Chase Skinkis' new tattoos take flight, celebrating MJ and Vince
Michael Jordan in the 1988 Slam Dunk Contest, on Skinkis’ right forearm
If you’ve ever seen Chase Skinkis play before, you’ve probably noticed the sleeve of tattoos that cover his left arm. His right arm has remained barren over the years, while his left arm continued to get added on.
Turns out the right arm remained blank for a reason, as Skinkis was planning on adding an NBA Dunk Contest-themed tattoo there for a few years. The finished product was added this weekend, and Skinkis revealed his new tattoos on Instagram on Sunday.
Skinkis has “loved the (All-Star) Weekend since I started watching basketball,” and over the years, he’s become personally involved in the weekend.
In 2013, he participated in the Sprite Uncontainable Game, an amateur game put together for the All-Star Weekend, with the two teams coached by LeBron James and Kobe Bryant (Skinkis played for Kobe’s team).
Over the pat three years, Skinkis has been invited to coach players participating in the Dunk Contest. His most notable contributions were in the 2018 Dunk Contest, where he helped Donovan Mitchell win the contest with a perfect assist (1:23 of the below video) and taught Larry Nance Jr. the double-pass-off-the-glass dunk, which earned him a 50 (2:24 of the video below).
“Influencing the most-seen dunk contest, with the best players, is way beyond what I ever thought I would get out of my passion for dunking,” Skinkis said. “(The tattoos are) a way to commemorate these experiences, and some of the major influences/moments.”
Skinkis has earned these opportunities form being an elite dunker himself, despite being only 6’0”. Whether it’s during a UH game, or when he’s throwing down dunk-contest-level dunks in his free time, Skinkis is the best dunker Ultimate Hoops has ever seen.
Vince Carter in the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest, on Skinkis’ right arm
Given Chase’s passion for dunking, it made a lot of sense to get tattoos of two of the best to ever throw down.
“The Vince performance was mind-blowing for me,” he said. “The very first dunk, which is shown in my tattoo, had my young self running and jumping all around the house in amazement. That contest is part of the reason why he is considered the GOAT of dunking.”
“With Mike there were quite a few images that are amazing, but ultimately I went with this one because of the details,” he said. “I wanted the basket supports with the All-Star Weekend stars in the background, and I wanted an angle that showcased just how high he was to the basket.”
Skinkis reached out to artist Steve Butcher years ago to see if he would be interested in doing work like this. The timing finally worked out this weekend, and Skinkis was able to get two dunking GOATs on his arm, although it was not a quick process.
“We sat for two days this weekend , and without counting the image prep time, he worked on my arm for about 18 hours,” he said.
Skinkis mentioned that these were the first two images that him and Butcher have worked on, and that there is “more to come.”