Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard has had ink on his arms since the days before his NBA career, but the tattoos on his body have gradually gained more real estate. He even added a few subtle changes this summer that we can see from his Instagram pictures. Just for fun, we’ll start our inspection of Lillard’s tats way back, when he had no ink at all. Here we have a throwback to Lillard as a kid; tattoo free.

Posted August 9th, 2012

Loading #tbt lol View on Instagram

And here he is in his Weber State Wildcat days. He’s got the half sleeves started, but you can see all sorts of blank slate on his anterior deltoids.

Posted June 6th, 2012

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Not much had changed for him partway through his rookie season, as we can see the same tattoos present on the cover of Dime Magazine in early 2013.

Posted February 8th, 2013

Loading First Magazine cover… #Blessed #Thankful View on Instagram

Here is where things start to get interesting. The summer between his first and second NBA season, Lillard unveiled his latest piece of body art; a full chest tattoo that reads “Oakland, Heart of the City.”

Posted June 22nd, 2013

Loading Heart of the city… new tat #JafeeeelG View on Instagram

Fast forward almost a year and we can see that the chest tattoo and half sleeves (now fuller) have run together at the shoulders, but he is still bare above the collar bone. This picture was posted during the Trail Blazers’ first round playoff series with the Houston Rockets.

Posted April 24th, 2014

Loading #TBT … Harder than I thought, it was life or death in my mind. Y’all see all that water View on Instagram

Now, if we look back about a month from present day, we can see that the ink has traversed his clavicle and climbed over the front of his trapezius muscle. This addition was rather recent and gives the chest plate a fuller feel, cutting off at his neck line.

Posted September 13th, 2014

Loading RelAxation at it’s finest… View on Instagram

This video, taken yesterday for Lillard’s #4BarFriday twitter initiative, gives us a good look at the recent developments along with the entirety of the tattoos on his arms and torso.

Posted October 10th, 2013

Loading #4barfriday … Sorry for goofing off lol… One of my favorite beats ever. “Shaking hands often, the respect climbing rapidly Money growing like a beanstalk, nobody Jackin me In and out of city’s , plenty women after me Feeling bad for home , cuz it’s way too many casualties ” View on Instagram

I’m curious to see how far he takes this. I think the tattoos suit his personality well; a tough up-and-comer from Oakland that always has his city in mind. The full Bird Man would be a bit much, and thank goodness he doesn’t have a five dollar bill on his neck like a certain free agent, but I cannot say I am opposed to Lillard’s next installment (if there is one). His body is a gallery of where he’s been and what he believes. There is both artistic and personal value in that.

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