LeBron Raymone James, popularly known as LeBron James. He is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. He has a lot of inks on his body, which include not only inspirational quotes but also tattoos that represent his love for his loved ones. Each new addition to his current huge collection of body inks brings him to the center of attention of his fans. Let us examine his tattoos and their meaning.
1. ‘CHOSEN 1’ Tattoo
Tattoo: LeBron has a large CHOSEN1 inscription on his upper back.
Significance: He got this tattoo in high school after he first appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated on February 18, 2002. He was featured as “The Chosen One” on the cover of Sports Illustrated, followed by his story, which tells of his rise to the top of the basketball world. This cover story motivated him to get inked with the same name.
2. ‘Crowned Lion King’ Tattoo
Tattoo: Crowned lion on the right bicep.
Significance: It started out as his first arm tattoo, which was transformed during his first NBA season and came with the words “King” at the top and “James” at the bottom.
3. Tattoo ‘SVIDKA’
Tattoo: WITNESS ink on right calf.
Significance: LeBron received this tattoo after a successful playoff session in 2006. The tattoo’s letters were printed along his entire right calf. This ink also contains a link to one of Nike’s campaigns that aired after this playoff session.
4. ‘330’ tattoo
Tattoo: 33rd on his right forearm.
Significance: This particular tattoo is a reference to the area code of his hometown (Akron, Ohio). He revealed this tattoo at the start of his fourth NBA season.
5. Tattoos “What we do in life echoes in eternity.”
Tattoo: Lebron’s right arm was imprinted with the words “What We Do In Life” and the rest of the quote continues on his left arm with “Echoes In Eternity.”
Significance: This quote means that whatever we do, the outcome of such action has long-term consequences. The idea of inking this body was that Lebron had always been happy with his decisions in his life, so he decided to get this ink when he came back with a minor injury in March 2010. This tattoo is a quote from his favorite movie Gladiator.
6. ‘Gifted Child’ Tattoo
Tattoo: “Gifter Child” is written in small letters on LeBron’s chest.
7. ‘No one can see through what I am except the one who made me’ Tattoos
Tattoo: No one can see through… is painted on the inside of his right forearm.
8. ‘Glory’ Tattoo
Tattoo: LeBron has Gloria inked on his right arm above the lion head tattoo.
Meaning: This tattoo is in honor of his mother, Gloria James .
9. ‘Beast’ Tattoo
Tattoo: LeBron has a tattoo of the Beast on his left bicep.
10. ‘Hold My Own’ Tattoo
Tattoo: Just below the beast tattoo, Lebron has printed letters that say “Hold My Own.”
11. ‘Prince James’ tattoo
Tattoo: Portrait of his son Lebron Jr., Prince James on the inside of his left forearm.
Significance: Lebron received a portrait of his son inked on his left forearm for his son’s first birthday.
12. ‘L and J’ tattoos
Tattoo: L and J were inked on Lebron’s right and left triceps.
Meaning: These two letter tattoos represent the initials of his name, (Lebron James) . This tattoo was unveiled during the 2007 NBA playoffs.
13. ‘KJ1’ Tattoo
Tattoo: KJ1 on his right hand in ink.
Significance: This tattoo is known to mean King James 1.
14. ‘Bryce Maximus’ Tattoo
Tattoo: LeBron’s right forearm features another tattoo of LeBron’s second son, Bryce Maximus.
Significance: LeBron loves his children, so he has tattoos on his two sons’ bodies. He got this tattoo before starting a training camp for an American basketball team.
15. ‘star’ tattoos
Tattoo: Adding to his existing inks, LeBron also gained several stars surrounding his Beast tattoo.
16. “Family” tattoos
Tattoo: Tattoo with the word “Family” written on the right side of the abdomen.
17. ‘Loyalty’ tattoos
Tattoo: The left side of his abdomen is printed with the words “Loyalty.”
18. ‘Akron’ Tattoo
Tattoo: He inked “Akron” on his right shoulder.
Significance: The initials written on LeBron’s left shoulder represent LeBron’s hometown name .
19. Tattoo ‘Est 1984’
Tattoo: ‘ Est 1984′ written on LeBron’s left shoulder represents his birth date.
20. Flame Tattoos.
Tattoo: Black flames painted on LeBron’s right forearm.
21. ‘Lion’ Tattoo
Tattoo: LeBron has a huge tattoo covering his chest of a lion. The lion is actually a lion from the Gospel of St. Mark. St. Mark is symbolized as a winged lion. It is taken from photographs of the top of St. Mark’s Cathedral, which show him holding the Bible. The lion is depicted here as a symbol of the city of Venice and formerly the Republic of Venice. However, The Boule Group’s symbol is a winged lion.
22. ‘HISTORY’ tattoo
Tattoo: LeBron has HISTORY written on his left calf.
Significance: LeBron revealed this soaked tattoo on his left calf on April 17, 2010 during the first NBA playoff game of 2010, coinciding with the WITNESS tattoo on his right leg.
23. Bird tattoos
Tattoo: LeBron as two flying birds painted on the inside of his right bicep.
24. ‘Ttribute to Kobe Bryant’ Tattoo
Tattoo: Lebron had a tattoo on his thigh, on which a snake (Black Mamba), roses and some numbers are tattooed.
Meaning: This tattoo is a tribute to Lebron’s NBA legend, his friend Kobe Bryant (nicknamed Black Mamba) who died in a tragic helicopter accident on January 26, 2020. The tattoo features a snake symbolizing Kobe’s nickname Black Mamba, Rose as the Love token and the numbers are the ones Kobe Bryant sported for 20 years playing for the Lakers. The tattoos were done by tattoo artist Vanessa Aurelia . LeBron got the tattoo himself and later revealed it via his Instagram on February 1, 2020.
He also shared his feelings about losing his friend.
“I literally heard your voice on Sunday morning before I left Philly and headed back to LA,” she wrote on Instagram. “For one moment in a million years, I didn’t think that would be the last conversation we had. WTF!! My heart is broken and my brother was destroyed!!”
