBA, I’m big on tattoos too. I may not be a league leader there, though, because I have just four of them. The tat that means the most to me is the one on my left arm. It says “Rest in Peace, Kailo”. That’s my cousin who died in a car accident. She was like a sister to me. I grew up with her and although she’s no longer here, I keep her with me.”
Jamal Crawford
Players from Seattle tend to have a lot of tattoos (Nate Robinson, Jason Terry, Terrence Williams) and Crawford is one of the heaviest. On his left shoulder is one of the dreamiest basketball-themed tattoos in the league: against a background of heavenly clouds, a hoop glows, with “Jamal” lettered across the backboard in Olde English.
DeAndre Jordan
Among Jordan’s many tattoos is a portrait of his grandfather on his stomach, added in 2012.
Lamar Odom
When it comes to tattoos, Odom keeps it simple: “My tattoos are just reminders of people who are close to me.”
DaJuan Summers
Summers has both arms well covered, but it’s his first tattoo, acquired in high school, that he looks to for comfort: “‘It has my name on it,’ says his mother, Twana, a supermarket meat cutter who raised her three kids alone in Baltimore after her husband died when DaJuan was just 3. ‘And it has the names of [his sister] Regina and [brother] Malik. He says when things get tight, he grabs that tattoo.’”
Ronny Turiaf
In March of 2011, Turiaf began work on a new tattoo on his left arm: a phoenix rising from ashes.
Maalik Wayns
Wayns has tattoos on both arms. In 2011, he posted to twitter: “God I hope I’m living right and sorry for the tattoos.”
Players without tattoos:
Willie Green
Blake Griffin
Grant Hill
Ryan Hollins
Chris Paul
Boston Celtics 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 67% (10 players with tattoos/5 without)
The Celtics tattoo percentage remained the same as last year.
—
Players with tattoos:
Brandon Bass
Heavily tattooed on both arms.
Marquis Daniels
In 2009, Urban Ink magazine interviewed Daniels about his tattoos. He talks about the shotgun suicide one, and the one that reads “look through the eyes of a killer” but also talks about the one he got for his grandparents:
When I was younger, I used to have to read the Bible to my grandmother and grandfather all the time, and that was their favorite scripture. It was like, always remember the scripture. If youre down, and you want to pray or whatever, read the scripture. Thats why I got the tattoo on the side. Its my favorite verse also. You know, when times get hard, I feel like, through the pain, after all the efforts I put forward, that verse protects me from anything evil.
I appreciate that he is able to bring evil into that one too.
Keyon Dooling
According to NBA.com, the cross tattoo on Dooling’s shoulder is to remind him that he’s blessed.
Kevin Garnett
Among KG’s tattoos is the text: “Only God can Judge me. Rest in Peace MS2” on his forearm. The text is a tribute combining the initials and jersey number of his Timberwolves teammate Malik Sealy who was killed by a drunk driver in 2000. Former teammate Joe Smith has the same tribute tattooed on his arm.
E’Twaun Moore
Rookie Moore has a cross tattoo on his left shoulder.
Jermaine O’Neal
O’Neal’s right shoulder features a muscular figure surrounded by the text “Year of the Resurrection.” Asked about the tattoo in 2011, O’Neal couldn’t remember when or where he got it, stressing instead that the tattoo isn’t fixed to one year, but constantly refreshes: “It better be this year… I look at it like every year has been a resurrection year — being challenged, being knocked down and getting back up – but I’ve had a lot of trials and tribulations this year.”
Aleksander Pavlovic
Pavlovic has a bit of text tattooed on his arm and a tiger on his ankle.
Paul Pierce
In September 2000, just before Pierce’s third year as a pro, he was stabbed 11 times at a nightclub in Boston. Several years later, he had a basketball with a dagger through it tattooed on his arm. As described by Pierce to the website Vegas Deluxe, “It represents how close I came to losing my life. Basketball is my gift and my curse. Obviously there are all the good things that come from playing basketball, but you also have to deal with all the negative things that come with being a basketball player.”
Mickael Pietrus
Pietrus has a tribal-inspired armband circling his right bicep.
Rajon Rondo
Rondo has the double-R Rolls Royce logo tattooed on his back, which also references his initials.
Players without tattoos:
Ray Allen
Avery Bradley
Ryan Hollins
JaJuan Johnson
Greg Stiemsma
No longer on roster:
Chris Wilcox: Wilcox has a tattoo on his left shoulder.
Cleveland Cavaliers, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 40% (6 players with tattoos, 9 without)
The Cavs have a below-average number of tattooed players and a dearth of interesting tattoos.
—
Players with tattoos:
Baron Davis
Although its design is unknown, Davis does have a tattoo that peeks out of the side of his jersey occasionally.
Alonzo Gee
Self-described momma’s boy Gee has an intense line of scripture tattooed on his right shoulder: “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.” (Isaiah 54:17).
Daniel Gibson
Gibson’s many tattoos earned him the cover of Urban Ink (alongside his lady Keyshia Cole).
Manny Harris
Harris has tattoos on both arms, including “a shoulder tattoo of a wolf’s head with the inscription ‘Kill or be killed,’” according to a profile of the tattoo artist.
J.J. Hickson
Hickson’s tattoos run up both arms and across his chest.
Antawn Jamison
On Jamison’s left shoulder is tattooed a scene where an angel stands beneath a cross, a tribute to his grandmother who died when he was in high school. “Ever since she passed, she’s been my angel,” Jamison explained in a 2008 Washington Post article. “As a kid, I thought she was the only person that actually believed I could be an NBA player.”
Players without tattoos:
Semih Erden
Christian Eyenga
Joey Graham
Luke Harangody
Ryan Hollins
Anthony Parker
Samardo Samuels
Ramon Sessions
Anderson Varejao
Los Angeles Clippers, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 67% (10 players with tattoos, 5 without)
The Clippers had a decrease in tattoo percentage from last year.
Players with tattoos:
Matt Barnes
In 2008, Barnes founded the Athletes vs. Cancer foundation in memory of his mother, who passed away from lung cancer. In 2010, he added a portrait of his mother, framed by angel’s wings, to his many tattoos. As he explained to Tom Hoffarth of Inside So Cal, “this keeps her around.”
Chauncey Billups
On Billups’s left shoulder is a tattoo of a crowned figure spinning a basketball on his finger. Surrounding the figure are the words “King of the Hill,” a reference to the Denver neighborhood Billups grew up in. In an IGN Sports interview, Billups described it as his favorite tattoo, and explained the significance: “My neighborhood back home is called Park Hill. It’s a hood thing. All of my tats mean something.”
Eric Bledsoe
Bledsoe has tattoos along both arms.
Caron Butler
While on the Wizards, Butler wrote on his blog about tattoos: “Like many other guys in the NBA, I’m big on tattoos too. I may not be a league leader there, though, because I have just four of them. The tat that means the most to me is the one on my left arm. It says “Rest in Peace, Kailo”. That’s my cousin who died in a car accident. She was like a sister to me. I grew up with her and although she’s no longer here, I keep her with me.”
Jamal Crawford
Players from Seattle tend to have a lot of tattoos (Nate Robinson, Jason Terry, Terrence Williams) and Crawford is one of the heaviest. On his left shoulder is one of the dreamiest basketball-themed tattoos in the league: against a background of heavenly clouds, a hoop glows, with “Jamal” lettered across the backboard in Olde English.
DeAndre Jordan
Among Jordan’s many tattoos is a portrait of his grandfather on his stomach, added in 2012.
Lamar Odom
When it comes to tattoos, Odom keeps it simple: “My tattoos are just reminders of people who are close to me.”
DaJuan Summers
Summers has both arms well covered, but it’s his first tattoo, acquired in high school, that he looks to for comfort: “‘It has my name on it,’ says his mother, Twana, a supermarket meat cutter who raised her three kids alone in Baltimore after her husband died when DaJuan was just 3. ‘And it has the names of [his sister] Regina and [brother] Malik. He says when things get tight, he grabs that tattoo.’”
Ronny Turiaf
In March of 2011, Turiaf began work on a new tattoo on his left arm: a phoenix rising from ashes.
Maalik Wayns
Wayns has tattoos on both arms. In 2011, he posted to twitter: “God I hope I’m living right and sorry for the tattoos.”
Players without tattoos:
Willie Green
Blake Griffin
Grant Hill
Ryan Hollins
Chris Paul
Boston Celtics 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 67% (10 players with tattoos/5 without)
The Celtics tattoo percentage remained the same as last year.
—
Players with tattoos:
Brandon Bass
Heavily tattooed on both arms.
Marquis Daniels
In 2009, Urban Ink magazine interviewed Daniels about his tattoos. He talks about the shotgun suicide one, and the one that reads “look through the eyes of a killer” but also talks about the one he got for his grandparents:
When I was younger, I used to have to read the Bible to my grandmother and grandfather all the time, and that was their favorite scripture. It was like, always remember the scripture. If youre down, and you want to pray or whatever, read the scripture. Thats why I got the tattoo on the side. Its my favorite verse also. You know, when times get hard, I feel like, through the pain, after all the efforts I put forward, that verse protects me from anything evil.
I appreciate that he is able to bring evil into that one too.
Keyon Dooling
According to NBA.com, the cross tattoo on Dooling’s shoulder is to remind him that he’s blessed.
Kevin Garnett
Among KG’s tattoos is the text: “Only God can Judge me. Rest in Peace MS2” on his forearm. The text is a tribute combining the initials and jersey number of his Timberwolves teammate Malik Sealy who was killed by a drunk driver in 2000. Former teammate Joe Smith has the same tribute tattooed on his arm.
E’Twaun Moore
Rookie Moore has a cross tattoo on his left shoulder.
Jermaine O’Neal
O’Neal’s right shoulder features a muscular figure surrounded by the text “Year of the Resurrection.” Asked about the tattoo in 2011, O’Neal couldn’t remember when or where he got it, stressing instead that the tattoo isn’t fixed to one year, but constantly refreshes: “It better be this year… I look at it like every year has been a resurrection year — being challenged, being knocked down and getting back up – but I’ve had a lot of trials and tribulations this year.”
Aleksander Pavlovic
Pavlovic has a bit of text tattooed on his arm and a tiger on his ankle.
Paul Pierce
In September 2000, just before Pierce’s third year as a pro, he was stabbed 11 times at a nightclub in Boston. Several years later, he had a basketball with a dagger through it tattooed on his arm. As described by Pierce to the website Vegas Deluxe, “It represents how close I came to losing my life. Basketball is my gift and my curse. Obviously there are all the good things that come from playing basketball, but you also have to deal with all the negative things that come with being a basketball player.”
Mickael Pietrus
Pietrus has a tribal-inspired armband circling his right bicep.
Rajon Rondo
Rondo has the double-R Rolls Royce logo tattooed on his back, which also references his initials.
Players without tattoos:
Ray Allen
Avery Bradley
Ryan Hollins
JaJuan Johnson
Greg Stiemsma
No longer on roster:
Chris Wilcox: Wilcox has a tattoo on his left shoulder.
Cleveland Cavaliers, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 40% (6 players with tattoos, 9 without)
The Cavs have a below-average number of tattooed players and a dearth of interesting tattoos.
—
Players with tattoos:
Baron Davis
Although its design is unknown, Davis does have a tattoo that peeks out of the side of his jersey occasionally.
Alonzo Gee
Self-described momma’s boy Gee has an intense line of scripture tattooed on his right shoulder: “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.” (Isaiah 54:17).
Daniel Gibson
Gibson’s many tattoos earned him the cover of Urban Ink (alongside his lady Keyshia Cole).
Manny Harris
Harris has tattoos on both arms, including “a shoulder tattoo of a wolf’s head with the inscription ‘Kill or be killed,’” according to a profile of the tattoo artist.
J.J. Hickson
Hickson’s tattoos run up both arms and across his chest.
Antawn Jamison
On Jamison’s left shoulder is tattooed a scene where an angel stands beneath a cross, a tribute to his grandmother who died when he was in high school. “Ever since she passed, she’s been my angel,” Jamison explained in a 2008 Washington Post article. “As a kid, I thought she was the only person that actually believed I could be an NBA player.”
Players without tattoos:
Semih Erden
Christian Eyenga
Joey Graham
Luke Harangody
Ryan Hollins
Anthony Parker
Samardo Samuels
Ramon Sessions
Anderson Varejao
