Miami Ink
A team-by-team, player-by-player guide to tattoos in the NBA.
Tattoos will abound when the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs take to the court in the NBA Finals on Thursday. That’s especially true when it comes to Heat forward/center Chris Andersen, who appears to be submerged up to his chin in colorful ink. According to data from the NBA Tattoos Tumblr, which collects anecdotal evidence of basketball players’ body art, at least one-half the players playing for the NBA title have tattoos, and that’s just the ones we know about. Still, neither the Heat nor the Spurs can compete with the Hawks for the NBA tattoo championship—12 out of 15 of the Atlanta players have tattoos.
To learn about your home team’s tattoos, play around with Slate’s interactive guide below. Data and observations come from the NBA Tattoos Tumblr.
Percentage of Players Tattooed
Click a team for detailed information.
Atlanta Hawks
Portland Trail Blazers
Brooklyn Nets
Denver Nuggets
Los Angeles Lakers
New York Knicks
Phoenix Suns
Utah Jazz
Los Angeles Clippers
Boston Celtics
Miami Heat
Memphis Grizzlies
Cleveland Cavaliers
Chicago Bulls
Houston Rockets
Milwaukee Bucks
Oklahoma City Thunder
Golden State Warriors
Detroit Pistons
Toronto Raptors
Charlotte Bobcats
Washington Wizards
Minnesota Timberwolves
Philadelphia 76ers
Orlando Magic
San Antonio Spurs
Indiana Pacers
Dallas Mavericks
Sacramento Kings
New Orleans Hornets
« Change Team »
Click a tattooed player to learn more.
With Tattoos
Without Tattoos
Source: NBA Tattoos Tumblr. Tattoo descriptions used with permission.
Kimberly Thompson contributed to this report.