LaMelo Ball Is Being Forced To Cover His Brand New Neck Tattoo Every Time He Steps On The Court Because It Violates The NBA's Commercial Logos Policy
Source - The NBA is admitting it's forcing LaMelo Ball to cover up his new neck tattoo ... claiming the Charlotte Hornets star's ink is violating league policy.
The 22-year-old got the "LF" put just below his left ear back in September ... to represent his middle name as well as his LaFrancé clothing line.
But, recently, he's covered it up with a bandage ... and on Friday, NBA spokesman Tim Frank said in a statement to ESPN it's because "players are prohibited from displaying commercial logos or corporate insignia on their body or in their hair during games."
The tattoo...
Laser it off, Melo. It's not going to be successful anyway and you just signed a $260 million contract with the Hornets. Are you really gonna want to stick a band aid on your neck every time you walk on the court? No. And you'd think he would know enough not to get a visible tattoo of a logo because HIS BROTHER DID THE EXACT SAME THING in 2018...
The scenario is similar to one Ball's older brother, Lonzo Ball, had to deal with back in 2018 … when the league made him cover up a "Big Baller Brand" tattoo he had gotten on his arm.
Idiot. And I like Melo too I just don't understand the logic behind the behavior. Oh and for the record the rule makes sense. You can't let people get tattoos of logos otherwise every Tom, Dick, and Harry would be walking around like the hood of a race car. That would in turn take money from the league and blah blah blah. It makes sense don't argue it.
Here's what the NBA had to say…
"We try to enforce the rule reasonably, in accordance with its purpose, and taking into account players' efforts to express themselves in a non-commercial manner," Frank added. "But LaMelo Ball's neck tattoo is in obvious violation of the rule and, accordingly, he's required to cover it."
According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Ball has been fighting the ruling … and is still in talks with the league about coming up with an alternative solution.
I'd be curious to see what that "alternative solution" may be. I don't know what else LaMelo could do? It's either laser it or cover it. What is he going to pitch only being filmed from the right side? The whole thing seems pretty cut and dry but I guess we'll see. Time will tell. Now here are some LaMelo highlights if you're looking for something to watch. Have a great weekend.