Basketball tattoos are so bad-ass. From Lebron and Iverson, to fans who wear basketball inspired tats on their skin. We have the best list of all time. Sports!! Who doesn’t love sports? There is a sport out there for everyone, from soccer to volleyball. Every sport carries with it a chance to show two of the strongest attributes of human nature: determination and grit. Players often go above and beyond even the boundaries of human strength to achieve miraculous plays. Football receivers make insane one handed grabs. Soccer player pull off incredible bends with the ball. Basketball players seem to defy the very law of gravity. It’s no surprise that people get and cherish their basketball tattoos. They remind us to work hard, take that grit and determination and apply it to every aspect of life. The portray the heroes of the sport; a visual reminder that these regular people are able to do big things. They also remind us that it’s a game and to have fun with it.

Sports are a part of our life’s foundation. Not everyone is a ‘baller’, but we are all good at something and having organized sports gives us a chance to group ourselves with like minded individuals in society and compete on a whole other level. They also teach us modesty and decorum in defeat, a lesson that, though hard, is one that needs to be taught.

Basketball Tattoos:

Kid Outline

Basketball tattoos are about the love of the game. No place is that love more pronounced than in our children. I love the simple outline of this one, showing a child out shooting hoops. There is so much said in this minimalist design. If simple is your style, check out these.

Commitment

Bulls on Parade

One of the most popular and best known teams in the sport are the Chicago Bulls. For years they were number on in the league because they carried the legend of the sport. Michael Jordan was a name known in every single household in America. Whether you liked the Bulls or not, you wanted to “Be Like Mike.” You may have noticed that a lot of basketball tattoos feature the Bull logo.

Go Spurs Go!

I’m sure you’ve heard the term ‘wearing your heart on your sleeve.” I’m not quite sure that’s what they meant, but you can tell for sure that this man is a die hard supporter of the San Antonio Spurs. For more awesome sleeve art, check the link here.

Rock Chalk!

We couldn’t forget to portray our amazing college players, could we? No way. Basketball tattoos aren’t just for the majors. Here we have a die hard Kansas (KU) Jayhawk fan. Please don’t ask me, I have no idea what a Jayhawk is or what Rock Chalk means, I just write the articles.

Grounded

 

Pain is Temporary

 

Ribbed

 

Scripture

It wouldn’t be a proper post on basketball tattoos if we didn’t include those sported by actual players, am I right? Here, this player (okay, look, I’m not a basketball fan) sports a half-sleeve that involves some sort of scripture. I’m totally digging the parchment looking paper over the cloud and sun background!

For the Love of the Game

Bobblehead Lebron

Despite my earlier admission of not being a massive fan, we all know who Lebron James is, right? And that he plays for the heat? Did I get one right? Bah. At any rate, I couldn’t pass up this little guy. Most basketball tattoos wouldn’t be called ‘cute’ but this one fits that bill perfectly!

Dream Big

Dreamcatchers are one of the biggest trends to happen in tattoos lately. What happens when you combine your dream catcher with your love of the game and your nickname? You get a cool looking, original tattoos. Many basketball tattoos wouldn’t hold this kind of uniqueness to them and that’s why this one made it on the list. For more great dreamcatcher pieces, click this.

Goblin

 

Full Color Fire

 

He Got Grit

Flying High

An iconic image in basketball tattoos is that of the man flying through the air, defying gravity to sink that one perfect slam dunk. This tattoo portrays the idea (though, to be honest, we find it a it poorly executed.)

Can’t Be Tamed

Basketball is all heart. Every bit of the blood, sweat, and tears shed on the court is because of the heart put into the game. It’s rare to find basketball tattoos that so greatly portray that thought. This one does so masterfully. I love the idea of the ball being chained and locked it so it can’t escape. What a wonderful portrayal. Check out this page for more incredibly chest tattoos.

Colorful

 

Atlas

Reach for the Sky

 

The Man, The Myth, The Legend

This tattoo is my favorite out of all of them. It’s everything basketball tattoos should be. Here he is, the one and only Michael Jackson done in a hyper-realistic fashion. The color and texture of this tattoo is absolutely phenomenal. From the sweat on his brow to his perfectly rendered shadow, there is NOTHING about this tattoo to be ashamed of. Well done!

Abstract

Orange is a color prevalent in many basketball tattoos. This is, of course, because the ball is generally orange. Orange also happens to be my favorite color and is the reason this tattoo was included. Other than the color, I don’t understand much of the tattoo, the concept eludes me. However, I find it fun to look at so there’s that.

Alley Oop

This one intrigued me from the moment I saw it. There aren’t many basketball tattoos that portray this particular viewpoint and this one is wonderfully done. It is almost like an optical illusion. I can’t stop looking at it!

Just Play It

 

Snoop?

 

Tribal Ball

Tribal tattoos are not going away any time soon. I’m okay with it if you take it and give it purpose like this guy did on his tattoo. Samoan designs aren’t usually associated with basketball, but this man put the two together, showing that basketball tattoos can be used to represent any culture if done the right way.

Three Way Split

 

Number 23

 

All Heart

Air Jordan

We end with this amazingly done Air Jordan basketball. For those of you who want to go big with your basketball tattoos, this is how it’s done!