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During a lengthy absence from the 2020-21 season due to a high ankle sprain, LeBron James added a large tattoo to his right thigh. The artist, Ganga, posted the above photo of the work in progress to his instagram account in April 2021. An earlier instagram post also showed James tattooing a crown on Ganga's wrist:
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LeBron James shared the above photo to his instagram page on January 31, 2020, just five days after Kobe Bryant's death.
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James has a tattoo of a lion wearing a crown on his right arm. In a 2018 court filing related to the lawsuit against NBA2K for their reproduction of tattoos, James spoke about this design: "For the tattoo of a lion's head, I supplied the picture of the lion that I wanted inked. It was on the back of a deck of cards at a hotel I once stayed in, and I liked the design. I instructed the tattooist to ink this lion's head, and he followed my instructions."
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LeBron James posted a video to instagram on July 4, 2013, of himself getting a new tattoo on his left shoulder. As shouted out in the caption, the work is being done by Jimmy Hayden of Cleveland’s Focused Tattoos. The design was later revealed to be the words "Akron Est. 1984" tattooed across both shoulders.
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The summer 2012 issue of Urban Ink Magazine features an interview with Cleveland-based artist Jimmy Hayden of Focused Tattoos. Towards the end of the interview, Hayden discusses the work he’s done for James:
Can you talk to us about meeting and tattooing Lebron James?
Meeting LeBron was phenomenal. Obviously, I had seen him coming up from when he first got in the league and always wanted to work on him. When he first came in I was excited. At first, we started with a lot of cover-ups of old work he had from when he was younger. After that, he started coming to me with different designs. After the Olympics he came with the lion design with the definition of “king.” He was great to work with because he knew what he wanted and brought ideas to me as opposed to just wanting a tattoo. It was a partnership for sure. He helped me get in with Nike and got me some projects with them.
What were some other pieces you did for him?
His “Chosen One” back piece is my work. The chest piece, his legs with “Witness” and “History,” the “330” for the Akron area code on his arm–everything.
