Over the years, Drake has paid tribute to a few of his idols and influences by tattooing portraits of them. First he paid homage to Sade with a portrait of the legendary R&B singer on his ribs and then, he showed love to Lil Wayne with a tattoo of Weezy on his arm.
In a recent Instagram post, fans have noticed some new ink on Drake that appears to be the jersey numbers of NBA players Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, who are longtime friends of the rapper.
ESPN editor Jovan Buha shared photos Drake recently posted on social media where one of his tattoos says “30 Gifted,” while the other reads “35 Snipe,” possibly referencing Durant’s former Instagram handle “easymoneysniper.” In the photo, Drake is on a basketball court, clad in LeBron James’ high school basketball jersey.
Drake has long expressed his respect for both players. In the rapper’s 2014 song “0 to 100,” Drizzy gave a shout out to Curry saying, “This shit a mothafuckin’ lay up/ I been Steph Curry with the shot/ Been cookin’ with the sauce, Chef Curry with the pot, boy.” He later referenced the Golden State Warriors point guard on his Views cut “Still Here” where he rapped, “Hittin’ like that 30 on my jersey, man, I’m gifted.” Back in April, a video surfaced of Drake eating eggs with the Curry family and he even showed up to support Ayesha Curry at her restaurant International Smoke.
As for Durant, Drake rocked his Golden State Warriors jersey at the Oakland, CA stop of his 2016 Summer Sixteen Tour following the former MVP’s departure from the Oklahoma City Thunder. The “Passionfruit” rapper also brought out Durant during his tour stop, introducing the former OKC player as his “brother.”
View the post below.
I might be trippin, but I think Drake tattooed Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant’s numbers (and possibly last names) on his left arm: pic.twitter.com/knITeOuJrd
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) January 9, 2018