Utah Jazz, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 64% (9 players with tattoos, 5 without)
Big reversal from last year, when the Jazz had 5 players with tattoos and 9 without.
Players with tattoos:
Raja Bell
Bell has a tattoo of a roaring lion guarding over a basketball.
DeMarre Carroll
When Carroll was 5 years old, his older brother DeLonté died from a brain tumor. While Carroll was a senior at Missouri, a St. Louis Post Dispatch article posed him as a “big brother” for his teammates, explaining he learned the importance of this role from DeLonté, who he’d since commemorated in a R.I.P./portrait tattoo on his arm.
Derrick Favors
Favors’s Jesus with possession tattoo was featured in Dime Magazine’s best new ink column in 2010.
Devin Harris
Harris has an elaborate design tattooed on his left arm. In an interview with The Guardian, Harris explained a bit about the tattoo: “That’s kind of my conscience. It’s just there with me, all the time. I wouldn’t say I designed it but I had a hand in it, me and the tattoo artist himself.”
Josh Howard
Howard has two tattoos in tribute to his grandmother—on his shoulder, he has her address, and on his chest, her portrait: “I stay humble. I always remember where I came from. Always have to do that. I have a tattoo on my chest and heart of my grandma to remind me.”
C.J. Miles
Miles recently got a tattoo of the serenity prayer on his arm. The Deseret News reports that the tattoo has become a part of Miles’ pregame ritual:
That Serenity Prayer is so important to Miles, he rubs the tattoo as part of his pregame ritual. It’s his “mental reminder.”
“I’ve got it tatted on my arm for a reason,” he said. “All I can worry about is tonight, try to help my team win a game today. … If you miss shots, so be it. All you can control is the next one.”
Paul Millsap
Millsap has a pair of praying hands tattooed on his left arm.
Jamaal Tinsley
Tinsley has a tattoo on his right forearm.
Earl Watson
When they were teammates on the Sonics, Kevin Durant described Watson’s backpiece as one of his favorites in the league: “Earl has a cool one on his back that says, ‘La Familia [ the family]’ with the cars on the back, I like that one, too.”
Players without tattoos:
Alec Burks
Jeremy Evans
Gordon Hayward
Al Jefferson
Enes Kanter
Utah Jazz, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 35% (5 players with tattoos, 9 without)
It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that the handful of tattoos that grace Salt Lake City’s players revolve around Christ or Christ-like figures with basketballs: new recruit Derrick Favors has a glowing Jesus cradling a ball, while 10+ year journeyman Raja Bell has a lion standing watch over the ball. It’s also unsurprising that the Jazz have one of the lowest tattoo percentages in the league.
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Players with tattoos:
Raja Bell
For most of the decade, Bell’s right shoulder displayed a tribute to his sister’s fiance, Chris Campbell, a college linebacker who died in a car crash in 2002. The design included Campbell’s jersey number (48) and his favorite saying: “Y’all don’t see da dawg.” In recent years, this tattoo has been overcome by a larger half-sleeve design that covers it completely.
Derrick Favors
His Jesus with possession tattoo was featured in Dime Magazine’s best new ink column in 2010.
Devin Harris
Harris has a slowly-growing design on his left bicep that seems to have a few details added each year.
Paul Millsap
Millsap has a pair of praying hands tattooed on his left arm.
Earl Watson
When they were teammates on the Sonics, Kevin Durant described Watson’s backpiece as one of his favorites in the league: “Earl has a cool one on his back that says, ‘La Familia [ the family]’ with the cars on the back, I like that one, too.”
Players without tattoos:
Francisco Elson
Jeremy Evans
Kyrylo Fesenko
Gordon Hayward
Al Jefferson
Andrei Kirilenko: Kirilenko believes that tattoos are a mistake, and is out to prove to the youth that they can be expressive in other ways, for example, his variety of hairstyles: “I’m just trying to bring a new energy to the game because basketball becomes so routine. If we are role models for young kids, it’s better to mess with your hair than tattoos, piercing, smoking or drinking. Young kids want to prove their independence. I’m here to show them it’s better to mess with your hair than anything else.”
C.J. Miles: no tattoos yet, but he’s thinking about it…
Mehmet Okur
Ronnie Price
Utah Jazz, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 64% (9 players with tattoos, 5 without)
Big reversal from last year, when the Jazz had 5 players with tattoos and 9 without.
Players with tattoos:
Raja Bell
Bell has a tattoo of a roaring lion guarding over a basketball.
DeMarre Carroll
When Carroll was 5 years old, his older brother DeLonté died from a brain tumor. While Carroll was a senior at Missouri, a St. Louis Post Dispatch article posed him as a “big brother” for his teammates, explaining he learned the importance of this role from DeLonté, who he’d since commemorated in a R.I.P./portrait tattoo on his arm.
Derrick Favors
Favors’s Jesus with possession tattoo was featured in Dime Magazine’s best new ink column in 2010.
Devin Harris
Harris has an elaborate design tattooed on his left arm. In an interview with The Guardian, Harris explained a bit about the tattoo: “That’s kind of my conscience. It’s just there with me, all the time. I wouldn’t say I designed it but I had a hand in it, me and the tattoo artist himself.”
Josh Howard
Howard has two tattoos in tribute to his grandmother—on his shoulder, he has her address, and on his chest, her portrait: “I stay humble. I always remember where I came from. Always have to do that. I have a tattoo on my chest and heart of my grandma to remind me.”
C.J. Miles
Miles recently got a tattoo of the serenity prayer on his arm. The Deseret News reports that the tattoo has become a part of Miles’ pregame ritual:
That Serenity Prayer is so important to Miles, he rubs the tattoo as part of his pregame ritual. It’s his “mental reminder.”
“I’ve got it tatted on my arm for a reason,” he said. “All I can worry about is tonight, try to help my team win a game today. … If you miss shots, so be it. All you can control is the next one.”
Paul Millsap
Millsap has a pair of praying hands tattooed on his left arm.
Jamaal Tinsley
Tinsley has a tattoo on his right forearm.
Earl Watson
When they were teammates on the Sonics, Kevin Durant described Watson’s backpiece as one of his favorites in the league: “Earl has a cool one on his back that says, ‘La Familia [ the family]’ with the cars on the back, I like that one, too.”
Players without tattoos:
Alec Burks
Jeremy Evans
Gordon Hayward
Al Jefferson
Enes Kanter
Utah Jazz, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 35% (5 players with tattoos, 9 without)
It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that the handful of tattoos that grace Salt Lake City’s players revolve around Christ or Christ-like figures with basketballs: new recruit Derrick Favors has a glowing Jesus cradling a ball, while 10+ year journeyman Raja Bell has a lion standing watch over the ball. It’s also unsurprising that the Jazz have one of the lowest tattoo percentages in the league.
—
Players with tattoos:
Raja Bell
For most of the decade, Bell’s right shoulder displayed a tribute to his sister’s fiance, Chris Campbell, a college linebacker who died in a car crash in 2002. The design included Campbell’s jersey number (48) and his favorite saying: “Y’all don’t see da dawg.” In recent years, this tattoo has been overcome by a larger half-sleeve design that covers it completely.
Derrick Favors
His Jesus with possession tattoo was featured in Dime Magazine’s best new ink column in 2010.
Devin Harris
Harris has a slowly-growing design on his left bicep that seems to have a few details added each year.
Paul Millsap
Millsap has a pair of praying hands tattooed on his left arm.
Earl Watson
When they were teammates on the Sonics, Kevin Durant described Watson’s backpiece as one of his favorites in the league: “Earl has a cool one on his back that says, ‘La Familia [ the family]’ with the cars on the back, I like that one, too.”
Players without tattoos:
Francisco Elson
Jeremy Evans
Kyrylo Fesenko
Gordon Hayward
Al Jefferson
Andrei Kirilenko: Kirilenko believes that tattoos are a mistake, and is out to prove to the youth that they can be expressive in other ways, for example, his variety of hairstyles: “I’m just trying to bring a new energy to the game because basketball becomes so routine. If we are role models for young kids, it’s better to mess with your hair than tattoos, piercing, smoking or drinking. Young kids want to prove their independence. I’m here to show them it’s better to mess with your hair than anything else.”
C.J. Miles: no tattoos yet, but he’s thinking about it…
Mehmet Okur
Ronnie Price
