NBA tattoos, from A to Z
By Reed Tucker
A is for America: Wizards sharpshooter Gilbert Arenas promised that if Barack Obama won the presidential election, he'd get a tribute -- and he did. "Change we believe in" now marks the fingers on his left hand.
B is for bear: Carlos Boozer doesn't play for the Grizzlies, but maybe he should. The Jazz star has a menacing bear on his arm "because even in high school, I felt like I turned into some kind of animal on the court."
C is for consent: Before getting his first tat at 17, the Warriors' Corey Maggette asked his mom's permission: "I'm not sure she believed me because she said, 'Yeah, go ahead.' "
D is for demon bird mothballs: Heat forward Shawn Marion thought he was getting his nickname, "The Matrix," tattooed in Chinese symbols. What he got instead roughly translates to "demon bird mothballs."
E is for esteem: Those numbers on the right arm of Hornets guard Antonio Daniels aren't his locker combination; they are a tribute to his brother. "It has his birthday [7-20-73], the day he passed away [2-8-96], as well as his number [33]," Daniels says.
F is for Florida: If you ever get lost driving in the Sunshine State, just ask to see Udonis Haslem's back. The Heat forward has a large map of Florida, his home, tattooed there.
G is for Grateful Dead: Trippy, man. The Lakers' Luke Walton shows his appreciation for the rock icons with a design of four dancing skeletons, each holding a basketball, on his right arm.
H is for humility: Of which Shaquille O'Neal has none. The Suns' big man has "Against the Law" inked on his shoulder because, as Shaq explains, "My game's so good, there has to be a law to stop it."
I is for initials: The Cavaliers' LeBron James, who already had multiple tattoos, including "Chosen 1" across his entire back, last year had an "L" and "J" inked on the underside of each arm.
J is for Jay-Z: The Timberwolves' Sebastian Telfair has a huge "Lucky Me" inked on his upper back. It's a reference to a Jay-Z song, which the troubled Telfair says has particular meaning to him.
K is for king of the hill: Nuggets floor leader Chauncey Billups reps where he's from (Denver's Park Hill) with a "king of the hill" tat on his left arm: "I'm the first person to make it out of there and be doing what I'm doing."
L is for lawsuit: In 2005, Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace got sued by Portland, Ore., tattoo artist Matthew Reed after Wallace's Egyptian sun tattoo (designed by Reed) was featured in a Nike ad.
M is for mizspelt: The Pistons' Allen Iverson gets an A for loyalty, but anF for spelling. He has the words "Cru Thik" tattooed on his body in three places, in honor of his tight-knit groupof friends.
引用:
N is for nerdy pastimes: The Spurs' Tim Duncan can hurt you on the court -- and in the Forbidden Forest. He likes playing Dungeons & Dragons so much, he got a tattoo of the wizard Merlin on his chest. |
O is for ouch: The Pacers' Marquis Daniels has a tattoo on his arm of a man committing suicide with a shotgun. Cheery.
引用:
P is for Psalms 46: When the father of Spurs' Roger Mason Jr. was dying in the hospital, his family took comfort in the biblical verse. After his father's death, Mason inked his arm with an angel flying atop mountains and the words "Psalms 46." |
Q is for quite a makeover: Reigning league MVP Kobe Bryant of the Lakers revamped his flagging image in 2004 following a sexual assault trial. The makeover included a tattoo dedicated to his wife and daughter.
R is for regret: When he was 15, Hawks guard Mike Bibby tattooed his name on his arm. He didn't like it. Later, he had it covered with a cross made of chains.
S is for shameless self-promotion: Stephon Marbury's pro career may be waning, but there's hope for him in marketing. Marbury recently tattooed the logo of his Starbury shoe line on the left side of his skull.
T is for testimony: That's what the Suns' Amare Stoudemire says his tattoos are: "If I died right now, my kids could get to know me by my tats -- what I stand for and what I believe in, and how I made it out of poverty."
U is for "unicep": Tattoos are so popular in the league that even coaches have them. The Bulls' Del Harris has a b-ball going through a hoop inked onto his arm. "It's on my 'unicep,' " Harris cracks. "I don't have biceps anymore."
V is for very, very stupid: In 2001, a die-hard fan had the phrase "I Slept With Shaq" tattooed on his forehead to win Lakers playoff tickets from a radio station.
W is for wasted endorsement : The Suns' former slam-dunk champ Jason Richardson isn't exactly a slam-dunk when it comes to marketing. He had the logo for shoe company And 1 tattooed on his arm and then went on to sign a contract with Reebok.
X is for Xavier: A contribution to the school library would have been enough, but the Hornets' David West got "X" on his arm "to show some loyalty" to his alma mater, Xavier.
Y is for younker: The Cavaliers' Ben Wallace hit on his nickname while just a younker, or a young man. In 10th grade, his teacher assigned a report on London's famous clock tower. "Big Ben" sketched the picture himself that he later had tattooed on his arm.
Z is for "Zoinks!": Kings fans will probably want to shout Shaggy's catchphrase when they get a load of Brad Miller's tattoo of Scooby's pint-sized nephew, Scrappy-Doo.
