Lakers’ Lonzo Ball gets his first tattoos in solidarity with his brother LiAngelo
Most of his teammates have at least one tattoo, his best friend on the team, Kyle Kuzma, is covered in them and his head coach Luke Walton has several. But Lonzo Ball began his NBA career without any body art at all.
Partly, tattoos had never interested him. Partly, his father, LaVar, frowned upon them.
That changed this winter. While Ball was out with a sprained MCL, he decided to get a couple of small tattoos in solidarity with his middle brother, LiAngelo.
“My brother got a bunch of them so I didn’t want him to be the only one in the family,” Ball said. “My dad was pretty mad the first time. I used to have wristbands but they all snapped off so I figured I’d put them there permanently.”
In cursive on one wrist, Ball has tattooed “motivated by Jesus, dedicated to the game,” along with an image of a cross. On the other wrist, the inscription reads “born to ball because of him,” along with Ball’s birthday.
LiAngelo’s tattoos are much more extensive. Lonzo said his brother got them before leaving for Lithuania, where he plays now. He described them as covering LiAngelo’s entire torso.
“I like his chest, I’m not a big fan of his stomach,” Lonzo said. “Chest is dope.”
LaVar Ball, the family’s outspoken patriarch, objected to LiAngelo’s tattoos until, Lonzo said, he calmed him down.
As for LaVar’s reaction to Lonzo’s ink?
“He was already over it,” Lonzo said, noting LiAngelo’s tattoos had caused the shock to wear off.
And besides, he said mischievously: “I’m in my own house now, pay my own bills, so he can’t really tell me nothing.”
Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli
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