Hornets star LaMelo Ball recently made news after the NBA made him cover up his ‘LaFrance’ logo neck tattoo with a band-aid, find out more about the incident below
While LaMelo Ball is renowned for sporting all kinds of cool accessories during his games, he was recently spotted with a new accessory, an oval-shaped band-aid.
Why did LaMelo Ball cover his ‘LaFrance’ neck tattoo
LaMelo Ball is now covering up his new "LF" tattoo.
The LF on his tattoo stands for LaFrancé, the name of Ball's clothing line. pic.twitter.com/x0BhRLqo7S
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) November 15, 2023
It looks like LaMelo Ball might have been told by the NBA to cover up his new tattoo.
The “LF” tattoo is also the logo for Ball’s clothing brand “LaFrancé” pic.twitter.com/YPz2V5qcux
— James Plowright (@British_Buzz) November 15, 2023
Following the incident, fans have come up with all kinds of speculations about the reason behind LaMelo’s actions.
LaMelo Ball covers his neck tattoo with a band-aid
Interestingly, LaMelo Ball placed the band-aid right above his “LF” tattoo in an Old English font. The bright red ink tattoo is the logo of Ball’s lifestyle brand, LaFrance. According to speculations, the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement likely put up the decision to enforce LaMelo’s decision to cover his tattoo. According to the NBA uniform rules, players cannot display any brand logos outside of their uniforms and sneakers.
NBA’s uniform rule on promotional brands
Given below is the NBA’s uniform rule on promotional brands:
Other than as may be incorporated into his uniform and the manufacturer’s identification incorporated into his sneakers, a player may not, during any NBA game, display any commercial, promotional, or charitable name, mark, logo, or other identification, including, but not limited to, on his body, in his hair, or otherwise.”
Back in 2018, the NBA enforced the same rule on Lonzo, Ball’s older brother. The NBA forced him to cover his tattoo of the Big Baller Brand logo with a band-aid. Similarly, the NBA threatened J.R. Smith with a fine if he failed to cover a tattoo of the Supreme logo. Notably, the NBA forced Iman Shumpert to cut the Adidas logo from the back of his then-signature high-top fade.
LaFrance
LaFrance (stylized LaFrancé) is a popular clothing brand that Ball launched ahead of the 2020 NBA Draft. The name of the brand is inspired by Ball’s, whose full name is LaMelo LaFrance Ball. In the past, the brand has done collaborations with Ball’s sneaker partner, Puma. The brand sells a variety of clothing, including T-shirts, shorts, sweatsuits, hats, and various accessories.
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