More on AK’s ink…

A good two full days (which is roughly [eternity symbol] in Internet time) after the story about AK’s new Nuggets jersey back tat was posted on SLC Dunk via @alexisaholt, it’s hit the national media.

Ball Don’t Lie (Yahoo) calls it “ridiculously frightening” and suggests that children “not read Ball Don’t Lie for the next day or so, until we can compile enough posts to push this one into the website’s archives.” NBC Sports says, “the legend of Kirilenko’s awesomeness continues to grow…Shine on, Andre [sic] Kirilenko. Shine on.” SI: “Clearly, this is one of the worst tattoos in sports history.” Dime: “Andrei Kirilenko’s New Tattoo Is Ridiculously Amazing.”

A Rockets fan friend sent me a link to Dime’s story with the comment:

forget birdman. here comes… dragonman!

I have to say, the tat is strangely growing on me, and “Dragonman” would be a pretty cool nickname if he didn’t already have one of the best in sports in “AK-47.”

Some of the comments on the national stories are hilarious. The design is, as expected, a love-it-or-hate-it-type deal.

From Dime:
** clib: dope, unless he gets the front view done on his chest
** north: the line between cool and nerdy just got thinner.
** Miles: BADASS! Thats it, one word.
** Promoman: Best tat I’ve seen on an NBA player in years.

From Yahoo! Ball Don’t Lie:
** Alex: Looks like the nuggets found a new teammate!!!
** Christopher Dean: looks like he’s not coming back to Utah…
** David: That looks pretty wicked. At least you can actually SEE it, unlike the tattoos on the black players in the NBA.
** JK Brown: That Tat makes him alot tougher… and the wings will help increase his vert by atleast 2-3 inches……
** Tommy: BAD @$$!! Kelly Dwyer….just because you have zero creativity in your life, don’t hate on someone elses expressive nature.
** Relax: What’s really scary is his haircut.
** Gabe: That is one of the coolest tats I’ve seen! Cool yes, scary….. no. Who got scared by this? Strawberry shortcake?
** Lee: The pic should be full-body. I want to see his butt!
** Akira: DUDE!!! THAT IS THE COOLEST TATTOO I’VE EVER BLOODY SEEN!!!!!!!!! Nightmares, @#$% that’s the kinda tattoo that becomes a legend!!!!!
** Xeno Zero: i like that tattoo, it looks hella wicked, but dont let your mormon children near him, he may be the devil!
** Andy Orlikoff: Hate basketball, really like the tat.
** Dave H: Should have gotten a haircut too.
** Philip: simply it is him not slaying his dragon, but he caught, trained, and tamed his dragon, its his expression of conquering his demons and fighting his battles threw-out his like, i dig it and it is not scary the slightest
** Leonard: This is all Obama’s fault.
** Al: Awesome ink. I’m more frightened of his hair, tbh.
** Michelle S: Oh, that is just EPIC. He had a great tattoo artist. It’s beautiful!

Between each of those, intersperse with other comments about:
1) how it’s going to look when he’s 60 or 70 or 80 or 90;
2) how the tattoo removal business is going to be really lucrative in the future;
3) anti-tattoo Bible quotes;
4) pro-tattoo responses from Christians;
5) how it’s not going to go over well with “the Mormons”;
6) queries on whether BDL writer Kelly Dwyer is a girl because (s)he is frightened by the tattoo;
7) “it’s his body, he can do what he wants”;
8) appreciation for body art and the tattoo artist’s artistry;
9) “what is it?”;
10) the word “sick” used both by people who absolutely love it and people who hate it.

(I only got through the first 1,000 comments. There were 2,000 comments when I first started reading and almost 4,000 now.)

P.S. SLC Dunk has since posted an update on the origins of the tattoo, which I feel like I need Google Translate for because it talks about WoW and palandins and other words I don’t understand.

P.P.S. CJ doesn’t believe it’s real/really AK:

To compound the mystery, the tattoo artist that originally posted the pics, @vicback, has deleted all AK-related tweets.

P.P.P.S. However, the Trib has confirmed that it is, in fact, real and that it was, in fact, AK in the pictures:

More:

“It’s very strange, because it’s so much pain,” Kirilenko said. “It’s so funny, because I didn’t do it for the people…I don’t really plan to show it around.” (Trib)

(Just days after Greg Miller questions AK’s tolerance for pain, he shows up with a giant back tattoo. Coincidence? I think not. *kidding*)

Brian T. Smith also said that AK is planning to play for Russia in the European Championships in September. Yay! Something to look forward to.

The Offseason: Where updates on non-news posts happen.