Grossman’s tatoos
This past summer Godwin junior Nick Grossman made national headlines with some creative ink. Grossman did not go with a butterfly on his lower back or a barbed wire tat around his bicep.
He got two henna tattoos (temporary tattoos that last a couple of weeks) of NBA players Kevin Love and Lebron James, but with a little twist. Both players were wearing Cleveland Cavaliers jerseys.
For those who do not know, James recently returned to his old team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in classy fashion. Love had been on the Minnesota Timberwolves for six years, joined James in Cleveland, instantly raising championship hopes.
After James went to the Cavaliers, were rumors arose that Kevin Love would join forces with him.
Grossman has been a fan of Cleveland sports ever since he was a young boy, so he was ecstatic when the widely accepted best basketball player in the world decided to rejoin his favorite team.
“After Lebron left Cleveland, I never would have thought he would come back. I am beyond excited that Cleveland finally has a contender that could break the 50-year championship drought,” said Grossman.
So when Grossman came across a henna tattoo and t-shirt shop on a family vacation in Virginia Beach, he had an idea.
“I saw the tattoo of Lebron in a Heat jersey and thought it would be awesome if he was wearing a Cavs jersey. I decided to try to make it happen and asked the shop if they could do it.”
The shop was able to make Grossman’s request a reality. After getting the tattoo of Lebron in a Cavaliers jersey, he had an even better idea.
“There were rumors of Love coming to Cleveland, so when I saw the Love tattoo in the shop I decided to have some fun. I paired the two all stars on my back,” said Grossman.
Grossman decided to do what any teen might — tweet about it. He tweeted a picture of his back with the two tattoos with the caption, “Let’s make this happen” and mentioned Love, James, and the Cavs owner Dan Gilbert.
Due to NBA rules, players are not allowed to say anything about pending trades or deals, so the players did not say anything. But an ESPN reporter did contact Nick.
“Some Cavs fan on twitter was bored while at the beach, so he searched Kevin Love Cavs on twitter. He saw my picture and decided to tweet it at the ESPN reporter Darren Rovell,” said Grossman.
Quickly Grossman’s picture was everywhere.
“My picture was featured on over 30 websites on four different continents. It also made it to television where it was featured on Fox Sports Live,” said Grossman.
TMZ contacted Grossman about doing a story but would not do it unless he got real tattoos of the players.
“I am under 18, so I am not allowed to get a tattoo without my parents’ permission. And if I want to live in my house, I cannot get two permanent tattoos,” said Grossman.
The tattoo must have brought along a good omen because on August 23 Kevin Love was traded to the Cavs for Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, and a future first round pick.
“It is crazy to think that my fun little idea was turned into an international story,” said Grossman.
