Portland Trail Blazers, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 47% (7 players with tattoos, 8 players without)
If you look at last year’s page for the Blazers, you’ll note that this year I’m just replicating all of the text I wrote then, as opposed to other teams where I’ve tried to provide new information/research. For the Blazers I’ve decided to phone it in in an act of solidarity with the 2011-12 Blazers team.
Players with tattoos:
LaMarcus Aldridge
While it’s notable that Aldridge has the most tattoos on the Blazers, it’s more notable that every one of his tattoos carries religious significance: praying hands, crosses, the text “KEEP GOD FIRST.” When asked about his collection, Aldridge simply replied, “Because I’m a man of strong faith. Strong beliefs.”
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.
J.J. Hickson
Hickson’s tattoos run up both arms and across his chest.
Wesley Matthews
To show his love for his mother, Matthews got a tattoo that reads “Dynamic Duo” for his eighteenth birthday. For an NBA.com article titled “Wesley Matthews: A Proud Mama’s Boy,” his mother recalled, “I wouldn’t let him get a tattoo until he was of legal age. He had little skinny arms then so it wasn’t a very big tattoo.”
Joel Przybilla
Among his several tattoos are a basketball player on his right bicep accompanied by the text “Not in my house” and his wife’s name in a heart with roses.
Nolan Smith
Nolan Smith was nine years old when his father, NBA champion Derek Smith passed away at the age of 34 from a previously undetected heart defect. A 2008 profile published by ESPN during Nolan’s freshman year at Duke described the tattoo tribute the son has for his father:
Years later, when Nolan was 16, he asked Monica if he could get a tattoo. She first refused, then changed her mind when he said he wanted one of his father.
“I said, ‘You can get that, but you have to wear it with honor and integrity,’ ” Monica said. “That’s the only tattoo he’ll ever have.”
The green ink on Nolan Smith’s right biceps reads “Forever watching”. Below that is 4RIP3, and a sketch of his father’s face, followed with “Derek Smith 1961-1996”.
“I have this tattoo on my arm,” Nolan said, “and I remember him at all times.”
Shawne Williams
Williams has a tattoo on his left forearm.
Players without tattoos:
Luke Babbitt
Nicholas Batum
Raymond Felton
Jonny Flynn
Craig Smith
Hasheem Thabeet
Kurt Thomas
Elliot Williams
No longer on roster:
Armon Johnson: no tattoos
Greg Oden:Oden entered the league with a tribute to his deceased best friend over his heart, as described by a New York Times piece.
Mehmet Okur: no tattoos
New York Knicks, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 80% (12 players with tattoos, 3 without)
The easy thing to do would be to talk about Melo and Amar’e, about how the two most tattooed players on the team are the only vital players on the team. About how their tattoo coverage and content puts them in an elite top-20 category of tattooed players, much in the same way they’re both elite, top-20 talents. I’ve spent a lot of this year thinking about tattoos, and I’m certain there isn’t a single design as strangely intense as Stoudemire’s “Poverty/Prophecy” with the two different letterings and shared “P.” I have a similar fascination with Anthony’s “WHO CAN I TRUST” tattoo, with its missing question mark and its even block capitals that resemble the letters on the “do not open” terrorist watch posters at the post office. That Stoudemire has an N.W.A. logo tattooed on his shoulder, and the fact that he got it done in the last two years (instead of like, on his 16th birthday), makes me unspeakably happy.
But it’s just too hard for me to dismiss the rest of the team like that. This mutant combination, built from Zeke-era insanity, Walsh’s scorched earth policy, and baffling trade acquisitions, is necessarily impossible to wrap my head around. For whatever reason, the Knicks ended up tied with the Lakers for most tattooed players on one team in 2010-11, and that’s without Eddy Curry. Or Wilson Chandler, Nate Robinson, Starbury, Al Harrington, Quentin Richardson, or any of the other heavily tattooed guys to wear a Knicks uniform in the last few years. I have no idea what’s driving it, but it does make me happy.
—
Players with tattoos:
Carmelo Anthony
Anthony’s tattoos pretty much speak for themselves—flaming basketballs, West Baltimore, the Puerto Rican flag—so he doesn’t speak to them that often. When he does, it’s pretty funny, as in this interview with Complex:
Complex: Who’s your tattoo artist?
Carmelo: I go to a guy out of Atlanta. I don’t like to get stuck by too many people’s needles. One guy. I did most of them by myself, though.
Complex: Most of the tattoos? You serious?
Carmelo: No. [Laughs]
Renaldo Balkman
In 2007, Balkman arrived at training camp with the words “HUSTLE” and “HARDER” tattooed on his left and right calves, respectively. In 2010, Balkman added this motto to his eyelids.
Chauncey Billups
When asked about the “No Pain, No Fame” tattoos on his arms, Billups replied, “that’s me right there. No one can outwork me.”
Anthony Carter
Carter has tattoos covering both arms.
Jared Jeffries
Jeffries has a tattoo of a crowned basketball on his left arm.
Roger Mason Jr.
In 2007, Mason covered his left arm in a meticulous, richly-symbolic tribute to his father. “There’s references from five different centuries and three or four different genres of art,” his tattoo artist, Grant Cobb explained to the Washington Post. “It was something that kind of needed some work, but it means a lot to him, it was real personal….It was really cool to be able to do something like that for him.” Or, in the words of Mason’s then-teammate, DeShawn Stevenson, “that’s blazin’.” Mason himself feels indifferent to the praise: “”Everybody loves it who sees it, but the meaning is what’s important. That’s why I got it.”
Andy Rautins
Rautins has several tattoos: a maple leaf for his native Canada; his name on his bicep; and a tricky design that reads “family” in one direction and “forever” in the other. His father, who also played in the NBA and is currently coach of the Canadian national team and a commentator for the Toronto Raptors, also has the “family/forever” design tattooed on the back of his neck.
Amar’e Stoudemire
Stoudemire runs some of the most complicated and immediately recognizable tattoos in the league, designs that have earned him honors from Inked Magazine and saw him participate in PETA’s “Ink Not Mink” campaign.
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.”
Bill Walker
During Walker’s rookie year, he had the number 1023 tattooed on his neck, which he explained to the Providence Journal was, “to remind myself to never forget where I came from.” Walker grew up at 1023 Minton St. in Huntington, West Virginia.
Shawne Williams
Williams has a tattoo on his left forearm.
Shelden Williams
In January of 2011, Atlanta’s Tattoos by Randy posted photos of Shelden Williams with a new tattoo on his chest.
Players without tattoos:
Derrick Brown
Toney Douglas
Landry Fields: confirmed he had no plans to get any tattoos on Twitter.
Portland Trail Blazers, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 47% (7 players with tattoos, 8 players without)
If you look at last year’s page for the Blazers, you’ll note that this year I’m just replicating all of the text I wrote then, as opposed to other teams where I’ve tried to provide new information/research. For the Blazers I’ve decided to phone it in in an act of solidarity with the 2011-12 Blazers team.
Players with tattoos:
LaMarcus Aldridge
While it’s notable that Aldridge has the most tattoos on the Blazers, it’s more notable that every one of his tattoos carries religious significance: praying hands, crosses, the text “KEEP GOD FIRST.” When asked about his collection, Aldridge simply replied, “Because I’m a man of strong faith. Strong beliefs.”
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.
J.J. Hickson
Hickson’s tattoos run up both arms and across his chest.
Wesley Matthews
To show his love for his mother, Matthews got a tattoo that reads “Dynamic Duo” for his eighteenth birthday. For an NBA.com article titled “Wesley Matthews: A Proud Mama’s Boy,” his mother recalled, “I wouldn’t let him get a tattoo until he was of legal age. He had little skinny arms then so it wasn’t a very big tattoo.”
Joel Przybilla
Among his several tattoos are a basketball player on his right bicep accompanied by the text “Not in my house” and his wife’s name in a heart with roses.
Nolan Smith
Nolan Smith was nine years old when his father, NBA champion Derek Smith passed away at the age of 34 from a previously undetected heart defect. A 2008 profile published by ESPN during Nolan’s freshman year at Duke described the tattoo tribute the son has for his father:
Years later, when Nolan was 16, he asked Monica if he could get a tattoo. She first refused, then changed her mind when he said he wanted one of his father.
“I said, ‘You can get that, but you have to wear it with honor and integrity,’ ” Monica said. “That’s the only tattoo he’ll ever have.”
The green ink on Nolan Smith’s right biceps reads “Forever watching”. Below that is 4RIP3, and a sketch of his father’s face, followed with “Derek Smith 1961-1996”.
“I have this tattoo on my arm,” Nolan said, “and I remember him at all times.”
Shawne Williams
Williams has a tattoo on his left forearm.
Players without tattoos:
Luke Babbitt
Nicholas Batum
Raymond Felton
Jonny Flynn
Craig Smith
Hasheem Thabeet
Kurt Thomas
Elliot Williams
No longer on roster:
Armon Johnson: no tattoos
Greg Oden:Oden entered the league with a tribute to his deceased best friend over his heart, as described by a New York Times piece.
Mehmet Okur: no tattoos
New York Knicks, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 80% (12 players with tattoos, 3 without)
The easy thing to do would be to talk about Melo and Amar’e, about how the two most tattooed players on the team are the only vital players on the team. About how their tattoo coverage and content puts them in an elite top-20 category of tattooed players, much in the same way they’re both elite, top-20 talents. I’ve spent a lot of this year thinking about tattoos, and I’m certain there isn’t a single design as strangely intense as Stoudemire’s “Poverty/Prophecy” with the two different letterings and shared “P.” I have a similar fascination with Anthony’s “WHO CAN I TRUST” tattoo, with its missing question mark and its even block capitals that resemble the letters on the “do not open” terrorist watch posters at the post office. That Stoudemire has an N.W.A. logo tattooed on his shoulder, and the fact that he got it done in the last two years (instead of like, on his 16th birthday), makes me unspeakably happy.
But it’s just too hard for me to dismiss the rest of the team like that. This mutant combination, built from Zeke-era insanity, Walsh’s scorched earth policy, and baffling trade acquisitions, is necessarily impossible to wrap my head around. For whatever reason, the Knicks ended up tied with the Lakers for most tattooed players on one team in 2010-11, and that’s without Eddy Curry. Or Wilson Chandler, Nate Robinson, Starbury, Al Harrington, Quentin Richardson, or any of the other heavily tattooed guys to wear a Knicks uniform in the last few years. I have no idea what’s driving it, but it does make me happy.
—
Players with tattoos:
Carmelo Anthony
Anthony’s tattoos pretty much speak for themselves—flaming basketballs, West Baltimore, the Puerto Rican flag—so he doesn’t speak to them that often. When he does, it’s pretty funny, as in this interview with Complex:
Complex: Who’s your tattoo artist?
Carmelo: I go to a guy out of Atlanta. I don’t like to get stuck by too many people’s needles. One guy. I did most of them by myself, though.Complex: Most of the tattoos? You serious?
Carmelo: No. [Laughs]
Renaldo Balkman
In 2007, Balkman arrived at training camp with the words “HUSTLE” and “HARDER” tattooed on his left and right calves, respectively. In 2010, Balkman added this motto to his eyelids.
Chauncey Billups
When asked about the “No Pain, No Fame” tattoos on his arms, Billups replied, “that’s me right there. No one can outwork me.”
Anthony Carter
Carter has tattoos covering both arms.
Jared Jeffries
Jeffries has a tattoo of a crowned basketball on his left arm.
Roger Mason Jr.
In 2007, Mason covered his left arm in a meticulous, richly-symbolic tribute to his father. “There’s references from five different centuries and three or four different genres of art,” his tattoo artist, Grant Cobb explained to the Washington Post. “It was something that kind of needed some work, but it means a lot to him, it was real personal….It was really cool to be able to do something like that for him.” Or, in the words of Mason’s then-teammate, DeShawn Stevenson, “that’s blazin’.” Mason himself feels indifferent to the praise: “”Everybody loves it who sees it, but the meaning is what’s important. That’s why I got it.”
Andy Rautins
Rautins has several tattoos: a maple leaf for his native Canada; his name on his bicep; and a tricky design that reads “family” in one direction and “forever” in the other. His father, who also played in the NBA and is currently coach of the Canadian national team and a commentator for the Toronto Raptors, also has the “family/forever” design tattooed on the back of his neck.
Amar’e Stoudemire
Stoudemire runs some of the most complicated and immediately recognizable tattoos in the league, designs that have earned him honors from Inked Magazine and saw him participate in PETA’s “Ink Not Mink” campaign.
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.”
Bill Walker
During Walker’s rookie year, he had the number 1023 tattooed on his neck, which he explained to the Providence Journal was, “to remind myself to never forget where I came from.” Walker grew up at 1023 Minton St. in Huntington, West Virginia.
Shawne Williams
Williams has a tattoo on his left forearm.
Shelden Williams
In January of 2011, Atlanta’s Tattoos by Randy posted photos of Shelden Williams with a new tattoo on his chest.
Players without tattoos:
Derrick Brown
Toney Douglas
Landry Fields: confirmed he had no plans to get any tattoos on Twitter.
