The 25 best, worst and most regrettable sports tattoos

Birdman

There is nothing wrong with neck tats, but neck tats that look like goofy, colorful turtleneck sweaters are a little ridiculous. Chris “Birdman” Andersen was really cool for a hot minute in the NBA when it seemed as though he had the ability to get up and crush dunks.

He put that rumored ability to rest at the 2005 Dunk Contest, where he holds the record for most attempts of an unimpressive dunk that most of us can perform in the local YMCA gym.

Since the mid-2000s the Birdman has changed his look a little bit. He’s tatted a permanent shirt on his body, including the words “Free Bird” across his neck. He’s said that the tattoo has a double-meaning, partly because his nickname is the Birdman and also because he is a big Lynyrd Skynyrd fan (Which upon learning, you now have to admit the tattoo is pretty bad-ass).

Andersen was a serviceable player throughout his NBA career. The athletic power forward played for Nuggets, Hornets, Heat, Grizzlies and Cavaliers. He retired from the NBA after requiring a knee surgery in 2016 and getting waived by the Hornets after being traded from the Cavs in 2017. Andersen has since entered the BIG3 draft pool, so expect to see him alongside other washed up NBA veterans shooting four-point shots next BIG 3 season.

Birdman is also known for rocking the worst hairstyle of each era he’s played in, from the awful over-gelled spikes, to the long wavy high school look, to the faux-hawk,  to a slicked back style, then back to a Mohawk. The hairstyles are all chronicled here. Yikes.

Overall, Birdman’s tattoos are pretty cool looking, so you can categorize them however you see fit, but we’ll say given most of the looks he’s adopted over the years that the body art probably could have been worse.