Late this summer, Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball tattooed the initials “LF” in a diploma font in bright red ink. The tattoo is placed on his neck, just below his left ear. It is short for LaFrance, his middle name, and also the name of his clothing brand. He has been playing with the tattoo since the start of this season but on Tuesday during the game against the Miami Heat, Ball was seen covering the ink.

Many fans and analysts speculated that it could be because it is against the NBA’s rules on advertising. According to the rule, players are not allowed to advertise a brand or product besides their official partners and sponsors. Now, we have a solid explanation for the same.

Did the NBA make Ball cover his tattoo?

Adrian Wojnarowski from ESPN confirmed the speculations as he took to his X to share, “The league insists [it] violates rules against exposing commercial logos on players’ bodies”. He also added that sources close to the player argued that this was not enforced frequently by the league.

In a statement to ESPN, NBA spokesman Tim Frank shared,“Per the [collective bargaining agreement], 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. 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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This is not the first time the league has taken action against the players’ artistic expressions. LaMelo’s brother, Lonzo Ball also faced a similar issue in 2018.

Previous cases of rule enforcement

The elder Ball sported the logo of his father’s Big Baller Brand on his forearm. But later, he was requested by the NBA to cover up the tattoo. The same rule was imposed on JR Smith. The former Cleveland Cavaliers player inked the Supreme logo on his arm and was also asked to cover his tattoo.

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In the past, there have been players who had logos of corporations. One of them happened to be Carmelo Anthony with the Warner Brother logo on his left clavicle. There was also the case of Polish centre Marcin Gortat. The former LA Clippers star featured a tattoo of Nike’s jumping man logo of Jordan. However, it can be argued that these players did not have any partnership with the brands and saw no commercial profit.

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What are your thoughts on this move? Do you think Adam Silver was right for this?