You can see many athletes tattoos from the likes of LeBron James, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Beckham, and even Mike Tyson love to get inked from time to time. Sometimes, they get it for aesthetic purposes, while at other times, they do so for emotional reasons. 

When you go through this article, you will realize that most of these athletes seek out a talented tattoo artist so he can bring to life what they have been deeply feeling inside. Yes, the reasons for getting tattoos for these celebrities are much deeper than you think!

We hope that this article can bring new insight into inked athletes, and let the readers get a glimpse into their raw human emotions. 

Famous Athletes Tattoos

Here, you can find a list of the most intriguing athletes tattoos. Let’s explore them in more detail.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

You must have heard about all the tattoos the football superstar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has on his body. Even though he wasn’t particularly fond of body art previously, now he is kind of obsessed with it!

On his right wrist are awesome tattoos of the birth dates of his male family members. The ace of hearts on his left wrist has the letter H inside, which represents the name of his wife, Helena Segar. 

Besides, he has more tattoos of a dragon, birth dates of his mother and sister, a grey koi fish, an eagle, Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Vitruvian Man’, a Maori tribal symbol, Five Deva Faces Yantra, and special quotes on his biceps, stomach, shoulder blades, and back.

Furthermore, this guy even advocated for 15 victims of hunger by temporarily tattooing their names on his skin to raise awareness for the United Nations’ World Food Program. 

Mike Tyson

A former professional boxer, Mike Tyson also has some incredible body art to boast about! He has a noticeable tattoo on the left side of his face which represents the warrior status. He has a tattoo of Chinese leader Mao on his right arm. Mao was the person who founded the People’s Republic of China. 

Mike is actually one of the professional athletes who are fond of political leaders because he also has an illustration of Che Guevara on the left side of his stomach. His arm tattoos represent his ex-wife, Monica Turner. He also has Dre Drocher on his right arm. 

This guy is also a follower of spiritual heroes and has the portrait of Arthur Ashe who is the founder of the Arthur Ashe Foundation to fight AIDS. The words Days of Grace are written over the portrait. 

Ronda Rousey

Another popular contender from athlete tattoos is that of Ronda Rousey who is an American Wrestler. We will begin with the inner corner of her feet that reads Every Second. Even her ankle has nice inked words that say, ‘Protected by God, hated by many, respected by all’.

She even has an Olympics ring tattoo on her wrist for winning the Olympic gold medal. Not to forget the Greek Laurel logo of the 2004 Olympics on her right ankle. There is a Kodokan flower on her right wrist as well. Even her MMA wins are inked on her arm!

Natasha Kai

Athletes’ tattoos are hard to miss, especially when they are as intense as the ones Natasha Kai has! She is a forward soccer player who fell in love with tattoos at the age of 19. She has 2 indigenous Hawaiian turtles on her back, a Polynesian tattoo on her right arm, and hibiscus on her right shoulder. 

Hibiscus is the national flower of Hawaii. Her tattoos are basically representations of her culture and origin. As a matter of fact, she has over 60 tattoos all over her body! Also, there are tattoos of poems on her skin that are meaningful to her. 

David Beckham

David Beckham needs no introduction to the world of professional athletes. There are at least 67 tattoos on his body done by a very talented tattoo artist. The tattoos on his neck are dedicated to his daughter named Harper. There is also an I Love You quote around the rose that is inked close to her name. 

Moreover, he also expresses his love for his sons Romeo, Cruz, and Brooklyn, and his wife, Victoria Beckham through several other tattoos. The big tattoo on his back is that of a crucified angel.

There are several illustrations on Beckham’s body that represents the important people and events in his life. Below his left armpit, there is a bald eagle in flight along with wise words of Confucius that say, ‘life and death have determined appointments; riches and honor depend upon heaven.’

Shaquille O’Neal

Shaquille O’Neal also has some tattoos that he can share with his fans all over the world. There is a Superman tattoo on his right arm with the words, AGAINST THE LAW inked inside flames. We also noticed a hand holding the globe tattoo there that says, The World Is Mine. 

The former Laker’s powerhouse even inked a muscular man on his right forearm who is wearing boxing gloves. This is obviously demonstrating who he is with the words BIG as a symbol. 

He even went as far as to call himself BIG DOG and tattoo those words on his body. Nevertheless, he also has the names of his wife and sons inked to honor them. Besides, there are 3 names on his left wrist TAAHIRAH, AMIRAH, and Me’ARAH, which are the names of his beloved daughters. 

LeBron James

LeBron James is one of those athletes with a couple of Olympic gold medals and the total use of tattoos on his body has surpassed many other athletes’ tattoos. Nobody can miss the large letters CHOSEN on his back that relate to him being chosen for the Sports Illustrated magazine cover. 

The guy has a Crowned Lion King James tattoo on his arm to celebrate his first NBA season. There is also a WITNESS ink on his right calf as a reference to one of Nike’s campaigns. Also noticeable is the 330 on LeBron James’s right arm which is his hometown area code. 

Other notable ones are the words Gifted Child, What we do in life echoes in eternity, Gloria, Beast, Hold My Own, Prince James, Family, and more. 

Anastasia Davydova

Another tattoo lover who has won Olympics gold medals is Anastasia Davydova. There are tattoos of several butterflies on her back clearly done by an excellent tattoo artist. 

The butterflies represent freedom, beauty, and change. Unlike other inked athletes on this list like LeBron James, it seems that the butterflies are the only ink art she has on her body. 

Dennis Rodman

His ever-changing hair color is not the only way Dennis Rodman caught our attention. His body is also full of tattoos and we are going to talk about them one by one. There are 2 angry bulls on each side of his chest. Tribal tattoos take up all the space on his shoulders and stomach area. 

One of the scariest tattoos you will ever see is on his back where a woman is eating her own vagina. Besides this, there are some interesting tattoos of a star, a large eye, and the word Infinity. 

You will see more images of a shark, red dice, a motorcycle, a devil lady with a pitchfork, a giant squid, and other designs in different places.