Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum is one of the fastest rising stars in the NBA. As good as he already is, Tatum lets his game do the talking for the most part. Today, however, the Celtics news we're going to talk about isn't about Tatum's basketball skills, but his ink game.
The former No. 3 overall pick, however, isn't shy in using his body as a canvass to express himself. For a 21-year-old, Tatum already has a ton of ink on his body.
Mom and Little JT
Tatum permanently embedded his mother on his body with a touching portrait of her and the little version of himself on his right shin. I guess it's safe to say that Tatum is a proud mama's boy.
Jayson Tatum’s tattoo of his mother x the “Rising Stars” Kobe AD Exodus. 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/VLIoWraDvV
— SLAM Kicks (@SLAMKicks) February 15, 2019
Pair on his thighs
Jayson Tatum has two huge tattoos on both of his upper thighs. The former Duke standout shared them on Instagram in 2018.
On the right is what appears like a nuclear explosion with the words “St. Louis 'til the world blows.” Of course, this particular one is a nod to his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, where the All-Star was born.
On the left, Tatum went with another self-portrait of him, this time as a dad with his cute little son in the illustration. The Celtics star is wearing his number 0 jersey while carrying his baby boy. The young dad probably hopes that the youngster eventually follows in his footsteps and becomes a future star in the NBA in two decades.
98
You wouldn't notice it when he plays since they're entirely covered with leg sleeves, but Tatum's legs are actually engulfed in tattoos. One of the tattoos positioned square on his left knee is a big “98” with a star in the background. This most likely represents his birth year. Tatum was born on March 3, 1998.
Jayson Tatum’s newest tattoo. pic.twitter.com/2pMacsUBbm
— Boston.com Celtics News (@BDCCeltics) July 20, 2019
For Nipsey
Tatum also has another large tattoo on his other calf, this time at the back. The motivational words “I JUST DIDNT QUIT” written in bold standout on this piece of art, with what also seems to be a tribute to the late Nipsey Hussle.
Another new leg tattoo for Jayson Tatum. pic.twitter.com/zdEJXXmGss
— Boston.com Celtics News (@BDCCeltics) July 21, 2019
GODS PLAN
Tatum is a proud Christian and credits Jesus for his success and his blessings. The rising star offered his praises by plastering the words “GODS PLAN” on his upper back in all caps. Below it is “Proverbs 3: 5-6” which is a verse from the Bible.
Per Bible Gateway, the passage reads as such:
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight
Unfortunately, this tattoo drew a lot of flak from the Grammar Nazis on social media. The lack of the apostrophe became a laughing point on NBA Twitter and fans noticed that this isn't the first time he didn't use the proper punctuation. If you look above, the word “didn't” also lacked the apostrophe.
Personally, though, it looks a lot better the way he had it done. You do you, Mr. Tatum.
As you can see, Tatum's tattoos definitely took a lot of thinking. All of them hold a dear place to his heart and inking them permanently on the body is a great way to show love for them.
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