"I was the first of my friends to get a tattoo and my mother wanted to know why I did it," Barnes said, smiling at the memory. "But once she saw it, she liked it."

With his mother's blessing, Barnes got another tattoo and then another through his four years at UCLA until his arms were covered and his legs sported several designs.

"I kept getting them throughout college and then when I came into the NBA, I kept doing them," said Barnes, a seven-year NBA veteran who joined the Lakers last summer.

His arms are a myriad of pictures that tell of growing up in California, his love of rap music and spider webs that stretch around one elbow. He also has a good devilish woman sitting on one shoulder, while a bad devilish woman sits on the other.

His love of family also can be found in the art work. Scripted across his back are the words "La Familia" and two small feet prints sit at the edge of his neck, tiny tributes to his twin sons who were born in November 2008. Barnes recently had a large angel tattooed onto his stomach, to honor his late mother who died of lung cancer in 2007.

Outside of adding a red, green and white flag image to the "La Familia" tattoo to celebrate his Italian heritage, Barnes said he doesn't have plans for more tattoos. He said he doesn't want to go as far as Anderson.

"You have to draw the line somewhere," he said.

Barnes now currently play for the LA Clippers and his tattoo collection keeps growing by the year.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/-302729--.html

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