Carmelo Kyam Anthony better known as MELO and Carmelo Anthony is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. Carmelo has been named an NBA All-Star ten times and an All-NBA Team member six times. He began playing at his school level and he gained the limelight by winning the school’s first NCAA championship in men’s basketball in 2003. Besides, he is one of the high body tattooed basketball players. His inks range from lots of motivational words to few inks which highlight his Basketball game connection. Let us explore his amazing body inks.
Carmelo in one of his interviews also revealed how he had to cover up his first ink from his mother because he knew she would not be happy about it. It was Ravens Logo which he had got at the age of 16 years on his arm.
ARM TATTOOS
RIGHT ARM TATTOOS
1. ‘WHO CAN I TRUST’ Tattoo
Tattoo: The tattoo in Carmelo’s right inner bicep contains the words, ‘WHO CAN I TRUST’.
Meaning: This ink is another representation of Carmelo’s personality as to how cautious he is of making friends and trusting people around him. He seeks to reflect through these phrase ink that he is not sure of whom he should trust in life.
2. ‘Flaming Basketball Design with his Name Initials’ Tattoo
Tattoo: Exactly on his right shoulder Carmelo has a tattoo of the basketball inked along with his own name initials, i.e CA inked. The earlier tattoo just had a basketball and his name initials. However, he got it changed by turning the basketball ink into a flaming basketball tattoo by adding the flames on the top side of the basketball.
Meaning: This is the second flaming basketball ink on his body which shows Carmelo’s deep dedication for his love for basketball and his ever-increasing love for his career in the game.
3. ‘Live Now Die Later’ Tattoo
Tattoo: On the right arm of Carmelo there lies an ink of Comedy Tragedy Masks which reflects the Angry and Happy Faces. The emoticon masks also carry the words written over and under them as ‘LIVE NOW DIE LATER‘. Additionally, the angry face mask also shows the dagger which is passing through its head.
Meaning: The Live Now Cry Later tattoo is the symbolism of the fact of life that we should focus on living in the present and to the fullest means rather than dying every day by just thinking of the consequences of our day to day actions which we need to take for achieving success in life.
4. ‘Snake with a dagger’ Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a dagger inked on Carmelo’s right forearm which has a snake wrapped around it. The snake’s body is covered up with a line that says, ‘NO ONE WILL EVER BE ABLE TO FEEL MY PAIN‘.
Meaning: The tattoo is the symbolism of healing and bravery. It shows how the individual is able to live overcoming the pains of life by continuously healing and recovering himself to move further in life.
5. ‘Puerto Rican Flag’ Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a Puerto Rico flag inked on the outer side of the right hand of Carmelo.
Meaning: This tattoo shows Carmelo’s love for his father, who is Puerto Rican.
6. ‘Son’s Name’ Tattoo
Tattoo: On the outer side of Carmelo’s right arm, he has got his son’s name inked. The ink consists of the word, ‘KIYAN’.
7. ‘Spiderweb’ Tattoos
Tattoo: There are spiderwebs inked on both the elbows of Carmelo Anthony.
Meaning: Spiderweb is the symbol of weaving and knitting the circle of life the way the person wants to. However, Spiderwebs are also the symbol of the time a person might have spent in jail.
8. ‘Dices’ Tattoo
Tattoo: There are multiple dices inked on the inner side of the right bicep of Carmelo.
Meaning: Dices tattoos are inspired by the well-known phrase, i.e Roll The Dice. Thus, dice tattoos are the representation of the personality of the person that he is a risk-taker in life and believes in undertaking danger for every situation.
9. ‘Chess Board Design’ Tattoo
Tattoo: The middle part of Carmelo’s right upper arm has the design of Chessboard inked right in the background of the Comdey Tragedy Masks. Chess piece symbolizes the power, bravery, and confidence of the person. Carmelo is already well known to be well confident of his life and believes in doing everything according to his own ways.
10. ‘City of Birds’ Tattoo
Tattoo: Towards the inner side of Carmelo’s right forearm there is a beautiful piece of ink which includes a portrait of some buildings, along with the words, ‘410’ and ‘City of Birds’ written in front of it. Below them, there is a tattoo of a bird with open feathers. Surrounding the whole ink are the shining rays along with multiple stars too.
11. ‘JA’ and Tribal Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a tribal design inked near Carmelo’s right hand’s wrist. Whereas on the inner side of his wrist is the ink which shows the initials, JA. The tribal design on his forearm is the latest edition. Earlier there was only an ink which reads as ‘MANU‘
LEFT ARM TATTOOS
12. ‘Bulldog with Playing Cards’ Tattoo
13. ‘A Tribal Flaming Basketball’ Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a large flaming basketball inked on the left arm of Carmelo, inked just below his MELO Tattoo.
Meaning: The flaming basketball is the symbol of Carmelo’s ever-increasing passion and dedication for Basketball.
14. ‘When the Grass Is Cut the Snakes Will Show’ Tattoo
Tattoo: Right on the inner side of Carmelo’s left bicep, the words are written which say, “When the grass is cut the snakes will show.”
Meaning: These are lyrics by rapper Jay-Z. The lyrics focus on the fact that we are not aware of the bad and selfish people around us. The snakes here mean the people around us who can be our friends, who can be our family members. It is difficult to know anybody’s real intention until the time when we need their help or e get to face their faces in times of help (clever and selfish people referred to as snakes).
15. ‘Eye with a Tear Drop and the Quote’ Tattoo
Tattoo: Towards the inner side of his left bicep there is a tattoo that shows an eye along with a teardrop falling down from its inner end. The ink also has few words taking about Life inked below the eye. The words go as follows; ‘Life is what you make it‘.
16. Tribal Tattoo on Left Forearm
Tattoo: The whole of Carmelo’s left forearm is covered with the tribal ink.
17. ‘Chinese Letters’ Tattoo
Tattoo: Before getting his left forearm inked with the tribal design, Carmelo got the Chinese letters inked which still continue to be there.
18. ‘Trust’ Tattoo
Tattoo: Carmelo has the word, “Trust” inked on the outer side of his left hand in the italicized font. Just like other motivational and inspirational quotes and word tattoos, this is another symbol of Carmelo’s personality and his way of analyzing life and people.
19. ‘Loyalty and Honesty’ Tattoo
Tattoo: On the backside of Carmelo’s left and right arm, there are two motivational words inked, Loyalty and honesty, respectively.
Meaning: The tattoo is the symbol of Carmelo’s personality that he sincerely believes in Loyalty and Honesty.
CHEST AND SHOULDER TATTOOS
20. ‘Son’s Footprints and Date Of Birth’ Tattoo
Tattoo: On Carmelo’s right pec there exists a tattoo of his son, Kiyan’s footprints. On the top of the footprints the full name of his son i.e Kiyan Carmelo Anthony is inked, followed by his date of birth i.e March 7, 2007, inked in between the footprints. This tattoo shows his deep love and strong bond with his son.
21. Bible Verse Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a big quote inspired by Bible inked on Carmelo’s left pec. The words are inked inside a roller banner.
22. ‘No Struggle, No Progress’ Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a phrase inked across Carmelo’s chest which reads, ‘No Struggle, no progress’.
Meaning: The words stand for the fact the success is difficult to achieve in life and to achieve it every person needs to struggle. If we do not struggle we cannot achieve progress in life.
23. ‘DEDICATION and DETERMINATION’ Tattoo
Tattoo: On Carmelo’s left and right shoulder blade, there are words; ‘DETERMINATION and DEDICATION’ inked, respectively. This ink is another add on to the inspirational word body tattoos of Carmelo besides, Trust, Loyalty, and Honesty.
24. ‘WB’ Tattoo
Tattoo: There is the symbol inked on Carmelo’s left shoulder which represents West Baltimore.
Meaning: WB i.e West Baltimore is the place where Carmelo began his learning for Basketball and it turned to be a lifelong success for him.
25. Finger Tattoo
26. Stomach Tattoo
Tattoo: The tattoo on Carmelo’s stomach reads, ‘Against The North‘.
27. Neck Tattoo
28. Back Tattoo
