While Lonzo Ball kept his on-court work this summer largely a secret, his work on his arm off the court was anything but a secret. Ball and tattoo artist Steve Butcher chronicled each step of the impressive Black Excellence sleeve on Ball’s left arm. The sleeve features depictions of Martin Luther King Jr., Barack Obama, Malcolm X, Jackie Robinson, Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks.
During Pelicans Media Day, Ball was asked about his tattoo and what it means to him personally.
“It means a lot. Obviously, first off, it’s black excellence. But for me, it’s like, I went through a lot, I felt like, the last two years and when I look at my arm, I see that they’ve been through a lot worse than I have. For me, it’s just a meaning of hope.”
Ball has been through a lot in the last year. On top of his on-again, off-again relationship with longtime girlfriend Denise Garcia, Ball also dealt with a lawsuit in March against Big Baller Brand co-founder Alan Foster for alleged embezzlement totaling over two million dollars of Ball’s funds and the subsequent fallout from that. And even in the wake of those comments, Ball and his father LaVar were countersued by Foster, muddying the waters even more.
And none of that even includes the on-court changes for Ball as he was dealt from Los Angeles to New Orleans and is part of a new roster where a starting spot isn’t even guaranteed for the third-year guard.
With all the whirlwind around his life, Ball deciding to get the tattoo to keep things in perspective is a tremendous sign of maturity. While things may not work out perfectly on the court for Ball moving forward, he’s keeping himself grounded and keeping life in the right perspective.
