Gangrey
Vol. I · No. 1Prolonging the Slow Death of NewspapersEst. 2026

Tracking Tats

Mike Wilson: Ethan Swan and I couldn't see the players' tattoos from Section 217 of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but Swan still knew who was inked and who wasn't. LeBron James? Obviously. Chris Bosh? A swirl of images (musical notes, tiger, skull) on his back. Deron Williams? "He's got a basketball tattoo," Swan said — just as at least one player on every NBA team did at one point three years ago. Of the Nets on the floor in this early May playoff game, only Shaun Livingston was a blank canvas.

Except nobody really is — not any of us, and certainly not Swan. For four seasons, he has kept a database of NBA players' tattoos — every Chinese letter, Bible verse, jersey number, Rolls Royce…

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