Friday, July 29th, 2011 at 5:22 pm  |  88 responses

Photos: NBA Ink

Fifty of the best/worst/weirdest tattoos in the League.

Compiled by Eldon Khorshidi

Of the 433 players in the NBA last season—if this site is accurate—230 were ingrained with permanent ink. That’s about 53 percent of the League. We’re currently in an era where everybody and their grandmother has tats, whether it be three or 30. Allen Iverson “defied” social norms, serving as a revolutionary by bridging the gap between the NBA and the streets—hip-hop, earrings, tattoos, baggy clothes and everything in between—and countless others have followed in his footsteps. Above are 50 of the best/worst/weirdest (beauty is in the eye of the beholder, we’re told) tattoos from today’s NBA. Filtering out former players (i.e. Iverson, Stephon Marbury, Rasheed Wallace) was frustrating, because those guys helped develop the culture and message of tattoos, but if we incorporated the past, we’d have a never ending list. Anyways, there’s plenty of dope artwork in the gallery above. Any thoughts? Feel free to stop by the comments section and give us your two cents.

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  • http://dsjklff.com Jukai

    HOLY MOLY at Kirilenko’s tat!! Dude has no visible tattoos anywhere so you think he’s just a squeaky clean and then he takes off his shirt, and damn, I don’t even know if that’s cool or tacky, too much sh*t going on.
    People need to learn to stop getting face tattoos.

  • http://realgm.com Ghost

    God I hate tattoos.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    i had no idea Durant was scarred up. I’d wager that most people don’t know or his squeaky clean image wouldn’t be so squeaky given certain ideas about Tats. Tyson Chandler and AK47 are winning so far.

  • http://www.boogiewilliams.com Boing Dynasty

    -who embodys the spirit of And1 like Brad Miller?
    -im pretty sure thats a bat/winged creature ok AK’s back & not a knight with a shield
    -Kmart has since tatted over Trinas lips with a big ass crown
    -Never knew KD was tatted, smart kid keeping his arms/neck clean, get that poster boy money
    - that one should just read Eddy Curry: Fat
    -Marquise Daniels: Kurt Cobain – Yeesh

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    And that appears to be a dragon on AK47′s back.

  • RunNGun

    Brad Miller’s tattoo isn’t Scooby, it’s Scrappy.

  • http://dsjklff.com Jukai

    Eddy Curry looks like he should be fighting Kimbo Slice in some backyard.

  • D12FSU

    3 observations: 1) How is o.j. mayo going to get a tattoo of sacrifice and dedication, then wind up being a semi-bust. 2)Oh Lamar….you never get a tattoo based on a relationship…isnt that a rule or something?! 3) I honestly had no idea Kevin Durant had tattoos, I always thought he was clean cause he has nothing on his extremities..guess hes been hiding them under his shirt the entire time.

  • AMPduppp

    Eddy Curry’s isn’t a tattoo, it’s crumbs from his last meal

  • http://twitter.com/BeezKneezy LA Huey

    Looks like AK47′s tat is a knight on a dragon.
    Trey Kerby from TBJ has called KD’s ink “business tattoos”.
    Is Chandler’s son mean-mugging or just a typical poor portrait tattoo? If it’s the former, it’s my favorite tattoo with AK47′s a close 2nd.

  • andynorstrom

    Lmao, how is Eddy Curry even associated with the NBA?

  • Ali Saadat

    -Eddy Curry; oh lawd.
    -damn AK47
    -Tim Duncans joker has always been a mystery to me
    -deshawn stevenson isnt the brightest bulb in the arena
    -its Scrappy dammit
    -ive always like Chaunceys king of the hill

  • http://twitter.com/BeezKneezy LA Huey

    btw, Birdman’s ink has gotten to the point where I believe he’s being possessed by something similar to the venom symbiote.

  • davidR

    amare has some of the most intriguing tattoos in the league. eldon, can you post more of them?

  • http://blogspot.com LLC#12

    Marquis Daniels Kurt Cobain tattoo seems like very poor taste..and Stoudemire, black jesus? really? come on now…

  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    For those who don’t know, Melo’s “WB” stands for West Baltimore not Warner Bros. Don’t know why I even have to explain something like that but you know there’s some people out there who think that dude is repping some kind of tv station.

  • http://dsjklff.com Jukai

    LA Huey: LOL at Tyson’s son mean mugging

  • http://www.slamonline.com/ 1982

    Gortat’s Jordan looks like he put on a few lbs. Maybe it’s supposed to be Eddie Curry.

  • http://www.boogiewilliams.com Boing Dynasty

    @JTaylor – thanks for correcting….nobody
    @1982 – i think Gortat used the logo off some 49.99 J’s he got from supercheapkicks.com as his reference

  • Darius

    thanks SLAM. i finally learned what Marcus Camby’s tatts meant

  • Kadavour

    AK47 and Birdman for the WIN!

  • David Moore

    -Well, surprise surprise Durantula! LOL.
    -Deshawn Stevenson’s tattoos are a perfect example of when you have too much money and nothing to do with it.
    -Eddie Curry should be playing in one of these summer leagues trying to get his resume right again.

  • http://www.bulls.com Enigmatic

    1. I was kinda hoping y’all would post Rose’s “Sweet Home Chicago” hand tattoo. That one’s pretty dope.
    2. I also didn’t know KD had tats. I understand him wanting to maintain his squeaky-clean image, but damn those tats on his chest and stomach are all over the place. He should’ve gotten some of them on his arms/shoulders. Bron, Rose and others have hella tats and it hasn’t hurt their marketability
    3. Why do these millionaire players have such sh*tty tattoo artists?
    4. The portrait tats look really nice when done well. Really horrible when not. I thought about getting my kids but I’ve seen too many tats of kids that are cute in real life but look ugly/evil on the tats!

  • http://nicekicks.com meloman2.0

    That awkward moment when Deshawn Stevenson realizes he doesn’t wear # 2 anymore

  • jbone23

    Wow, this is pretty much just sad. A whole lot of arrogance and ignorance go into most tattoos. NBAers just got a bit dumber as a whole, in my eyes, after this.

  • T-Money

    tyson could had picked a better pic of his son – he looks angry

  • T-Money

    chauncey got tatted up before he started cakin’.

  • Eldon Khorshidi

    K-Mart’s “lips” tattoo is now revised… good looks.

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    Kirilenkos tat looks like that weird sequel to hannibal lector thing?!?!…

  • ALAN

    the best :kirilenko

  • toner

    @AMPduppp: Haha, spot on call, spot on

  • http://www.ozhiphop.com/forum Daninobrown

    @Jtaylor

    It might stand for West Baltimore but also means ‘Warna Brother’ the text (which u cant really see in this pic) says ‘If u see the cops, warn a brother’ or something along those lines. You can get t-shirts that say the same thing and have the blue/yellow WB logo.

    haha so yeah, you don’t know jack…

  • http://www.ozhiphop.com/forum Daninobrown

    and Birdman’s tat isn’t just ‘Free’

    It’s actually ‘Free Bird’, which I’m guessing is in reference to his nickname, and being free (after his suspension for drugs) and maybe even the classic Lynyrd Skynyrd track

  • Bruno

    maybe gortat’s tat is from the big pun cd cover …

  • http://Zogs.ca Zogs

    Man that Abe Lincon on DeShawn’s Neck with all those 5′s??!!!
    WTF is that supossed to represent???
    Definitly not getting paper, maybe he got it before the NBA when he worked at 7/11 or somthing…

  • stayweird38

    STAT HAS A N.W.A TATTOO!

  • http://Slameonline Hoosier

    @Zogs my thoughts exactly!! Birdman & DSteve are out of control yo!! Love KD rockin em hush-like. Kobes looks so hood…wonder if it is supposed to look that way- was gettin his inked during and right after Denver CO!! 1st post slammers!!

  • MUBWAR

    cool cause i was wondering how is melo associated with warner bros

  • MUBWAR

    so who is the real CHOSEN 1? PP or lbj? ring or court vision? shooting and finesse vs supreme athleticism? f@gatism or pure strength and power? you pick

  • Jer dawg

    Eddy Curry is horrible! That’s a $66 Million dollar waste! Why even take his shirt off? Before and after? Whatever commercial he’s doing is a failed business venture.

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/officerbarbrady what

    Welcome back to Tattoo Time with Mike Tyson. I’m Mike Tyson. Let’s look at some tattoos.

  • irondan21

    Durant surprised me with all those tats. I want to see more of lebron’s and stevenson’s tattoos

  • T-Money

    This is getting slightly homoerotic

  • Will Lee

    damn eddy curry is so outta shape

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    OH MY GOODNESS, Deshawn Stephenson has a Harry Potter lightning bolt scar on his forehead! That is AWESOME!!

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    @ RunNGun: That makes perfect sense, and a pretty clever idea on Brad’s part. Awesome tat.

  • http://hoopistani.blogspot.com hoopistani

    Eddy Curry FTW!!!

  • underdog

    So Amaré has a “black Jesus” and a Star of David (on his hand) tattoo at the same time?

  • http://slamonline.com Ugh

    That’s not ACTUALLY Kurt Cobain, that’s just someone shooting himself in the head.
    What’s good about Amare”s star of David is that Jews are forbidden to get tattoos.

  • iCARNACKi

    I LOVE tattoos.

    Tyson Chandler’s is amazing. Pamela Anderson has the same tat as TMac. SJax’s is maybe the best tattoo ever. Monta Ellis’ tattoos look real good as just one continual piece. Anthony’s West Baltimore tattoo is dope, someone else has an EA sports one for East Atlanta but I can’t remember who… Gucci Mane? Apparently AK47′s is a ‘Paladin’ or something from WoW riding a dragon, I read that somewhere. Eddy Curry might be rich but dude is an embarrassment, straight up, he looks like an offensive lineman, how hard is it to eat right and work out? DWill’s might be the worst, most generic one here. Wow, didn’t know KD had any tats, he had them where they would be covered up, its sad that he has to do that for the endorsement bucks, but smart that he knows that. Deshawn having neck and face gang tattoos is too gangsta, I’m surprised Stern doesn’t make him cover them up. Birdman’s tattoo on his neck says ‘Freebird’ how can a basketball writer NOT know that? If Billup’s tattoo was an actual King of the Hill tattoo then it would be my new favorite tattoo. You think Ron Artest would have more tattoos, right? Acie Law’s tattoo should say ‘Lawd’s favorite’ that would make it awesome.

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