Meet the man who recorded all tattoos of the NBA and open the "folder NBA Tattoos"
"I watched so much basketball growing up, I wanted to take part in all this, not just to be a spectator." The Ethan Swan, one of three children of a family of activists who grew up in New York, spent her evenings watching NBA games and when I finally moved to Philadelphia at the time that Allen Iverson zenith, was hitting epiphany about what wants to do in life. So I decided to become "He recorded All tattoos NBAer".
For four years is a huge file with all the tattoos that have "hit" the NBA and the players to succeed had to spend many hours of research, thousands of google searches and follow many accounts Twitter, where players tend to make the unveiling of ink laid out on their body.
So the Swan, as stated in the excellent theme of "fivethirtyeight", knows about every Chinese characters, for each phrase from the Bible or any portrait that has "hit" player in the NBA. And fill therewith the tumblr with the title attribute "NBAtattoos". Without judgment. "We have so many ways to judge a player based on performance, why add another one and even insignificant" he says.
So you wanted to talk about the "cartoon suicide" of Daniels, the label "Warner Bros" (WB) of Carmelo, the dragon Kirilenko, because he says there are many that have special meaning, or is very touching as the Randy Foye, who has "paint" the picture of his mother at the heart. NB: his mother Randy Foye abandoned him and his brothers before they go primary.
The 38 year old Swan, who this morning runs a gallery / multiplex in Los Angeles, insists that the tattoo is a personal affair of each, he has several tattoos (the hand, abdomen, chest, back) and explains how it became the sticking after a sentence of Allen Iverson. The "Answer" that has a large "Only the Strong Survive" on a cross knives on his shoulder, he said that "I put in my body fuck that mean something to me."
In the first list of Swan had recorded 433 players in the NBA, the 230 had tattoos and 203 did not. As the investigation went the rate of 53% was increased gradually to 55% and then 56%. There is simply trying to keep numbers and lists, but to find and the story behind every "hit" in ink. Such as allegorical of Chris Andersen that filled his body when he was in the process of detoxification, the RIP of Demarre Caroll for his brother or that of Trevor Ariza for his brother who died at five years of falling from a hotel window.
The results, however, are of interest. 80% of the field of Pistons and Nuggets are tattooed, respectively while the smaller proportion have Bobcats (29%) and Pelicans (33%). Sometimes, however, beyond simply recording the Swan grabs the keyboard to accuse those who criticize the players for their tattoos. "It's disappointing the way it is used tattoos to remove the player from the viewer. Journalists convert tattoos in another line that separates the players. Why would they do this," he asks.
He does not want to comment negatively nor DeShawn Stevenson, who has "hit" Abraham Lincoln in his neck, a tattoo that is scorned especially lately. "We're talking about a troubled guy, who has been arrested many times, or wearing shirt that says" LeBron, how's my Dirk taste? ", But who never knew his father. People gonna crack your heart.'m Not saying that everyone is accountable for his actions, but because people standing in it and not trying to say anything about its history? "
The Swan became famous when Reddit spotted, starting in the blog's forums. Then hit the alarm of "Inked", which had him talk to Dorell Wright, who had written "GHOST" on his shoulder, which ultimately referred back to "Go Hard Or Stop Trying". It was the first time the Swan spoke with another player in the NBA, a process not wont, betting more on Online survey, which continues even now.
Tough job, but someone has to do it. One has to register and defend their players with tattoos, which are often targeted. The Yahoo had written that players who have tattoos in more visible areas of the body are usually players selfishness, keeping the ball well and did not play as a team. The author argued that this demonstrated statistically, as 7 in 10 of the top ten scorers have tattoos, while 8 out of 10 in "group" statistics such as assists and rebounds are not.
And that's not all. The magazine "Hoop" was passed by the Iverson photoshop to put him on the cover of several years ago. The NBA wants players who look like extras in "The Wire", and this has placed strict regulations on clothing for the players when they arrive, when they leave and when they are on the field. It is the tip of an iceberg that the Titanic collides with the "image" of the players, the ghettos of America and gangs and hip-hop culture. Terms for which Iverson had spoken again outside teeth: "if you put a suit on a murderer remains a murderer."
The "fivethirtyeight" did a similar survey did not lead anywhere. There is no concrete evidence for this. As says Swan "whether a player has tattoos that seem not mean they are selfish or that he wants to be facing the whole world. When a player has tattoos that appear, means that just wanted to do a tattoo that looks".
