LaMelo Ball forced to cover one of his tatoos during NBA games / News - Basketnews.com

LaMelo has 'LF' tattooed on his neck under his left year, the initials of his middle name, and now, his clothing brand, which violated an NBA policy, forcing him to cover it up. The player argues the initials were used long before the commercial partnership.

Credit: Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images North America/Getty Images via AFP Credit Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images North America/Getty Images via AFP

Charlotte Hornets star guard LaMelo Ball has a tattoo on his neck that the NBA now requires him to cover.

LaMelo Ball

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The league has informed the team that Ball violates the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) about the display of commercial logos on players' bodies or hair, Adrian Wojnarowski from ESPN reports. Namely, the Hornets guard has 'LF' tattooed on his neck behind his left ear - an abbreviation of his middle name, LaFrance, which is now his clothing brand.

"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," NBA spokesperson Tim Frank said in a statement to ESPN.

Notably, LaMelo's brother Lonzo Ball had to cover his tattoo of the Big Baller Brand - a company launched by their father - in 2018.

Ball argues that he used the LF initials long before it became a brand and that they represent not only his middle name but his uncle as well while also saying that the policy has been enforced infrequently. The NBA argues that previous iterations of a similar violation when players have tattoos of brands on their bodies did not feature a commercial partnership.

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