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….
New Jersey Nets 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 79% (11 players with tattoos, 3 without)
Jonathan Abrams posted an account on Grantland of a week spent with the Nets at the beginning of this season. It’s kind of a heartbreaker. A big part of it is the haphazard collection of players, which is reflected in the tattoos described below. Like last year, the panthers to Simpsons-reference array is difficult to harmonize, but maybe the prevalence of basketball tattoos on the team will be the common chord. At the very least, they have a lot more tattoos than last year.
—
Players with tattoos:
MarShon Brooks
The winged basketball on Brooks’ left shoulder is one of my favorite designs in the league.
Jordan Farmar
Insted were a late 80s posicore band from Anaheim who formed that same year that Farmar was born just 20 miles away in Los Angeles. Farmar has a tattoo that looks suspiciously like the cover of Insted’s first LP, Bonds of Friendship, but according to an interview with Farmar, has a totally different origin: “I got it after my freshman year of college. It’s a picture drawn by my first basketball coach, he’s an artist for the Simpsons.”
Gerald Green
Green has tattoos on both arms.
Damion James
James has both arms pretty done.
Anthony Morrow
In October of 2011 Morrow posted a photo of his back piece on twitter, continuing the family theme begun on his chest.
Johan Petro
Petro has tattoos on both arms.
DeShawn Stevenson
In a 2010 video interview, after pointing out his most recent tattoos—his wife’s name above his eyebrow, her initials behind his left ear, and his jersey number on his neck—Stevenson states, “my mom, she said no more tattoos on my face, so I got to listen to her.”
Gerald Wallace
I love Wallace’s tiger tattoo. It’s great that one of the most energetic and excitable players in the league has a super-calm, un-roaring, un-threatening tiger on his shoulder.
Deron Williams
Williams famously got one panther tattoo covered by a different panther tattoo. Among his many designs, including tributes to his family, to basketball, and to the state of Texas, Williams said, “It’s a way to express yourself. I probably won’t like them when I’m 90. But right now I do.”
Jordan Williams
Williams has a basketball tattooed on his right shoulder.
Shelden Williams
Williams is married to WNBA star Candace Parker. Parker has a key tattooed on her wrist, and Williams has a matching lock tattooed on his wrist.
Players without tattoos:
Sundiata Gaines
Kris Humphries
Brook Lopez
No longer on roster:
Dennis Horner: Horner has a tattoo of a flaming basketball and his jersey number. There is a facebook page dedicated to it.
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.
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….
New Jersey Nets 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 79% (11 players with tattoos, 3 without)
Jonathan Abrams posted an account on Grantland of a week spent with the Nets at the beginning of this season. It’s kind of a heartbreaker. A big part of it is the haphazard collection of players, which is reflected in the tattoos described below. Like last year, the panthers to Simpsons-reference array is difficult to harmonize, but maybe the prevalence of basketball tattoos on the team will be the common chord. At the very least, they have a lot more tattoos than last year.
—
Players with tattoos:
MarShon Brooks
The winged basketball on Brooks’ left shoulder is one of my favorite designs in the league.
Jordan Farmar
Insted were a late 80s posicore band from Anaheim who formed that same year that Farmar was born just 20 miles away in Los Angeles. Farmar has a tattoo that looks suspiciously like the cover of Insted’s first LP, Bonds of Friendship, but according to an interview with Farmar, has a totally different origin: “I got it after my freshman year of college. It’s a picture drawn by my first basketball coach, he’s an artist for the Simpsons.”
Gerald Green
Green has tattoos on both arms.
Damion James
James has both arms pretty done.
Anthony Morrow
In October of 2011 Morrow posted a photo of his back piece on twitter, continuing the family theme begun on his chest.
Johan Petro
Petro has tattoos on both arms.
DeShawn Stevenson
In a 2010 video interview, after pointing out his most recent tattoos—his wife’s name above his eyebrow, her initials behind his left ear, and his jersey number on his neck—Stevenson states, “my mom, she said no more tattoos on my face, so I got to listen to her.”
Gerald Wallace
I love Wallace’s tiger tattoo. It’s great that one of the most energetic and excitable players in the league has a super-calm, un-roaring, un-threatening tiger on his shoulder.
Deron Williams
Williams famously got one panther tattoo covered by a different panther tattoo. Among his many designs, including tributes to his family, to basketball, and to the state of Texas, Williams said, “It’s a way to express yourself. I probably won’t like them when I’m 90. But right now I do.”
Jordan Williams
Williams has a basketball tattooed on his right shoulder.
Shelden Williams
Williams is married to WNBA star Candace Parker. Parker has a key tattooed on her wrist, and Williams has a matching lock tattooed on his wrist.
Players without tattoos:
Sundiata Gaines
Kris Humphries
Brook Lopez
No longer on roster:
Dennis Horner: Horner has a tattoo of a flaming basketball and his jersey number. There is a facebook page dedicated to it.
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.
