Tattoos

Greg Ostertag sports a dunking Fred Flintstone. Cherokee Parks wears a green apple core carved into a skeleton face. Michael Cage shows off a pair of praying hands. And then there’s Dennis Rodman, the human tattoo.

Tattoos have always been popular among inmates, sailors, bikers and gang members. Now they’re showing up in ever-increasing numbers in the NBA, especially among younger players.

An Associated Press survey of all 29 NBA teams during training camp found that 35.1% of the players have tattoos. Some are goofy, some are sad and almost all are unique.

Marcus Brown of the Vancouver Grizzlies has a tattoo of his nickname “Doo-doo” over a basketball on his arm; Doug Christie of the Toronto Raptors wears a tattoo of a face that is half-daughter, half-wife; and rookie Antonio Daniels of Vancouver has a tattoo of his brother’s birth date and death date.

“When I first came into the league in 1984 . . . I don’t think I ever saw a tattoo,” said Cage, a much-traveled forward now playing for the New Jersey Nets. “Now, it’s like who doesn’t have one?”

Cage had the praying hands tattooed on his left biceps. His other tattoo is private: He and his wife have roses on their rear ends.

“Guys wear them for fashion, to make a statement, to depict an image or a personality, and in my case to express a religion,” Cagesaid. “Baggy clothes became popular, and now you see oversized pants and shirts. It’s kind of a trendy thing in that regard, exceptwith clothes you can always change them.”

With tattoos, you can’t.

Laser surgery can remove some tattoos, but the process involves many painful trips to a plastic surgeon. Even then, a scar remains and the tattoo never completely disappears.

“You put tattoos on your body that you want to stay there forever, or else you don’t do it,” said Carlos Rogers of Toronto, whose four tattoos include a set of praying hands like Cage’s. “I ain’t going to put a skull that says ‘Death Becomes You’ on me. Some guys walk around with (tattoos of) knives, guns, bullet holes through people’s heads. My praying hands ain’t going nowhere.”

The Raptors are one of the most tattooed teams in the league. Of the 17 players on the training-camp roster, nine have tattoos.

The Miami Heat are even more tattooed--12 of the 18 on their camp roster had one. It’s the same story with many of the league’s younger teams--the Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves and Portland Trail Blazers all have tattooed players in the majority.

So do the Denver Nuggets, whose four rookies--Bobby Jackson, Danny Fortson, Tony Battie and Eric Washington--all have tattoos.

“If you look at the age group between 18-30, you’re going to see a lot of tattoos--and that age group is abundant in the NBA,” said New Jersey center Yinka Dare, whose tattoo of an African tribal mask is topped by one word--”Incognito.”

The Chicago Bull’s Rodman, of course, is a virtual body ink billboard with tattoos covering both arms, his legs, chest and back. His devil woman on one arm and sunburst on the other may be the most recognized tattoos anywhere.

Damon Stoudamire of Toronto has “Damon” written on one arm and Mighty Mouse on the other.

“There’s no significance to it at all,” Stoudamire said. “But when I got to Canada, people fell in love with it and then it became synonymous with my name.”

Stoudamire claims he helped start the fad when he was a junior on an Arizona team that went to the Final Four.

“I was the only guy out there that had one, and then the next year cats were cutting their sleeves off and they all had tattoos right there. I’m not saying I started the fad, I’m just saying what I’ve seen. Am I right or wrong?”

Getting a tattoo is a life-altering decision, revolting to some people yet enticing to many.

Ostertag’s tattoo of Fred Flintstone on his calf is an image that fits well with the self-described “goofball” persona of the Utah Jazz center.

Parks of the Timberwolves has a pair of tattoos that might not rival Ostertag’s but are goofy nonetheless. On his calf is the green apple-skeleton face; on his back is a tattoo of a face whose mouth appears to open when he bends over.

Nicknames, family names and slogans are popular, too.

Kevin Garnett, who already had a “K.G.” tattoo, added another this summer of an arm holding a basketball with the words “Blood, Sweat and Tears.”

Glen Rice of the Charlotte Hornets has “G-Money.” Jim Jackson of Philadelphia has “JJ” with Chinese writing that translates into: “He who knows about another man is wise, he who knows about himself is enlightened.”

Antonio Davis of the Indiana Pacers and Rodney Rogers of the Los Angeles Clippers have tattoos of their children’s names. Rick Mahorn of the Detroit Pistons has a “Mother” tattoo and his children’s names--but not his wife’s.

“You may get remarried, but you always have your mother and children,” he said.

Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal has a Superman “S,” as does Loy Vaught of the Clippers--although it’s smaller than Shaq’s. Rodney Rogers, Karl Malone of Utah, Matt Bullard (and his wife) of the Houston Rockets--all sport tattoos of bulls.

Tom Gugliotta of the Timberwolves has a wedding band tattooed on his ring finger and barbed wire tattooed around his biceps. Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs has tattoos of a magician and a wizard.

Australian guard Shane Heal of Minnesota wears a tattoo of half a safety pin that appears to be piercing his pectoral muscle. Reggie Miller has a star around his belly button.

Even Lakers coach Del Harris has one--a basketball going through a hoop that was tattooed on his arm before last season.

“It’s on my unicep, I don’t have biceps anymore,” Harris said. “It was just something we decided to do. I would do it again.”