Tattoo Advertising Could Be Next in NBA

March 21, 2001 -- A typical night of NBA action is crammed with more tattoos thanan aircraft carrier's worth of sailors.

There are skulls, flaming crosses, wizards, swords, serpents,stars and sunbursts, hundreds of yards of barbed wire, mothers,girlfriends, wives, siblings and offspring, not to mentionSuperman, Mighty Mouse, Fred Flintstone and endless variations onthe devil himself.

(And all this without Dennis Rodman.)

But soon, something much more shocking could be coming to abiceps near you: "This Space For Sale."

Agent Curious About Creative Offer

A candy company recently approached the agent for Portland'sRasheed Wallace and inquired about buying space on what is alreadya crowded billboard of human flesh.

"My job is to bring offers to my client's attention," agent Bill Strickland said Tuesday from his office in Washington, D.C. "I toss out the ones I think are ludicrous. I thought this one was creative — we talked about the kind of tattoo that lasts only so long — and being a lawyer, I think it presented some interesting free-speech issues."

Wallace is a curious choice, to say the least. 'Sheed alreadysports more artwork than you'd find at most starving-artist hotelliquidation sales. On top of that, he only makes it to the end ofso many games. As of Tuesday night, when Wallace tied thesingle-season record for technical fouls (38) he set just lastyear, he'd already been ejected a league-high six times.

But that's beside the point.

Money Talks

The real issues are whether the ballplayers are mercenary enoughto wedge corporate logos onto the available space alongside lovedones, and what the league is going to do about it.

About the first part, there's no doubt. When it comes tomercenary, the Hessians could learn a lesson from today'ssuperstars. Their spiritual godfather is former Yankee slugger ReggieJackson, who, embroiled in a salary squabble, told skepticalreporters that he was serious about a threat to play baseball inJapan.

"For a certain amount of money," Jackson said with a straightface, "you'll eat Alpo."

So while Wallace probably won't be the test case — "My clientis very proud of what he already has on his body," Stricklandsaid. "He may not want a commercial appearing, even temporarily,among all his personal statements." — there is no shortage ofballplayers lining up.

"Depends," New Jersey Nets guard Stephon Marbury said, "onhow much money they'd pay."

Drawing the Line

Fortunately, the league is prepared to draw the line onendorsement deals somewhere near the top of the players' sneakers.The NBA higher-ups aren't wild about some players' ideas ofexterior decorating, and no doubt wish the tattoos would justdisappear. But they remember the flap that ensued last year whenAllen Iverson appeared on the cover of Inside Stuff with most ofhis tattoos airbrushed away. So they're taking a different tack onthis latest proposed fad.

"We do not allow commercial advertising on our uniforms, ourcoaches or our playing floors," a league spokesman said, "sothere's no reason to think we'll allow it on our players."

Actually, the logos of league-sanctioned manufacturers appear onthe uniform, but the league gets paid for those. Its opposition totattooed logos probably has more to do with the players union'scontention that the NBA would be unreasonable to deny a playerpermission to put whatever he wants on his body. Making mattersworse, Wallace's agent said the candy company that approached himis not Nestle, the official candy sponsor of the NBA.

"But there's nothing on the books that says he can't do it,"Strickland said.

Maybe yes, maybe no, but ask yourself: Do we really need to seeShawn Kemp sporting a "Jenny Craig" logo, Gary Payton pushing"Rolaids," Brian Grant shilling for "Supercuts," or the entireDallas Mavericks squad decked out in matching "Taco Bell"chalupas?

In a word, no. This is a bad idea that can only get worse. Theleague gets younger and more mercenary every season. Four yearsago, an informal Associated Press survey found that 35 per cent ofthe NBA players sported tattoos, and potential sponsors shouldrecall that they were already a fickle bunch to begin with.

Back then, veteran Rick Mahorn had a permanent "Mother" tattooand his children's names — but his wife was nowhere to be found.

"You may get remarried," Mahorn reasoned, "but you alwayshave your mother and children."