Former Givenchy designer Matthew Williams took a friendly jab at Memphis Grizzlies’ star Ja Morant for undergoing anesthesia to get his body tattooed. When asked if getting tattooed hurt, Williams highlighted him not being under anesthesia like Morant during the process.

“Yeah, I wasn’t asleep for it,” Williams said.

The two-time All-Star laughed off the jab while highlighting that he wanted to get the work done in one session instead of ten because of which Morant required to be put to sleep for the process with anesthesia.

“Shots fired. I might have catch a stray,” Morant replied. “People do what they do, man. I wanted to knock it out in one sesh, you know, I ain’t gotta do ten.”

Morant underwent the 10-hour session during the offseason ahead of the 2023-24 NBA season. The result was a complete upper body tattoo with various elements incorporated in it to symbolize his journey.

Ja Morant pays homage to Kobe Bryant with massive back tattoo

Ja Morant paid tribute to the late Kobe Bryant with two lower back tattoos that invoke the ‘Mamba Mentality’. One tattoo features Kobe’s jersey number 24 with “Mentality” inscribed over it. The other one features the “sheath” logo associated with Kobe’s Nike collection.

Ja has always looked up to Bryant and has previously spoken about having studied the LA Lakers legend’s approach to the game and how he handled late-game pressure.

Morant also got Nike’s swoosh logo tattooed right by his spine to pay tribute to the brand that stuck by him during his lengthy suspension in early 2023. As his sponsor, Nike stood by him during the NBA’s investigation of the player for displaying a gun at a Colorado nightclub in March, just a few hours after losing to the top-seeded Denver Nuggets.

Despite the Grizzlies guard receiving a 25-game suspension for the incident ahead of the 2023-24 NBA season, the brand also stood by Morant when he flashed a gun during an Instagram live session via his friend’s account in May 2023.

Moreover, the former ROTY got his jersey number 12 made on the top of his back, which he has worn throughout his basketball journey. Morant also had the logos of his high school Crestwood Knights, AAU squad South Carolina Hornets, alma-matter Murray State Racers, and his NBA team Memphis Grizzlies made on his mid back.

Apart from that, Ja Morant got “Life’s a gamble” written between two dice with the six-count, and four Aces to complete his back tattoo.