Phoenix Suns, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 67% (10 players with tattoos, 5 without)
In the biggest single-year jump in the past three years, the Suns nearly doubled their tattoo percentage from last year.
Players with tattoos:
Michael Beasley
Among Beasley’s many tattoos is the word “H.O.O.D.” on his chest, an acronym for “Holding Our Own Destinies.”
Shannon Brown
In 2009, during Brown’s first season with the Lakers, Meghan Brennan asked the player about his tattoos for a Mouthpiecesports interview. Brown quickly ran down the tatooos on his right arm and hand, which include the word “Believe,” “Proverbs 3: 5-6” (although not the proverb text itself); his initials “SB,” and his mother’s name, “Sandra.”
Channing Frye
A 2013 profile in the Oregonian discusses the tattoo on Frye’s right forearm. It’s a pretty complicated narrative:
“His idyllic scene is etched on the inside of his right forearm, where his favorite tattoo depicts a mountain with several steps leading up to a rising sun. It is a place of esteem, for to reach the top, where the view is far-reaching and the sun rays stretch like exclamation points, one must overcome the steps of Doubt, Yourself, Fear, Hate, Lies and Envy, before reaching Happiness.”
Diante Garrett
While still at Iowa State, Garrett was interviewed about his tattoos by the Des Moines Register. He discusses all of his tattoos, including his parents’ names, the phrase “Carpe Diem,” and his first tattoo, a gift-wrapped basketball with the text “God’s Gift.”
Marcin Gortat
During his second season in the NBA, Gortat made it to the finals as a backup center for the Magic. On the magnified stage of the championship round, it came to the attention of his sponsor, Reebok, that Gortat had Nike’s Michael Jordan Jumpman logo tattooed on his ankle. They requested that he wear long socks to cover the rival logo, or efface it with makeup. Gortat refused: “I’ve heard from other people that even other players, if they don’t know my name, they know I’m the big white guy with the Jordan tattoo. I like that. Reebok will have to get used to that.” Gortat is no longer sponsored by Reebok.
Hamed Haddadi
The NBA’s first Iranian player has a stylized dragon tattooed on his left shoulder.
Marcus Morris
Morris and his twin brother, Markieff Morris, share identical tattoo designs, including one that reads “FOE” which stands for Family Over Everything; one that reads “Death is a Promise”; and one that reads “Twin Towers.”
Markieff Morris
[see above]
Jermaine O’Neal
O’Neal’s right shoulder features a muscular figure surrounded by the text “Year of the Resurrection.” Asked about the tattoo in 2011, O’Neal couldn’t remember when or where he got it, stressing instead that the tattoo isn’t fixed to one year, but constantly refreshes: “It better be this year… I look at it like every year has been a resurrection year — being challenged, being knocked down and getting back up – but I’ve had a lot of trials and tribulations this year.”
P.J. Tucker
Tucker has tattoos on both arms.
Players without tattoos:
Goran Dragic
Jared Dudley
Wes Johnson
Kendall Marshall
Luis Scola
Minnesota Timberwolves, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 47% (7 players with tattoos, 8 without)
The Wolves have a below average number of tattooed players, but their percentage went up a bit from last year.
Players with tattoos:
Michael Beasley
Young Beasley, whose designs are among the most talked about in the league, described tattoos as both a language and a form of narrative for the Minneapolis Citypages: “I love tattoos. I feel like the era I’ve grown up in, tattoos are expression. Every tattoo I have has a meaning. Every tattoo I have is something I’ve been through.”
Wayne Ellington
Ellington has a tattoo on his inside right bicep.
Brad Miller
Miller has a tattoo of cartoon character Scrappy Doo.
Nikola Pekovic
Pekovic’s tattoo of a knight standing atop a heap of skulls is one of the best-loved tattoos in the league, inspiring a t-shirt, impassioned blog posts, and countless remarks that the design fits his game perfectly. Timberwolves blog A Wolf Among Wolves got some great quotes from Pek about the tattoo (“It’s just me and my progress this year,” says Pek, “the drawing is something like me.”) and Sports by Brooks offers an interesting historic review of the tattoo’s potential relationship with the history of Pekovic’s homeland, Montenegro.
Anthony Randolph
Tattoos peek out of both sides of Randolph’s uniform.
Ricky Rubio
Much like fellow Spaniard Rudy Fernandez, Rubio’s only tattoo is a Chinese character on his wrist.
Martell Webster
Webster has tattoos on both arms.
Players without tattoos:
J.J. Barea
Wes Johnson
Malcolm Lee
Kevin Love
Darko Milicic
Luke Ridnour
Anthony Tolliver
Derrick Williams
Minnesota Timberwolves, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 38% (5 players with tattoos, 8 without)
The Wolves have a below-average percentage of tattooed players but it’s higher then their win percentage for the last three seasons. Yikes!
—
Players with tattoos:
Michael Beasley
Young Beasley, whose designs are among the most talked about in the league, described tattoos as both a language and a form of narrative for the Minneapolis Citypages: “I love tattoos. I feel like the era I’ve grown up in, tattoos are expression. Every tattoo I have has a meaning. Every tattoo I have is something I’ve been through.”
Nikola Pekovic
Pekovic has a classic looking tattoo of an armored warrior calmly lording over his kills, the kind of thing you’d see in 70s biker culture. A pile of skulls is not an unusual feature for a tattoo, but considering Pekovic’s childhood in Montenegro coincided with the Bosnian War and Croation War, it feels heavy.
Anthony Randolph
Tattoos peek out of both sides of Randolph’s uniform.
Sebastian Telfair
On Telfair’s back is tattooed the words “LUCKY ME,” a reference to the Jay Z song of the same name.
Martell Webster
Webster has tattoos on both shoulders.
Players without tattoos:
Wayne Ellington
Jonny Flynn
Lazar Hayward
Wesley Johnson
Kevin Love
Darko Milicic
Luke Ridnour
Anthony Tolliver
Phoenix Suns, 2012-13
Tattoo percentage: 67% (10 players with tattoos, 5 without)
In the biggest single-year jump in the past three years, the Suns nearly doubled their tattoo percentage from last year.
Players with tattoos:
Michael Beasley
Among Beasley’s many tattoos is the word “H.O.O.D.” on his chest, an acronym for “Holding Our Own Destinies.”
Shannon Brown
In 2009, during Brown’s first season with the Lakers, Meghan Brennan asked the player about his tattoos for a Mouthpiecesports interview. Brown quickly ran down the tatooos on his right arm and hand, which include the word “Believe,” “Proverbs 3: 5-6” (although not the proverb text itself); his initials “SB,” and his mother’s name, “Sandra.”
Channing Frye
A 2013 profile in the Oregonian discusses the tattoo on Frye’s right forearm. It’s a pretty complicated narrative:
“His idyllic scene is etched on the inside of his right forearm, where his favorite tattoo depicts a mountain with several steps leading up to a rising sun. It is a place of esteem, for to reach the top, where the view is far-reaching and the sun rays stretch like exclamation points, one must overcome the steps of Doubt, Yourself, Fear, Hate, Lies and Envy, before reaching Happiness.”
Diante Garrett
While still at Iowa State, Garrett was interviewed about his tattoos by the Des Moines Register. He discusses all of his tattoos, including his parents’ names, the phrase “Carpe Diem,” and his first tattoo, a gift-wrapped basketball with the text “God’s Gift.”
Marcin Gortat
During his second season in the NBA, Gortat made it to the finals as a backup center for the Magic. On the magnified stage of the championship round, it came to the attention of his sponsor, Reebok, that Gortat had Nike’s Michael Jordan Jumpman logo tattooed on his ankle. They requested that he wear long socks to cover the rival logo, or efface it with makeup. Gortat refused: “I’ve heard from other people that even other players, if they don’t know my name, they know I’m the big white guy with the Jordan tattoo. I like that. Reebok will have to get used to that.” Gortat is no longer sponsored by Reebok.
Hamed Haddadi
The NBA’s first Iranian player has a stylized dragon tattooed on his left shoulder.
Marcus Morris
Morris and his twin brother, Markieff Morris, share identical tattoo designs, including one that reads “FOE” which stands for Family Over Everything; one that reads “Death is a Promise”; and one that reads “Twin Towers.”
Markieff Morris
[see above]
Jermaine O’Neal
O’Neal’s right shoulder features a muscular figure surrounded by the text “Year of the Resurrection.” Asked about the tattoo in 2011, O’Neal couldn’t remember when or where he got it, stressing instead that the tattoo isn’t fixed to one year, but constantly refreshes: “It better be this year… I look at it like every year has been a resurrection year — being challenged, being knocked down and getting back up – but I’ve had a lot of trials and tribulations this year.”
P.J. Tucker
Tucker has tattoos on both arms.
Players without tattoos:
Goran Dragic
Jared Dudley
Wes Johnson
Kendall Marshall
Luis Scola
Minnesota Timberwolves, 2011-12
Tattoo percentage: 47% (7 players with tattoos, 8 without)
The Wolves have a below average number of tattooed players, but their percentage went up a bit from last year.
Players with tattoos:
Michael Beasley
Young Beasley, whose designs are among the most talked about in the league, described tattoos as both a language and a form of narrative for the Minneapolis Citypages: “I love tattoos. I feel like the era I’ve grown up in, tattoos are expression. Every tattoo I have has a meaning. Every tattoo I have is something I’ve been through.”
Wayne Ellington
Ellington has a tattoo on his inside right bicep.
Brad Miller
Miller has a tattoo of cartoon character Scrappy Doo.
Nikola Pekovic
Pekovic’s tattoo of a knight standing atop a heap of skulls is one of the best-loved tattoos in the league, inspiring a t-shirt, impassioned blog posts, and countless remarks that the design fits his game perfectly. Timberwolves blog A Wolf Among Wolves got some great quotes from Pek about the tattoo (“It’s just me and my progress this year,” says Pek, “the drawing is something like me.”) and Sports by Brooks offers an interesting historic review of the tattoo’s potential relationship with the history of Pekovic’s homeland, Montenegro.
Anthony Randolph
Tattoos peek out of both sides of Randolph’s uniform.
Ricky Rubio
Much like fellow Spaniard Rudy Fernandez, Rubio’s only tattoo is a Chinese character on his wrist.
Martell Webster
Webster has tattoos on both arms.
Players without tattoos:
J.J. Barea
Wes Johnson
Malcolm Lee
Kevin Love
Darko Milicic
Luke Ridnour
Anthony Tolliver
Derrick Williams
Minnesota Timberwolves, 2010-11
Tattoo percentage: 38% (5 players with tattoos, 8 without)
The Wolves have a below-average percentage of tattooed players but it’s higher then their win percentage for the last three seasons. Yikes!
—
Players with tattoos:
Michael Beasley
Young Beasley, whose designs are among the most talked about in the league, described tattoos as both a language and a form of narrative for the Minneapolis Citypages: “I love tattoos. I feel like the era I’ve grown up in, tattoos are expression. Every tattoo I have has a meaning. Every tattoo I have is something I’ve been through.”
Nikola Pekovic
Pekovic has a classic looking tattoo of an armored warrior calmly lording over his kills, the kind of thing you’d see in 70s biker culture. A pile of skulls is not an unusual feature for a tattoo, but considering Pekovic’s childhood in Montenegro coincided with the Bosnian War and Croation War, it feels heavy.
Anthony Randolph
Tattoos peek out of both sides of Randolph’s uniform.
Sebastian Telfair
On Telfair’s back is tattooed the words “LUCKY ME,” a reference to the Jay Z song of the same name.
Martell Webster
Webster has tattoos on both shoulders.
Players without tattoos:
Wayne Ellington
Jonny Flynn
Lazar Hayward
Wesley Johnson
Kevin Love
Darko Milicic
Luke Ridnour
Anthony Tolliver
