nbaoffseason:

New Orleans Hornets center Solomon Jones has the entire state of Florida tattooed on his back. Oh, and a giant alligator. You know you’ve got a pretty bold tattoo when the afterthought describing it is “…oh yeah, and a giant alligator.”
This might the best combination swing state/reptile back tatt I’ve ever seen. Granted, I can’t see my own back which has a tattoo of an Iguana straddling the state of Pennsylvania.
—SlapClap 

nbaoffseason:

New Orleans Hornets center Solomon Jones has the entire state of Florida tattooed on his back. Oh, and a giant alligator. You know you’ve got a pretty bold tattoo when the afterthought describing it is “…oh yeah, and a giant alligator.”

This might the best combination swing state/reptile back tatt I’ve ever seen. Granted, I can’t see my own back which has a tattoo of an Iguana straddling the state of Pennsylvania.

SlapClap 



Every Team’s Got One: Central Division

About one-sixth of NBA players have a tattoo of a basketball. It makes sense, lots of people commemorate their passions via tattoos: cyclists, chefs, shredders, LL Cool J. Still, what’s amazing is that every team has at least one player with a basketball tattoo, even the Hornets, who only have two tattooed players. Basketball tattoos range from iconic (Jordan jumpman; NBA logo), to narcissistic (Carlos Boozer’s self portrait), to symbolic (basketball wearing a crown, basketball meshed with a cross), to weird (Rip Hamilton’s gravestone). Going division by division, Every Team’s Got One will sort out the the highlights across the league, continuing here with the Central division. Click HERE to view other divisions.

Chicago Bulls

Carlos Boozer:

Ronnie Brewer:

Derrick Rose:

Cleveland Cavaliers

Alonzo Gee:

Detroit Pistons

Ben Gordon:

Rip Hamilton:

Tracy McGrady:

Rodney Stuckey:

Ben Wallace:

Indiana Pacers

Solomon Jones:

James Posey:

Brandon Rush:

Milwaukee Bucks

Brandon Jennings:



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  



NBA tattoos


2012-13 NBA overall tattoo percentage: 56%
250 players with tattoos, 196 without [details]


2011-12 NBA overall tattoo percentage: 55% [details]
2010-11 NBA overall tattoo percentage: 53% [details]

A player-by-player, team-by-team guide to tattoos in the NBA. It is not an attempt to document every tattoo of every player–rather it is an attempt to provide a series of tools for sorting overall tattoo statistics in the NBA alongside glimpses into tattoo trends. Click on any team name below for player details of that team:

Hawks - Celtics - Nets - Bobcats - Bulls - Cavaliers
Mavericks - Nuggets - Pistons - Warriors - Rockets - Pacers
Clippers - Lakers - Grizzlies - Heat - Bucks - Timberwolves
Hornets - Knicks - Thunder - Magic - Sixers - Suns
Trail Blazers - Kings - Spurs - Raptors - Jazz - Wizards

Click HERE for a complete list of NBA players discussed on this blog.

Disclaimer: This info is collected completely anecdotally, mostly by watching games, but also through study of photos, interviews, and player profiles. It’s very likely that tattoos have gone unobserved or remain hidden, especially on non-superstar players. Every effort has been made to present the best possible information, but statistics should not be considered definitive. Please use Ask Me to share any relevant information.