After eight years, this site will no longer be updated due to tumblr’s 2018 terms of service update which bans “inappropriate content.” I just received another notice that a post had been taken down, it’s a photo of a shirtless DeShawn Stevenson getting a tattoo. You can see it here.
All future NBA Tattoos updates will take place at nbatattoos.com. I’ve just started working on it and cannot figure out a way to automatically upload the hundreds of tumblr posts to the new site so it’ll be a bit of a slow process at first. There are already a few updates on new players (Bol Bol’s Squidward tattoo!) and a lot more to come.
NBA Tattoos is a mostly-fun hobby and I appreciate that it has been a positive place to talk about something that I care about. I like seeing everyone’s posts but my interaction has been pretty minimal. For the people hit hardest/undermined most directly by tumblr’s decision, this is a much bigger issue. I hate that tumblr has dismantled so many networks where people built support systems, felt less isolated, learned about others and themselves. I can’t begin to imagine the decimation of tumblr sites that has taken place if a shirtless photo of DeShawn Stevenson can be grounds for removal. So it’s a bummer that I have to do this work to move the site but a much more profound and upsetting bummer that so many people no longer have the community they’d spent years building.
starting to finalize team rosters for the 2018-19 season but will not be posting them on tumblr. Please reach out if you have a suggestion for a good place to move NBA tattoos - nbatattoos@gmail.com
On the outside of Fultz’s calf is “F2G” painted in the colors of Maryland’s state flag — gold and black, red and white. Underneath are Bible excerpts from the Book of James, Chapter 2, Verses 14-17. “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? … Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
The F2G stands for Fultz’s motto: Faithful to the grind. Tappin picked out the Scripture. “I was like, ‘You can be faithful. But you still have to work. You can’t just pray about it,’ ” said Fultz.
Tattoo artist Niño Lapid of Zebra Piercing and Tattoo Parlor posted the above photo to his instagram, showing a proud Stephen Curry. In 2017, Lapid tattooed a Hebrew word that sounds like “Curry” when read aloud on both Steph and his brother Seth. This week, as seen in another of Lapid’s instagram posts, Curry returned the favor by tattooing his signature onto the artist’s leg. Here’s the finished design:
A recent Bleacher Report profile of Giles includes this description of a tattoo on his right shin:
It’s a lion’s head and a cursive Bible verse, 1 Peter 2:15-16: “For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.”
I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t do none of that. No tattoos.
When you get to college, you’re finally on your own, and you feel like, I’m a man now, I can make my own decisions. When I was growing up, we couldn’t wear earrings, couldn’t wear hats, and my father said, “No tattoos.” So I started wearing hats, I got my ears pierced, and I said, “I’m gonna go to the tattoo parlor.” I walked in there and I walked right out. It just wasn’t me. And I knew it wasn’t me. It would’ve been forced. I would’ve been being like other people and not myself.
Terry Rozier entered the 2017-18 season with “3:17″ tattooed on the back of his head. As explained in the GQ video “Tattoo Tour: Terry Rozier” the design references the player’s birthday - March 17 - but also touches on the coincidence/omen that “every time I look at the clock, it’s always 3:17.”
However, in a recent pre-game interview, Rozier mentioned another meaning of the tattoo: “upside-down 3:17 is a lie. That’s what kind of world we live in: A big lie.”
Rozier was asked to elaborate on that reading, to which he said:
“I’m just talking about the world we’re living in. It’s a crazy, crazy world. We’re not told the truth of what’s really going on. I don’t really want to get into it.”
He then rolled up his left sleeve to show off a new tattoo inscribed on his inner wrist.
“The best revenge,” it reads, “is massive success.”
“Do you know who said that?” Rose continued. “Frank Sinatra. And that’s how I’m rollin’. I’m not playing for anyone else. I’m playing for myself. I’m playing for my family. I’m playing for my son and daughter.”
Excellent profile of Jordan Clarkson in the Athletic this week. Clarkson entered the league with no tattoos, but is now covered on both arms and neck. Clarkson got his first tattoo in February 2018, midway through his fifth season in the NBA, and added the rest during the offseason. Jimmy Hayden of Cleveland’s Focused Tattoo, describes Clarkson’s dedication in the piece:
“In my 20 years of doing this, every now and then I come across someone who has an accelerated sense of commitment to getting tattoos. Jordan’s on a different level,” Hayden said. “He’s dedicated to the images he’s envisioned, the style he wants, no questions asked. He’s not getting a bunch of bullshit.”
Steve Wiebe has become one of the most popular tattoo artists among NBA players, having recently tattooed Kevin Durant, DeAndre Jordan, and John Wall. He was very busy during the offseason, as seen on instagram:
2015-16 NBA overall tattoo percentage: 53%
238 players with tattoos, 209 without [details]
2014-15 NBA overall tattoo percentage: 52%
[details] 2013-14 NBA overall tattoo percentage: 55%
[details] 2012-13 NBA overall tattoo percentage: 56% [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:
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.
