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Wade one of few NBA players without tattoos

Guard Dwyane Wade is one of four players on the Heat who do not have any tattoos.

When Dwyane Wade was growing up in Chicago, his parents had all sorts of rules. No earrings, no hats, no tattoos.

So when Wade headed to Marquette as a freshman in fall 2001, it was time to rebel. He was a man, and he was going to show it.

“I got my earring, and I was like, ‘A tattoo is next,’ ” Wade said. “I walked into a tattoo parlor, but I walked right out. I understood I was doing it just to say I was grown up. But it wasn’t me. So I walked out, and I’ve never been back.”

More than a decade later, Wade is starring for the Miami Heat and still isn’t a graduate of Tattoo U. And that puts the guard in an NBA minority.

Since the 1990s, tattoos have been as prevalent in the league as timeouts and turnovers. The 2003 book In the Paint: Tattoos of the NBA and the Stories Behind Them stated that more than 70 percent of NBA players are inked. And, looking at today’s teams, that seems to remain an accurate figure.

Eleven of Miami’s 15 players are said to have tattoos. That’s 73 percent.

Of course, if forward Shane Battier is playing a prank, some might think the percentage has gone up.

“I come in every now and then with a fake tattoo just to see the reactions,” said Battier, who said he’s “never had the urge” to get a real tattoo. “The really cheap ones. Like a rose. I get some chuckles …. (The tattoos he selects) are over the top. It’s a way to make fun of my clean-cut-ness.”

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Chris Tomasson can be reached at christomasson@hotmail.com or on Twitter@christomasson

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DECREASED OUTPUT

Wade was voted a starter to the East All-Star Team on Thursday but his multiple injuries have certainly affected his numbers this season. Wade has missed nine of the Heat’s first 23 games.

At 20.4 points per game, the Heat’s longtime shooting guard is averaging his fewest points total since his rookie year (16.2). His shooting percentage (44.6) is also well below normal (48.5). Last season, Wade was a 50 percent shooter from the field.

“There’s no way to sit out games and come back with perfect rhythm,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He did a lot of conditioning, a lot of court work while he was away and yet that’s still not the same.

“So the next step is getting into that game condition and getting into game rhythm, game instincts and that will get better just with time.”

The Heat was 8-1 without Wade, but Spoelstra pointed out the effect Wade’s absence had on the Heat’s defense. Wade has long since been considered one of the best shot-blocking guards in the league.

“What we noticed when he was away was how much impact he had on our team defense,” Spoelstra said.

“As a playmaker on the ball, but also it’s such a unique luxury we have that he can be in the back line of our defense as a 6-4 guard, as a free safety back there to guard the rim in some of our coverages.”

BY JOSEPH GOODMAN, The Miami Herald

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