23-year-old LaMelo Ball, currently associated with the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), has lately been garnering limelight for his back tattoo, which people thought was quite insane.
LaMelo has always been an enthusiast for tattoos, so he started getting them when he was just 16 years old.
In October 2021, he talked thoroughly about his experience with tattoos during an exclusive talk with GQ Sports and also shared his experience when he got his first tattoo on his wrist. He said,
oh, actually the first one, if I had to pick, yeah. I forgot to eat. My ass almost passed out. That’s when it hit me in my wrist, I’m like, hold on.
Via GQ Sports
LaMelo said that he almost fainted at the time. To minimize his pain, the tattoo artist suggested that LaMelo Ball have some food, which he followed, and everything went well afterward.
Things have changed for the better since then; NBA player LaMelo doesn’t feel intense pain whenever he gets tattoos but falls asleep.
Now, he has multiple tattoos on different parts of his body, including his legs, arms, and chest, and each one holds deep significance in his life.
LaMelo Ball’s tattoos engraved on his arm, chest, and legs resemble him!
While speaking with GQ, LaMelo Ball explained the meaning of his tattoos and said that all of them more or less represent him.
He started with the tattoo piece on his chest, which has a ‘one’ in the middle, and said, “The one pretty much represents me.”
Further, LaMelo’s golden child-like tattoo on one arm, alongside an angel with wings on the other, and a lion tattoo on the other arm represent him in every manner. Regarding his lion tattoo, he said,
This is my whole arm. I got, it’s a baby lion looking at me. Cause you feel me?I always know I’m going to be little young Melo, who I was around my family and all them. But then, the big lion, everybody can see that because obviously, you see where I am now.And then there’s one of one above that which was also resembles me, one of one.
He also has a tattoo of a little baby on his arm, whom he considers his little partner in crime and his twin. LaMelo Ball also has a little rocket ship tattoo because he considers himself an astronaut.
Whatever LaMelo Ball felt, he brainstormed how he could represent those emotions by painting his body and getting it done.
LaMelo Ball recently got a giant tattoo that took six artists to complete!
A few months back, LaMelo Ball shocked his viewers by getting a giant tattoo on his back that includes the words “RARE ONE with RARE outlined in red and black and ONE outlined in white.“
For this tattoo, he was continuously in contact with a veteran tattoo artist, Herchell Carrasco, for over four months to have it. Herchell said he ‘went through about six or seven drafts for the design’ that Lamelo now has on his back.
With the help of five other artists, Herchell finally completed LaMelo’s back tattoo, spending 18 hours in total, and when they finished the piece, the NBA star was so happy. In this regard, the veteran tattoo artist said,
He couldn’t stop looking at it. I was surprised. I thought he would’ve been in more pain, but I do know he was getting vitamins through IV…..He was already talking about his next tattoos. At the end of the day, that’s what matters. It’s been weeks and he’s still super excited about it.
Via Complex
His back tattoo also became the topic of reddit discussion, where many of the reddit users criticized him.
Some even accused LaMelo, saying a little injury he got inside the basketball court hurt him a lot, but he doesn’t feel the pain when getting such a massive tattoo.
Whatever the matter is, LaMelo Ball appears to be enjoying the paints he has on his body. He is absolutely giving a damn to his critics and living his best life.
Additional Information
- LaMelo Ball was born in Anaheim, California, on August 22, 2001. He is currently 23 years old.
- In 2018, he began his career with BC Prienai, a professional basketball club in Prienai. LaMelo is 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 180lb.
- In September 2024, he was said to have a face tattoo of a Hawk Tuah girl on his neck, but this turned out to be untrue.
