Sounds like you guys have a good artist-client relationship.

I am a perfectionist to a T. It’s got to look perfect—clean, tight-looking, and ready to go. That’s why our collaboration works so well. He also knows I’ll punch him in the face if he screws up. You tell [Slaughter] I said that, “I’ll punch him in his face.” [Laughs.]

So tell us about that insane “Free Bird” tattoo across your neck.

I’m a free bird, man. I’m always going to be free. Simple as that.

You never worried about the needle on your neck?

Think about it: You shave all the time, man. It didn’t really hurt. The jaw line kind of got my attention because of the bone. When he hit that, it kinda went zzz. You kinda go, “Ooh, yeah, that feels great.” But with all that pain I go through running and gunning on the court and all that crazy stuff I do in my personal life, it ain’t no problem.

What about the wings you have under each arm?

Those hurt, but that mainly came from Birdman, my nickname. Flying high, taking over the sky.

Which of your tattoos has been the most painful?

The rib area hurts, but the stomach hurts the worst. [When I get tattooed] I don’t do any kind of pills, I don’t get drunk, I just do it straight up. That’s the only way to do it.

Which tattoo means the most to you?

Every single one of them; not one has more meaning than the other. They all relate. They all involve my personal life and the positions I’ve been in, as far as being on a roller coaster ride. I’m always gonna be back at the top. No matter how hard you get knocked down, you always get yourself back up. That’s where I get my ideas. The thoughts on what kind of tattoo I’m gonna get to represent those hardships and to celebrate those good times. It’s basically like saying, “I wear my heart out on my sleeve.” Literally.

One of those lows hit when you got a two-year ban from the NBA in 2006 for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy. What was your first thought when you found out?

Just devastation. Here I had been working so hard as a kid and a teenager to get to this point—sleep, eat, dream basketball—and at that moment, I truly fucked up. I lost my dream. It was really devastating. I got knocked back into that same situation where I was drinking and doing cocaine. Just like, “Fuck it. I’ve lost everything, fuck it.” It was “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd—when I heard the lyrics to that song, it really changed me around. I went and poured all the alcohol in the toilet and dumped out all the drugs. Fuck it. I’m gonna get back on that right track. I went to rehab, straightened up, and here I am.

Why didn’t you try to make an excuse or fight the ruling in court like a lot of other busted athletes?

If you made that decision and you didn’t think about the consequences, then there ain’t nowhere to point the finger at but yourself. I had to change myself because if I stayed on that same path I probably wouldn’t be here today—I’d probably be dead.

Do you have any tattoos from those two years away from basketball?

Once I got suspended, I had a lot of free time on my hands. I was in the shop all the time. I just got tatted up. That’s when it blew up. About 80 percent of [my tattoos] are all from that time. This whole torso is from then. I was in that situation and I wanted to remind myself on a daily basis that this is what happened. That keeps pushing me in the gym. It encourages me to stay on the right track. If something bad happens, you can’t let it deter you, you just got to keep moving forward. Sometimes it all comes at once and you really feel like giving up. But you have to reenergize yourself and refuel yourself and that really motivates you to move forward.

You play on the Nuggets, where a lot of guys on the team have some serious ink. Do you guys ever talk about your art with each other?

Swish [Nuggets guard J.R. Smith] will go get tatted up and you’re like, “Man, that’s cool.” Then you start thinking about that idea for that next tattoo you want. Then I call up [Slaughter], “Hey, can I come in?” Then the next thing you know, I’m heading off after practice to go get tatted up. Then the next day, I’m like, “Hey J.R., check this shit out.” Then [Nuggets forward] Al Harrington goes and gets tatted up and it starts all over again. When you see someone else’s art or they see mine, everyone just influences everyone to go get tatted up. Sometimes when we’re sitting around bullshitting on the bench, we’ll just start brainstorming ideas for our next tats. “What are you gonna get?” “I don’t know, what are you thinking?”

The NBA is full of players covered in ink. What type of impact do you think that has on the fans?

Any young kid, or college kid, sees us in the NBA with however many tattoos we got and it definitely makes it acceptable for them. Then they want to get tattoos too because they know it’s okay.

You’ve built a solid relationship with your younger fans through community service. Why is that?

I think it’s because I lived in a children’s home and that experience really rubbed off on me. My mother wasn’t around, my father rarely came around, so I was just sitting there in the home thinking, “I just gotta keep moving forward.” There was one Christmas where the alumni from Northeast Texas brought us into this big conference room full of gifts and trees and big presents stacked, like, seven feet high. So I’ve been there, I’ve gone through what they’re going through. They understand what I’m talking about. I try to give them inspiration to never give up and keep fighting.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen from your older fans since your career took off in the NBA?

People dress up like me for Halloween. I don’t know if I should take that as a cool thing, or is that an insult, because I’m a scary motherfucker, you know what I mean? My friends will send me pics from everywhere. They’ll be in Vegas, or Texas, and they’ll send me pics of people dressed like me, like, “Ha ha ha, check this shit out.” And I’ll be like, “Yeah, I’m one scary motherfucker.”

So what’s next for the scary motherfucker?

I’m looking to get tatted up by Chris Nuñez from Miami Ink. He’s gonna tat me up. I think he’s actually opening up a new shop down in Miami. I told him, “Let me know when you’re opening up a new shop and I’ll come down.” I’m probably going to fill up the rest of my back, shade that. When I’m done with my torso, I’m gonna be done. That’s it. I’m gonna take a break.