- We would get in my car, and we'd just blast that music
and really get pumped up about going to get tattooed.
We thought we were so cool.
Coming back to high school with tattoos,
'cause we're like the only kids with tattoos,
it was just pure trouble.
I remember my teachers were like,
"You're gonna be like those other NBA players
"who have all the tattoos."
I was like, "I'm gonna be whatever I choose to be."
[chuckles]
This is all Wiz Khalifa's fault, man.
[clapperboard snaps]
[hip hop music]
I got my first tattoo in ninth grade.
It was this one right here, M-O-A-M.
The rubber bands I have that say man on a mission.
My mom was furious.
If I would've put M-O-M,
she probably would've been fine with it.
It was like a slogan.
She's like, "Do you have to have that on your wrist?"
The answer's no, but I wanted it, so I got it.
'Cause me and my homie actually went just on impulse,
and we had listened to Wiz Khalifa on the way there
to get us pumped up to do it.
The "Ink My Whole Body," that was the song,
it's called, "Ink My Whole Body," by Wiz Khalifa.
And we were so stupid, and we wanted to get tattoos,
and then we went back like two weeks later,
and then we went back like three weeks later,
'cause it's addictive.
But they were little ones, 'cause we're in high school,
so we're scared to get everything else, but it looked dope.
- [Interviewer] How does she feel about your tattoos now?
- She's just over it now, she doesn't care anymore.
Every time I get a new one,
she's like, "You got another one?
"Let me see."
I told her I'll never get anything on my neck or my face,
which I'll never do.
If there's something where you could see a little bit
on the back of my neck, that'd be fine,
but nothing ever on the front of my, I'll never get a tattoo
on the front of my neck or on my face.
I just, I won't do it.
I am not one of these weirdos
who enjoy the pain of getting tattoos.
I don't know anybody who enjoys it.
When people say that, I don't believe 'em.
People like, "Oh, getting tattoos, it doesn't hurt,"
that's complete bullshit, man, tattoos hurt.
Any time you get tattooed in an area
where there's a lot of contact, and it's like soft skin,
the stomach, the inside of your arms,
that's usually the worst part.
The three, I'm the third child.
My little brother has four, he was the fourth,
my sister has two, and my oldest has zero.
He refuses to get tattoos,
so, we're trying to get him to buy into it,
but he's stubborn, but he'll buy into it.
- [Interviewer] Do you have a 25 on there anywhere?
- I do not have 25, I just have, my hands have a cross,
and I have faith, you know, I'm a religious guy,
and I pray before every game.
I got these in high school, [chuckles] on my fingers,
and they literally just say dedicated and determined.
I don't know why I got them in high school.
I guess I just wanted to let people know I was dedicated
and determined, I don't know.
I wouldn't get 'em now, but they're on there.
I haven't got 'em redone.
Seriously, the fact that they still actually look like that,
they kinda blended together a little bit, but that's cool.
This basically my life.
God with the cross, family with the heart,
and basketball, obviously, with a basketball.
That's just what defines me as a person,
so I got these in high school as well.
And I got my chest, I got a scripture done,
but it's done so poorly that I'm covering it up.
So I will not show that, it's bad.
'Cause that's what happens in high school
when you go to a random tattoo parlor,
not a certified artist.
Some people want a tattoo, and they just go get it,
and then like a year later,
they're kind of embarrassed to have it.
I don't wanna have that feeling,
like I have on my chest,
I hate the way my tattoos look on my chest,
so, that's why I made sure I took my time
on my arm, my sleeve.
Sometimes I print it out first,
and then I'll look at it on myself and see how I like it,
and if I don't see myself
liking this a couple years from now,
then I'll just totally scratch the whole idea.
- [Interviewer] Do you have an artist in mind
to do all the work? - Yeah, Chuey,
Chuey Quintanar, he does all my work, man.
That's his nickname.
He's based out here in LA.
LA has the best tattoo artists, hands down.
It's not even close.
Jun Cha, Freddy over on Shamrock,
those are the three best artists in LA,
and, Freddy done a lot of my work,
and then Chuey does all my other work.
Yeah this is Jesus, right here.
Paul Pierce used to make fun of me
and say that it looked like Johnny Depp
in "Pirates of the Caribbean."
But, [chuckles] I think it looks pretty damn good, man.
Do you see the scratch right here?
I got scratched in a game,
so that's the one thing about playing basketball,
your tattoos get fucked up, so you gotta fix 'em,
'cause now he has a scratch right on him below his eye, but,
and then the clouds.
So these are my hands.
So you see that they have the cross and the faith on it.
Pendego, flowers, lion, everything in it,
and then this is, this is my most detailed one so far.
[hip hop music]
Chuey travels the world,
and takes pictures, similar to a guy named Jun Cha,
they take the actual pictures.
So this was the actual picture he took,
not just something he got offline.
This is just after he was sacrificed,
he was taken off the cross.
You see his mother, Mary, holding him.
Angels comforting him and the detail in this, the drapery,
and everything, this took 30 hours.
So I did three days straight, 10 hours a day.
So any time you're getting a sleeve,
you need things to cover up space,
and I think instead of, I have the clouds there,
but I just think the clouds are so overdone,
I thought the flower really kinda
would just be a more beautiful, natural way
of just taking space and connecting each tattoo.
The lion, I'm a Leo.
I just think,
it just has everything to go with what I'm talking about.
Me, my hands praying to God,
me just trying to be a lion and me roaring,
just through life, trying to figure out what I wanna do,
doing it in my own way and giving it my best.
I'm all about maximizing myself.
I don't like to compare myself to other people.
As long as I'm proud of what I'm doing
and proud of who I am, and how I am, I'm fine.
And I think that's what a lion always does.
Just takes his own way, his own, you know,
and so I put that on here,
and that kinda flows into this right here.
Everyone always asks me if this is a scripture,
and it's not, it's really a collection of quotes
that I've gathered and put it here.
It's mostly about overcoming fear,
and dealing with failures in your life,
and understanding it's a part of success.
And I especially got this when I was playing for my Pops,
here in LA, that pressure,
and the negativity that came along with that,
just having something that reminds you
of understanding that this is my process,
and my journey's different than everybody else's,
and I have to maximize this, and this really helped me.
And my favorite tattoo that I have
would be right here on my right leg.
Martin Luther King tattoo.
It talks about the measure of a man.
A man should never be measured
in times of convenience and comfort,
but in times of challenge and controversy,
which I think is so dope and is so true.
Anybody can be confident, anybody can do things well
when everything is convenient and everything is comfortable.
And he just talks about the ultimate measure of a man
is where he stands in times of challenge and controversy.
And we know what he stood for.
I wouldn't be here without guys like him.
I come from a interracial marriage.
I thought making his quote into the suit was pretty dope.
My tattoo artist actually came up with that idea,
so it kinda flows.
- [Interviewer] Which artist was it?
- Chuey, Chuey Quintanar, man, he did this whole thing,
and, this was probably my most painful tattoo,
'cause the back of my calf right here, really, really stung.
He's a slow artist, but it's because of how detailed he is.
I mean, that literally does look just like Martin.
Nah, that's it, that's all I got, man, that's it, man.
I love what I got.
I'm not a finished product yet,
but, that's the beauty of tattoos.
You can always change things, add things,
and, Wiz Khalifa, look what you did to me, man.
Your music and his choices have now led me
to be tattooed and covered.
My mom hates you.
[clapperboard snaps]
[quiet dramatic music]