CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball is being forced to cover a tattoo below his left ear that the NBA says violates rules exposing commercial logos on players’ bodies, a spokesperson for NBA told Channel 9.
Ball has the initials “LF” tattooed, which is short for LaFrance, which is his middle name and now the name of his clothing brand.
ESPN is reporting that the NBA and Ball have had conversations about the tattoo. Ball started to cover up during games this week.
In the Hornets’ game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night, Ball had the tattoo covered up, as Channel 9 could see.
“Per the CBA, players are prohibited from displaying commercial logos or corporate insignia on their body or in their hair during games. 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, a statement from NBA spokesperson Tim Frank said. “But LaMelo Ball’s neck tattoo is in obvious violation of the rule and, accordingly, he’s required to cover it.”
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