Mike Scott's best known tattoos are the series of emoji he has tattooed across his arms. In January 2014, when he first started accumulating emojis, he discussed them with Chris Vivlamore for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
“I get a lot of backlash on it,” Scott said. “I get a lot of good and positive on it. It’s something I like to do. It’s different. No one else is doing it. That’s probably not for a good reason but it is original and something I like doing. I’m going to get all of them.”One year later, in January 2015, Scott explained that he had 29 emoji tattoos at that point in a Grantland interview: "They’re just me. Original. It’s just the type of person I am. I’m different."
By 2018, a Washington Post profile explained that Scott had "lost count" of emoji tattoos. It also revealed how he began this project:
"Mike Scott got his first emoji tattoos at a friend’s house in Atlanta in 2013, the summer after his rookie season in the NBA — a purple devil smirking on his right shoulder, an orange angry face on the left. Each cost just $30. Fast and cheap, as Scott, now a 29-year-old Washington Wizards forward, proudly brags."
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At the close of the 2014-15 season, Scott participated in an exit interview for the Atlanta Hawks website. When asked what his plans were for the offseason, he answered, "“Um, basketball and tattoos.”
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For a 2015 Grantland interview by Charles Bethea, Scott discussed several of his other tattoos:
What does it say on your forearms?“No one can see through what I am except for the one who made me.” And “The wages of righteous bring them life. But the end of the wicked brings them punishment.” Inspirational quotes, I guess you could say.
What don’t most people know about you?I like astronomy. I’ve got this astronomy tattoo with all the planets lined up.
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In a 2019 interview with Serena Winters for Yahoo, Scott talked about his first tattoo:
"My first tattoo (points to his left tricep) was Laugh Now, Cry Later. And I got it because, I just got it. I didn't really have a reason. I was just like, that's dope! I'm going to get that. I was in college my junior year, so I just got it. A couple of my friends had it already. It's a stupid reason, but that's why I got it, honestly."
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A 2012 ESPN profile of Scott, written while he was still playing for the University of Virginia, listed the tattoos he had at that point:
"Scott has 13 tattoos (and counting), including the initials of his two little brothers, Antonn and Derrick, tattooed onto his wrists; his mother’s initials are tattooed on one side of his neck and his father’s tattooed onto the other side."
