Over the last decade, since Carmelo Anthony was drafted third overall behind LeBron James and the unfortunate Darko Milicic, the Denver Nuggets have undergone two major overhauls. However, through the multitude of players, the two head coaches and an impressive streak of consecutive playoff appearances, the tattoos of the Nuggets have been some of the best in the league.
Characters like Chris “Birdman” Andersen, JR Smith, Kenyon Martin and even Carmelo flashed colors and designs in the earlier part of the last decade before moving on to other teams. Now, Wilson Chandler, JaVale McGee and Andre Iguodala lead the charge.
Birdman, long considered to be the most impressive artistic specimen in Nuggets history, seemed to add more to his tattoo collection every year than he added to his game. Not to say Andersen isn’t a good player, his tattoos just seemed to multiply on top of each other every year, finally resulting in the word “BIRD” displayed prominently in purple and yellow on his neck, stretching almost ear to ear.
Martin may have some of the most interesting tattoos of the “Thuggets” era, rocking a gigantic set of red lips and a seemingly overweight baby, which may have inspired Chandler, which we’ll get to later.
Smith played alongside Martin, with his tattoos gradually covering more and more of his body, resulting in flames running along his neck towards his face.
Carmelo has a variety of tats, but my favorite is one that I cannot be sure of what it is. From what I can tell, on his left shoulder is the Warner Brothers logo. This could be an homage to one of his favorite movie making companies, or it could be his representation of the t-shirt joke, “If you see the police, warn a brotha,” which is often accompanied by the WB logo.
My favorite modern tattoo is Wilson Chandler’s baby. Unlike Martin’s, the baby is not on his arm, but rests just under his Adam’s apple, surrounded by his seemingly never ending body art. Towards the end of games, it almost looks like the child itself is sweating, which, quite honestly, is awesome.
Coming in a close second and third, respectively, are McGee’s mustache tattooed on the inside of his index finger, which I believe is his visual representation of his alter-ego Pierre, and the wings that span Iguodala’s back – impressive in their sheer magnitude and precision alike.
Overall, the players have come and gone and the success has not always been constant, but the tattoos of the Nuggets have been a source of entertainment for as long as I can remember.
