LeBron Raymone James, better known as LeBron James, is an American basketball player.
He is the American Professional Basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. He has ample inks on his body which include not only inspirational quotes but also tattoos representing his love for his loved ones. Every new addition to his current huge collection of body inks brings him into the limelight among his fans. Let’s explore his tattoos and their meanings.
1. ‘CHOSEN 1’ Tattoo
Tattoo: LeBron has CHOSEN1 inked in large on his upper back.
Meaning: He got this tattoo while being in High School, after he was first featured on the cover of “Sports Illustrated” on Feb. 18, 2002. He was introduced as “The Chosen One” on the cover of Sports Illustrated, followed by his story, telling about his growth to the top of the Basketball world. This cover page story had motivated him to get himself inked with the same title.
2. ‘Crowned Lion King James’ Tattoo
Tattoo: Crowned Lion on his Right Bicep.
Meaning: This started out as his first arm tattoo, which he got transformed during his first NBA season and got ‘King’ on the top, ‘James’ on the bottom inked along with it.
3. ‘WITNESS’ Tattoo
Tattoo: WITNESS inked on his right calf.
Meaning: LeBron got this tattoo after the successful session of the 2006 playoff. The tattoo letters have been inked running down the length of his right calf. This ink also holds the reference to one of Nike’s campaigns which went on air after that game session.
4. ‘330’ Tattoo
Tattoo: 33o inked on his right forearm.
Meaning: This particular tattoo is the reference to his hometown (Akron, Ohio) Area Code. He had revealed this tattoo at the start of his fourth season of NBA.
5. ‘What we do in Life Echoes in Eternity’ Tattoo
Tattoo: Lebron’s right arm has been inked with “What we do in life” and the rest of the quote continues on the left arm ‘echoes in eternity”.
Meaning: This quote means that whatever we do, the result of such actions has long term implications. The idea behind getting this inked on his body was that, that Lebron has been ever happy with his decisions in his life, and thus, he had decided to get this ink when he had returned with a minor injury in March 2010. This tattoo is the quote from his favorite movie Gladiator.
6. ‘Gifted Child’ Tattoo
Tattoo: ‘Gifter Child’ is inked in small letters on LeBron’s chest.
7. ‘No one can see through what I am except for the one that made me’ Tattoo
Tattoo: No one can see through… is inked on the inside of his right forearm.
8. ‘Gloria’ Tattoo
Tattoo: LeBron has got Gloria inked on his right arm above his Lion Head Tattoo.
Meaning: This tattoo is in the honor of his mother, Gloria James.
9. ‘Beast’ Tattoo
Tattoo: LeBron has a Beast tattoo art on his left bicep.
10. ‘Hold My Own’ Tattoo
Tattoo: Just below the beast tattoo, Lebron has the letters inked which say, “Hold My Own”.
11. ‘Prince James’ Tattoo
Tattoo: Portrait of his son Lebron Jr, Prince James on the inside of his left forearm.
Meaning: Lebron got the portrait of his son inked on his left forearm on his son’s first Birthday.
12. ‘L and J’ Tattoo
Tattoo: L and J have been inked on Lebron’s left and right triceps respectively.
Meaning: These two-letter tattoos represent the initials of his name, (LeBron James). He had revealed this tattoo during the 2007 NBA playoffs.
13. ‘KJ1’ Tattoo
Tattoo: KJ1 inked on his right hand.
Meaning: This tattoo is known to stand for King James 1.
14. ‘Bryce Maximus’ Tattoo
Tattoo: The right forearm of LeBron carries another tattoo, featuring the name of LeBron’s second son, Bryce Maximus.
Meaning: LeBron loves his sons and thus he has tattoos of both his sons on his body. He got this tattoo before joining the training camp of the USA’s Basketball Team.
15. ‘Stars’ Tattoo
Tattoo: By making an addition to his existing inks, LeBron has also got multiple stars inked, surrounding his Beast Tattoo.
16. ‘Family’ Tattoo
Tattoo: Tattoo featuring the word ‘Family’ written on the right side of his abdomen.
17. ‘Loyalty’ Tattoo
Tattoo: The left side of his abdomen is inked with the word ‘Loyalty’.
18. ‘Akron’ Tattoo
Tattoo: ‘Akron’ inked on his right shoulder.
Meaning: Akron inked on LeBron’s left shoulder represents the name of LeBron’s hometown.
19. ‘Est 1984’ Tattoo
Tattoo: ‘Est 1984′ inked on LeBron’s left shoulder represents his date of birth.
20. ‘Flames’ Tattoo
Tattoo: Black Flames inked on LeBron’s right forearm.
21. ‘Lion’ Tattoo
Tattoo: LeBron has a huge tattoo covering his chest with a lion. The lion is actually the Lion from Saint Mark’s Gospel. Saint Mark is symbolized as the winged lion. It is taken from the imagery of the Pinnacle of St Mark’s Cathedral where he is shown as holding the Bible. The Lion is represented here as the symbol of the city of Venice and formerly of the Venetian Republic. However, the winged lion is the symbol of The Boule Group.
22. ‘HISTORY’ Tattoo
Tattoo: LeBron has HISTORY inked on his left calf.
Meaning: LeBron revealed this tattoo inked on his left calf on 17 April 2010 during the first game of the 2010 NBA Playoffs, thus Matching the WITNESS tattoo on his right leg.
23. Birds Tattoo
Tattoo: LeBron as two flying birds inked on the inside of his right bicep.
24. ‘Tribute to Kobe Bryant’ Tattoo
Tattoo: Lebron got a tattoo done on his thigh which shows a snake (Black Mamba), a rose, and some numbers tattooed.
Meaning: This tattoo is Lebron’s tribute to his late NBA legend cum friend, Kobe Bryant (nickname Black Mamba) who died in a Tragic Helicopter crash on 26 January 2020. The tattoo includes the snake which is symbolic of Kobe’s nickname i.e Black Mamba, Rose as the token of Love, and the numbers are the ones which Kobe Bryant wore during the tenure of 20 years playing for the Lakers. The tattoo was done by the Tattoo artist Vanessa Aurelia. LeBron got the tattoo done and then revealed it through his Instagram on Feb 1, 2020.
He also shared his emotions on the loss of his friend,
“I literally just heard your voice Sunday morning before I left Philly to head back to L.A.,” he wrote on Instagram. “Didn’t think for one bit in a million years that would be the last conversation we’d have. WTF!! I’m heartbroken and devastated my brother!!”
