Lebron James is widely considered a ‘GOAT’ (Greatest of all Time) by modern NBA fans, but when he’s not owning teams on the pitch, he seems to be obsessed with getting tattoos. The four-time NBA champion has a hobby of inking things onto his body with a number of different kinds of tattoos.
King James (as called by his fans) is an incredible sportsperson and one who is synonymous with the NBA. More fans The four-time NBA MVP has been dominating the sport for well over a decade now and has broken a whole lot of records in his career as well.
James is also a big-time tattoo person and the kind to ink important things in their life onto their body. As a matter of fact, Lebron has 24 different tattoos all over his body, averaging more than one for each year he’s played in the NBA.
Some of those tattoos aren’t really that significant or have that deep a meaning. He’s inked the names of his children and his mother into his body too as a tribute to them. But there are a few prominent tattoos scripted onto his skin and ones that have some really fascinating history behind them.
Crowned Lion King Tattoo
James is a big fan of lions and sees himself as the ‘king of the jungle’ when it comes to Basketball or the NBA as well. That is why he inked a crowned lion tattoo on his right bicep, which shows a lion wearing a crown on its head.
Lebron also scripted the word ‘King’ over the lion and ‘James’ under it, which is basically a way of showing himself to be a crowned lion and the King, which is also his nickname. This is a really smartly done tattoo, where he shows his love for lions and also subtly states his love for the ‘King’ nickname.
Chosen 1 tattoo
A prominent tattoo that can be seen on James when he takes off his shirt during or after games is the word ‘Chosen 1’ written in large letters across his upper back. No, this is not some kind of homage to former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.
As a matter of fact, he got this trophy due to a special accolade received in his career. Before he started his professional NBA career, James was labeled as ‘the Chosen One’ by Sports Illustrated as his first feature in the magazine in his career.
James explained why he got this tattoo, saying: “After finishing my rookie year in the NBA, I was able to obtain it. During my sophomore year, after one of my games, I put that strategy to good use. It was one of the regional publications. Is it possible that this youngster is the Savior? was the issue at hand. You know, when I heard it, my first thought was, “That is so cool!” It strikes me as cool, but I can’t say for certain that I find it to be so.”
The awesome Gladiator-inspired tattoo
James seems to be a big fan of some Greek mythology and fictional careers as well. He got a very interesting tattoo earlier in his career, where he wrote ‘What we do in Life,’ on his left bicep and ‘Echoes in Eternity’ on his right bicep.
This actually creates this quote ‘What we do in Life Echoes in Eternity’. This is actually his homage to the quote made by the character of Maximus (as acted by Russell Crowe) in the hit Hollywood movie ‘Gladiator’. He says it at the start of the movie while inspiring his Roman soldiers in the war against Germania.
The Winged Lion Tattoo
James, as mentioned before, is a huge fan of lions. Along with his ‘lion crown’ tattoo, he has also inked the shape of a winged lion on his chest. He got a huge winged lion tattoo earlier in his career, but this appears to have an admirable religious meaning to it.
The winged lion illustration is the lion from Saint Mark’s Gospel. The winged lion in this case is also a symbol of the Boule Group, which is a discreet society of elite black men in history. The most prominent members of this group reportedly also include Martin Luther King Jr.
The ultimate tribute to Kobe Bryan
The entire world was in shock when NBA legend Kobe Bryant passed away in January 2020 after an awful helicopter crash. Lebron was badly affected by the sudden demise of a peer and competitor, someone he highly respected and cherished in his career.
Soon after his death, Lebron decided to pay a sweet homage to Bryan by inking a new tattoo onto his body. James decided to ink the illustration of a black mamba snake coiled on his left calf area and debuted it on Instagram with the caption ‘My Brother. #Mamba4Life #RIPKobe #RIPGiGi.”
The tattoo also has the numbers 24 and 8 around the snake as well, which were the numbers worn by Bryan in his career. That is incidentally James’ recent-most tattoo and the last one he’s inked into his body. But knowing how obsessed he is with filling a place in his skin with a new tattoo, it’s unlikely to be his last one.
