San Antonio Spurs, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 40% (6 players with tattoos, 9 without)
The Spurs saw their tattoo percentage go down from last year.
Players with tattoos:
DeJuan Blair
Blair has the text “Don’t make excuses make plays” and “Give glory to God” tattooed across his neck and shoulders.
Tim Duncan
A renowned Dungeons and Dragons player, Duncan has a wizard tattooed on his chest and a jester on his back.
Danny Green
Photographer John Webster shared a great photo of Green over the summer that shows his “I Hold My Own” tattoo and the text tattooed over Green’s heart.
Kawhi Leonard
Leonard was 17 when his father was shot and killed. The following year, he added a tattoo in tribute on his right arm, as reported by the LA Times in 2009.
Tracy McGrady
McGrady, who has suffered a lot of criticism from announcers and analysts, has a response on his right shoulder, just below a speeding basketball and his nickname. Against a curled scroll, a poignant bit of scripture: “AND EVERY TONGUE THAT SHALL RISE UP AGAINST THEE IN JUDGEMENT SHALL BE COMDEMNED—ISAIAH 54:17.”
Tony Parker
When Parker and Eva Longoria got married, they both got tattoos of their wedding date. In the aftermath of their breakup, Longoria initially denied having her tattoo of Parker’s jersey number removed, but TMZ reports that she had it removed in 2012.
Players without tattoos:
Aron Baynes
Matt Bonner
Nando De Colo
Boris Diaw
Manu Ginobili
Cory Joseph
Patty Mills
Gary Neal
Tiago Splitter
Atlanta Hawks, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 53% (8 players with tattoos, 7 without)
The Hawks go pretty classic, with a lot of R.I.P. tattoos, hometown tributes, some nostalgia, and a DMX reference. They have fewer tattooed players than last year, but some pretty respectable numbers overall.
Players with tattoos:
Kirk Hinrich
Hinrich has a chain tattooed on his left wrist in honor of his late grandfather.
Ivan Johnson
Rem Browne of Grantland did a great service by transcribing large portions of a 2008 public radio interview with fan favorite Ivan Johnson. In a particularly emotional segment, Johnson describes his mother’s death and his ongoing connection to her:
I talk to her every day. Little stupid stuff I see in the streets. I laugh with her, talk with her, a pillow that she had in the house that she used to sleep on, I keep that with me all the time. Wherever I go, I keep her obituary with me, just so I can see her face, so I won’t forget how she looked. Before she passed, I got her face tattooed on me, so I’ll never forget how she looked. And that means so much to me.
Joe Johnson
Johnson has a tattoo on his wrist.
Tracy McGrady
McGrady, who has suffered a lot of criticism from announcers and analysts, has a response on his right shoulder, just below a speeding basketball and his nickname. Against a curled scroll, a poignant bit of scripture: “AND EVERY TONGUE THAT SHALL RISE UP AGAINST THEE IN JUDGEMENT SHALL BE COMDEMNED—ISAIAH 54:17.”
Josh Smith
Among Smith’s many tattoos is a throwback Hawks logo (circa 1972-1995) on his left arm.
Jerry Stackhouse
Stackhouse has tattoos on both arms and on his chest.
Jeff Teague
In October of 2011, Teague posted photos of his full sleeves on twitter, representing his hometown of Indiana with the 317 area code, an Interstate 465 sign, and a skyline.
Marvin Williams
Williams is a regular customer at Tattoos by Randy with tattoos on both arms and across his chest.
Players without tattoos:
Jason Collins
Erick Dampier
Willie Green
Al Horford
Zaza Pachulia
Jannero Pargo
Vladimir Radmanovic
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:
Detroit Pistons, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 67% (10 players with tattoos, 5 without)
The Pistons are currently one of the most tattooed teams in the league. While tattoos in the NBA seemed to reach their peak in the mid-2000s, in the years following Iverson’s dominance, it’s Detroit’s oldest players—Rip Hamilton, Ben Wallace, and Tracy McGrady—who have the most tattoos on the team, and the players in their mid-20s, who got their start during AI’s era, that avoided them.
—
Players with tattoos:
Will Bynum
Bynum demonstrated considerable confidence in himself by getting the NBA logo tattooed on his arm in high school.
Ben Gordon
Gordon’s left arm manages to combine two of the most popular themes for NBA tattoos—basketball and religious iconography—into one design where an angel bequeaths a ball to a prostrate figure.
Richard Hamilton
Rip Hamilton has a few tattoos, including a tribute to his grandfather and a lion. He described one of his favorites for the NBA mailbag: “I have R.I.P. coming out the ground on a tombstone that means basketball for life, basketball till I die. Yeah.”
Jason Maxiell
Has a tattoo on his left shoulder.
Tracy McGrady
McGrady, who has suffered a lot of criticism from announcers and analysts, has a response on his right shoulder, just below a speeding basketball and his nickname. Against a curled scroll, a poignant bit of scripture: “AND EVERY TONGUE THAT SHALL RISE UP AGAINST THEE IN JUDGEMENT SHALL BE COMDEMNED—ISAIAH 54:17.”
Rodney Stuckey
Stuckey’s right shoulder features an elaborate design with what appears to be a skyline, a river, and a prince holding a basketball.
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.’”
Ben Wallace
While the literal embrace of his nickname, Big Ben, is his most distinct tattoo, Wallace’s “No Pain No Game” design has a direct message that speaks to his physical game.
Terrico White
Bucking the trend of young players not getting tattoos because it might mess up sponsorship deals, White entered the league at 20 years old with almost-full sleeves, including a lengthy text passage on his right wrist.
Chris Wilcox
Wilcox has a sunburst on his right shoulder, and a portrait of Christ on his left.
Players without tattoos:
Austin Daye
Jonas Jerebko
Greg Monroe
Tayshaun Prince
Charlie Villaneuva
San Antonio Spurs, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 40% (6 players with tattoos, 9 without)
The Spurs saw their tattoo percentage go down from last year.
Players with tattoos:
DeJuan Blair
Blair has the text “Don’t make excuses make plays” and “Give glory to God” tattooed across his neck and shoulders.
Tim Duncan
A renowned Dungeons and Dragons player, Duncan has a wizard tattooed on his chest and a jester on his back.
Danny Green
Photographer John Webster shared a great photo of Green over the summer that shows his “I Hold My Own” tattoo and the text tattooed over Green’s heart.
Kawhi Leonard
Leonard was 17 when his father was shot and killed. The following year, he added a tattoo in tribute on his right arm, as reported by the LA Times in 2009.
Tracy McGrady
McGrady, who has suffered a lot of criticism from announcers and analysts, has a response on his right shoulder, just below a speeding basketball and his nickname. Against a curled scroll, a poignant bit of scripture: “AND EVERY TONGUE THAT SHALL RISE UP AGAINST THEE IN JUDGEMENT SHALL BE COMDEMNED—ISAIAH 54:17.”
Tony Parker
When Parker and Eva Longoria got married, they both got tattoos of their wedding date. In the aftermath of their breakup, Longoria initially denied having her tattoo of Parker’s jersey number removed, but TMZ reports that she had it removed in 2012.
Players without tattoos:
Aron Baynes
Matt Bonner
Nando De Colo
Boris Diaw
Manu Ginobili
Cory Joseph
Patty Mills
Gary Neal
Tiago Splitter
Atlanta Hawks, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 53% (8 players with tattoos, 7 without)
The Hawks go pretty classic, with a lot of R.I.P. tattoos, hometown tributes, some nostalgia, and a DMX reference. They have fewer tattooed players than last year, but some pretty respectable numbers overall.
Players with tattoos:
Kirk Hinrich
Hinrich has a chain tattooed on his left wrist in honor of his late grandfather.
Ivan Johnson
Rem Browne of Grantland did a great service by transcribing large portions of a 2008 public radio interview with fan favorite Ivan Johnson. In a particularly emotional segment, Johnson describes his mother’s death and his ongoing connection to her:
I talk to her every day. Little stupid stuff I see in the streets. I laugh with her, talk with her, a pillow that she had in the house that she used to sleep on, I keep that with me all the time. Wherever I go, I keep her obituary with me, just so I can see her face, so I won’t forget how she looked. Before she passed, I got her face tattooed on me, so I’ll never forget how she looked. And that means so much to me.
Joe Johnson
Johnson has a tattoo on his wrist.
Tracy McGrady
McGrady, who has suffered a lot of criticism from announcers and analysts, has a response on his right shoulder, just below a speeding basketball and his nickname. Against a curled scroll, a poignant bit of scripture: “AND EVERY TONGUE THAT SHALL RISE UP AGAINST THEE IN JUDGEMENT SHALL BE COMDEMNED—ISAIAH 54:17.”
Josh Smith
Among Smith’s many tattoos is a throwback Hawks logo (circa 1972-1995) on his left arm.
Jerry Stackhouse
Stackhouse has tattoos on both arms and on his chest.
Jeff Teague
In October of 2011, Teague posted photos of his full sleeves on twitter, representing his hometown of Indiana with the 317 area code, an Interstate 465 sign, and a skyline.
Marvin Williams
Williams is a regular customer at Tattoos by Randy with tattoos on both arms and across his chest.
Players without tattoos:
Jason Collins
Erick Dampier
Willie Green
Al Horford
Zaza Pachulia
Jannero Pargo
Vladimir Radmanovic
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:
Detroit Pistons, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 67% (10 players with tattoos, 5 without)
The Pistons are currently one of the most tattooed teams in the league. While tattoos in the NBA seemed to reach their peak in the mid-2000s, in the years following Iverson’s dominance, it’s Detroit’s oldest players—Rip Hamilton, Ben Wallace, and Tracy McGrady—who have the most tattoos on the team, and the players in their mid-20s, who got their start during AI’s era, that avoided them.
—
Players with tattoos:
Will Bynum
Bynum demonstrated considerable confidence in himself by getting the NBA logo tattooed on his arm in high school.
Ben Gordon
Gordon’s left arm manages to combine two of the most popular themes for NBA tattoos—basketball and religious iconography—into one design where an angel bequeaths a ball to a prostrate figure.
Richard Hamilton
Rip Hamilton has a few tattoos, including a tribute to his grandfather and a lion. He described one of his favorites for the NBA mailbag: “I have R.I.P. coming out the ground on a tombstone that means basketball for life, basketball till I die. Yeah.”
Jason Maxiell
Has a tattoo on his left shoulder.
Tracy McGrady
McGrady, who has suffered a lot of criticism from announcers and analysts, has a response on his right shoulder, just below a speeding basketball and his nickname. Against a curled scroll, a poignant bit of scripture: “AND EVERY TONGUE THAT SHALL RISE UP AGAINST THEE IN JUDGEMENT SHALL BE COMDEMNED—ISAIAH 54:17.”
Rodney Stuckey
Stuckey’s right shoulder features an elaborate design with what appears to be a skyline, a river, and a prince holding a basketball.
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.’”
Ben Wallace
While the literal embrace of his nickname, Big Ben, is his most distinct tattoo, Wallace’s “No Pain No Game” design has a direct message that speaks to his physical game.
Terrico White
Bucking the trend of young players not getting tattoos because it might mess up sponsorship deals, White entered the league at 20 years old with almost-full sleeves, including a lengthy text passage on his right wrist.
Chris Wilcox
Wilcox has a sunburst on his right shoulder, and a portrait of Christ on his left.
Players without tattoos:
Austin Daye
Jonas Jerebko
Greg Monroe
Tayshaun Prince
Charlie Villaneuva
