Chicago Bulls, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage:60% (9 players with tattoos, 6 without)
The Bulls increased their tattoo percentage from last year.
Players with tattoos:
Carlos Boozer
Boozer is one of the most heavily tattooed players on the Bulls. In September of this year, he added portraits of his three sons to his legs.
Daequan Cook
Among Cook’s many (10+) tattoos are his daughter’s name and the words “Daddy’s Angel.”
Richard Hamilton
A recent video uploaded by UnFamous Tattoo Culture in Miami shows Hamilton getting a portrait tattooed on his chest. The video also offers glimpses of the other tattoos hidden by his jersey, including the great “Love For the Game” tattoo which features a hybrid basketball/heart (photo above).
Kirk Hinrich
Hinrich has a chain tattooed on his left wrist in honor of his late grandfather.
Nazr Mohammed
Mohammed has his name tattooed on his left shoulder above a basketball passing through a hoop.
Nate Robinson
At the beginning of the year, a USA Today interview included a ton of information about Robinson’s acronym tattoos, including FROG (Fully Rely On God); PUSH (Pray Until Something Happens); JUMP (Jesus Understands My Pain); and GAME TIME (God Answers Me Every TIME).
Derrick Rose
The Windy Apple has a great rundown of all of Rose’s tattoos.
Marquis Teague
Teague has a tattoo on his left shoulder with a basketball and the text “God Judge Me.”
Malcolm Thomas
A U-T San Diego article written during Thomas’s years at San Diego State University discusses the player’s relationship with his daughter. One paragraph describes the tattoo he received several days before her birth: “Thomas had a tattoo added to his right arm, next to the one for his mother. It is a rose with “Mikeala” written beneath it.”
Players without tattoos:
Marco Belinelli
Jimmy Butler
Luol Deng
Taj Gibson
Joakim Noah
Vladimir Radmanovic
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
Golden State Warriors, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 57% (8 players with tattoos, 6 without)
For most of the season, the Warriors have been my favorite team to watch play. I can’t always explain why, but I feel like an examination of their tattoos makes a good analogy for this preference. Monta’s clutch shooting this season has been fun, but more fun has been the nonchalance with which he makes them. His sideways, twisting leaps and scoop shots have the air of a dude having fun at the end of a day of shooting. Just messing around. After they drop, he barely ever celebrates, maybe smiles or raises a fist. This from a guy who got 14 tattoos one summer because he was bored and a homebody. And let’s not ignore the tattoos—somehow intense and good-natured at the same time. Likewise, Lou Amundson’s quiet fury (and occasional ineffectualness) on the court can be read in the intensity of his tattoo. Maybe the best expression of this team made up of discarded pieces from rebuilding teams in the east (Wright from Miami, Lee from the Knicks, Law from Atlanta) is Dorell Wright’s left shoulder, which reads “G.H.O.S.T.” They’re still getting everything together, but the team should have a lot of haunting ahead of it.
—
Players with tattoos:
Louis Amundson
Amundson’s sole tattoo is a heavy one: “It’s on the right side of his chest and has the words ‘R.I.P. 34’ surrounded by flames. He got the tattoo to commemorate the life of his best friend, Billy Feeney, a teammate at Monarch High School in Louisville, Colorado, and a player for the University of New Mexico Lobos. Feeney hanged himself in August 2003. Amundson doubts he’ll get another tattoo.”
Charlie Bell
Bell is one of four Michigan State players (alongside Antonio Smith, Mateen Cleaves, and Morris Peterson) who got a Flint tattoo to represent their shared hometown in 1999.
Stephen Curry
A Sports Illustrated profile in 2009 described Curry’s minimal tattoo: “His lone tattoo, discreetly inked on the inside of his left wrist, is the motto of Davidson, the small college he guided to the Elite Eight in 2008. “T.C.C.”: Trust, Commitment, Care.”
Monta Ellis
One of the most heavily tattooed players in the league, Ellis got his start the summer following his rookie year, according to a 2010 USA Today profile: “It started four years ago, when Ellis, 25, who admits to being bored and a homebody, was back home in Jackson, Miss., and Memphis. He got 14 tattoos during an offseason.” The narrative on his back is incredibly detailed, tracing his own relationship with basketball from milkcrate days to his current reign as Warriors’ captain.
Acie Law
While playing for Atlanta in 2009, Law kept a blog. The day after the Hawks lost in the second round of the playoffs to Cleveland, Law got some old tattoos touched up and embellished, and posted photos to his blog.
David Lee
It’s impossible to make out the design, but Lee has something tattooed on his back that peeks out of his jersey occasionally.
Reggie Williams
Williams has a portrait tattooed on his left shoulder.
Dorell Wright
In 2009, tattoo artist Raphael Gere Rodriguez posted photos of the “love hate skull” design he did for Wright. I didn’t even know “love hate skull” was a thing.
Players without tattoos:
Jeff Adrien: confirmed that he has no tattoos on Twitter
Andris Biedrins
Jeremy Lin
Vladimir Radmanovic
Al Thornton: Thorton’s mother discussed the reason he wouldn’t ever get a tattoo in a Los Angeles Times article: “’ He knows his mom,’ said Philomenia Thornton. ‘We don’t do tattoos. Maybe one day, that might be something that might help him. People will look for someone clean cut with no tattoos and someone that listens to their mama.’”
Ekpe Udoh
Chicago Bulls, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage:60% (9 players with tattoos, 6 without)
The Bulls increased their tattoo percentage from last year.
Players with tattoos:
Carlos Boozer
Boozer is one of the most heavily tattooed players on the Bulls. In September of this year, he added portraits of his three sons to his legs.
Daequan Cook
Among Cook’s many (10+) tattoos are his daughter’s name and the words “Daddy’s Angel.”
Richard Hamilton
A recent video uploaded by UnFamous Tattoo Culture in Miami shows Hamilton getting a portrait tattooed on his chest. The video also offers glimpses of the other tattoos hidden by his jersey, including the great “Love For the Game” tattoo which features a hybrid basketball/heart (photo above).
Kirk Hinrich
Hinrich has a chain tattooed on his left wrist in honor of his late grandfather.
Nazr Mohammed
Mohammed has his name tattooed on his left shoulder above a basketball passing through a hoop.
Nate Robinson
At the beginning of the year, a USA Today interview included a ton of information about Robinson’s acronym tattoos, including FROG (Fully Rely On God); PUSH (Pray Until Something Happens); JUMP (Jesus Understands My Pain); and GAME TIME (God Answers Me Every TIME).
Derrick Rose
The Windy Apple has a great rundown of all of Rose’s tattoos.
Marquis Teague
Teague has a tattoo on his left shoulder with a basketball and the text “God Judge Me.”
Malcolm Thomas
A U-T San Diego article written during Thomas’s years at San Diego State University discusses the player’s relationship with his daughter. One paragraph describes the tattoo he received several days before her birth: “Thomas had a tattoo added to his right arm, next to the one for his mother. It is a rose with “Mikeala” written beneath it.”
Players without tattoos:
Marco Belinelli
Jimmy Butler
Luol Deng
Taj Gibson
Joakim Noah
Vladimir Radmanovic
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
Golden State Warriors, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 57% (8 players with tattoos, 6 without)
For most of the season, the Warriors have been my favorite team to watch play. I can’t always explain why, but I feel like an examination of their tattoos makes a good analogy for this preference. Monta’s clutch shooting this season has been fun, but more fun has been the nonchalance with which he makes them. His sideways, twisting leaps and scoop shots have the air of a dude having fun at the end of a day of shooting. Just messing around. After they drop, he barely ever celebrates, maybe smiles or raises a fist. This from a guy who got 14 tattoos one summer because he was bored and a homebody. And let’s not ignore the tattoos—somehow intense and good-natured at the same time. Likewise, Lou Amundson’s quiet fury (and occasional ineffectualness) on the court can be read in the intensity of his tattoo. Maybe the best expression of this team made up of discarded pieces from rebuilding teams in the east (Wright from Miami, Lee from the Knicks, Law from Atlanta) is Dorell Wright’s left shoulder, which reads “G.H.O.S.T.” They’re still getting everything together, but the team should have a lot of haunting ahead of it.
—
Players with tattoos:
Louis Amundson
Amundson’s sole tattoo is a heavy one: “It’s on the right side of his chest and has the words ‘R.I.P. 34’ surrounded by flames. He got the tattoo to commemorate the life of his best friend, Billy Feeney, a teammate at Monarch High School in Louisville, Colorado, and a player for the University of New Mexico Lobos. Feeney hanged himself in August 2003. Amundson doubts he’ll get another tattoo.”
Charlie Bell
Bell is one of four Michigan State players (alongside Antonio Smith, Mateen Cleaves, and Morris Peterson) who got a Flint tattoo to represent their shared hometown in 1999.
Stephen Curry
A Sports Illustrated profile in 2009 described Curry’s minimal tattoo: “His lone tattoo, discreetly inked on the inside of his left wrist, is the motto of Davidson, the small college he guided to the Elite Eight in 2008. “T.C.C.”: Trust, Commitment, Care.”
Monta Ellis
One of the most heavily tattooed players in the league, Ellis got his start the summer following his rookie year, according to a 2010 USA Today profile: “It started four years ago, when Ellis, 25, who admits to being bored and a homebody, was back home in Jackson, Miss., and Memphis. He got 14 tattoos during an offseason.” The narrative on his back is incredibly detailed, tracing his own relationship with basketball from milkcrate days to his current reign as Warriors’ captain.
Acie Law
While playing for Atlanta in 2009, Law kept a blog. The day after the Hawks lost in the second round of the playoffs to Cleveland, Law got some old tattoos touched up and embellished, and posted photos to his blog.
David Lee
It’s impossible to make out the design, but Lee has something tattooed on his back that peeks out of his jersey occasionally.
Reggie Williams
Williams has a portrait tattooed on his left shoulder.
Dorell Wright
In 2009, tattoo artist Raphael Gere Rodriguez posted photos of the “love hate skull” design he did for Wright. I didn’t even know “love hate skull” was a thing.
Players without tattoos:
Jeff Adrien: confirmed that he has no tattoos on Twitter
Andris Biedrins
Jeremy Lin
Vladimir Radmanovic
Al Thornton: Thorton’s mother discussed the reason he wouldn’t ever get a tattoo in a Los Angeles Times article: “’ He knows his mom,’ said Philomenia Thornton. ‘We don’t do tattoos. Maybe one day, that might be something that might help him. People will look for someone clean cut with no tattoos and someone that listens to their mama.’”
Ekpe Udoh
