The nickname is going to stick.
Danny Green was prepared for that, even before LeBron James broke it out on national TV last Friday and credited Green for “just being Deadshot” after sinking the 3-pointer that pushed the Lakers into overtime and on to a 119-110 win over the Mavericks in Dallas.
It wasn’t the first time the Lakers’ shooting guard heard his new LeBron-assigned moniker. It won’t be the last.
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“I don’t mind it,” Green told The Athletic last month. “Deadshot’s cool.”
The comic-book character — a masked assassin known for his shooting accuracy — has a place in Green’s heart. And on his right shoulder. Deadshot is at the top and center of the elaborate tattoo Green commissioned this offseason, one that’s reflective of his own sharp shooting.
The tattoo runs from Green’s shoulder to below his elbow. It looks cool, and there was never any reason to doubt it would be.
Green had planned it in collaboration with Steve Wiebe, a renowned tattoo artist who has inked Kevin Durant, DeAndre Jordan and the late rapper Nipsey Hussle, among others. As Green sat this summer for some 14 hours over two days to have the inkwork done, he was content and in capable hands.
The concern didn’t start until the job was finished.
There’s a target on Green’s right elbow now and a nearby eagle eye. There’s a rifle scope and bullet holes, and the arm art is highlighted by that starting five of comic-book snipers, sharpshooters who represent precision with projectiles.
It’s an audacious ode to accuracy — so much so that Green worried a little about living up to it.
“The only thing I was hoping is that it didn’t jinx me,” Green said. “I shot pretty well last year. Now that I got a tattoo on my arm that says I’m a shooter, it’s a little extra pressure.”
That was coming anyway.
Coming off his most accurate shooting season, Green joined the Lakers to help round out a roster that had James and Anthony Davis and sought shooters to sizzle in the space the superstar duo creates. And Green arrived with a championship pedigree, coming off a title with Toronto to match the won he one in 2014 with the Spurs.
Those two championships could have formed the foundation for the canvas Green gave Wiebe. The two initially connected for a segment on the TV show Green hosted while playing with the Raptors. It aired on TSN and took Green to Canadian cities to meet with high achievers in their fields.
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For the segment with Wiebe in Vancouver, Green — who had been inked before — knew he’d get a new tattoo. And with such a notable artist doing the work, he wanted something special.
“I don’t want to say it’s unoriginal, but I didn’t want to do what a lot of other guys have gotten (after championships) — one trophy or two,” Green said. “I thought, ‘Let’s look at something that pertains to you, as a basketball player, as a brand, as a shooter.'”
The initial result was the bullseye, the eagle eye and the scope. But Wiebe considered it an unfinished project. He wanted ink further up Green’s arm, and his insistence sparked a back-and-forth about comic-book characters who could complete the theme.
Green didn’t grow up nose-deep in graphic novels, but he’s comics-conversant thanks to the superhero movie boom of the past decade. He’s seen them all — Marvel, DC and the properties in between — and could engage Wiebe on a host of heroes and villains.
So by the time Green reconvened with Wiebe for two nights in a hotel to finish the job, they settled on a handful of sharpshooters — characters who speak to Green’s goal of marksman-level accuracy from long range.
They spent about five hours together the first night, with Wiebe sketching the characters. The bulk of the permanent work was done over nine hours on the second night, and Green felt it for some time after.
It’s elaborate artwork, and on the surface it’s a salute to shooting with some fitting ink for a player of Green’s talents.
But dig a little deeper on the well-armed characters on Green’s upper arm and you’ll find they might represent the vet in more ways than he first considered.
Green Arrow
(Kelvin Kuo / USA TODAY Sports)DC’s emerald archer was Wiebe’s initial suggestion, and he’s the only character whose full body appears on the tattoo, leaping as he aims his signature longbow.
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It’s a logical fit, even beyond the connection to Green’s surname.
Though he sometimes fights alongside Superman and Wonder Woman, Green Arrow lacks fantastical powers. He can take out foes with a bow from afar, but it’s a learned skill. He had to work to hone it.
The same goes for Green, who shot 27.3 percent from 3-point range as a rookie on 1.1 attempts per game and has hit triples at a 40.6 percent clip since, even as his chances have expanded. He’s shot better than 40 percent in five full seasons, including a career-best 45.5 percent in 2018-19 on 5.4 3-point shots per game.
Last season with the Raptors, Green averaged 1.3 points per possession in spot-up opportunities, which ranked in the 98th percentile in the NBA, according to Synergy Sports Technology.
Green has worked to quicken his release, and he’s meticulous about his shot selection. Watch him early in games, he said, and you’ll see he prefers not to fire a contested quick-twitch 3-pointer until after he’s made a wide-open shot or two. He likes to settle into a rhythm first, making those rapid-release shots easier.
“It starts with doing it every day in here,” Green said standing in the Lakers’ practice facility. “Focusing on the habits.”
Bullseye
(Kelvin Kuo / USA TODAY Sports)The first character who came to Green’s mind was the Marvel Comics assassin and Daredevil villain whose accuracy can turn anything he touches — paper clips, pens, peanuts — into a weapon. Sporting his traditional mask with a bullseye on the forehead, he’s inked to Deadshot’s left atop Green’s shoulder.
Bullseye is frightening with a firearm but fine without. His versatility and ability to improvise speak to what Green provides beyond perimeter shooting.
Though the tattoo represents shooting, Green is perhaps as well-known for his ability to lock down a target on defense, and James said Green can provide the Lakers with “whatever we need.”
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“He’s going to defend,” James said. “He’s going to knock down shots. He’s a big-time player, he’s a big-time shooter and he’s a champion. So I never have to worry about if he’s going to be there every night.”
Gambit
(Kelvin Kuo / USA TODAY Sports)A member of the X-Men, Gambit’s superpower lets him energize and weaponize objects. He’s best known for electrifying playing cards — he’s holding an ace-high straight in Green’s tattoo, near his right bicep — and flinging them with precision.
But Gambit is more than card tricks. He’s clever and quick on his feet, and his ability to manipulate kinetic energy helps him in a tussle by allowing him to stay in constant motion.
Green does something similar.
“He’s not just in one spot,” said Hornets coach James Borrego, an assistant coach in San Antonio for three of Green’s seasons there. “As you have seen, he’s moving all over the floor. He’s moving baseline to baseline. He’s moving corner to corner, wing to wing. He’s become more crafty on how he gets his shots.”
Deathstroke the Terminator
(Brett Dawson / The Athletic)Another masked assassin who’s tangled with the Batman, Deathstroke was one of the last characters Wiebe and Green chose. He lines the top of his shoulder, to the right of Deadshot.
He’s another sharpshooter, but he’s more.
The character is a master tactician who’s known for intricate plots as well as accurate shots. He knows how to set a plan in motion — and how to get other characters to follow his lead.
Green is not so sinister, but somewhat similar.
“He’s been putting guys in spots and using his leadership and experience just to help us get acclimated and together as quickly as possible,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said.
Green has reached the playoffs in each of the past nine seasons, logging 124 career games in the postseason. He ranks eighth among active players with 230 career playoff 3-pointers. And the two rings give him championship cred.
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“When he talks,” Davis said, “guys listen.”
Deadshot
(Brett Dawson / The Athletic)Deadshot, too, is a Batman villain, and the comic-book iteration of the character has been known to boast that he’s never missed a shot. It’s easy to see why that track record would appeal to an NBA jump shooter, though Green is more familiar with the antihero portrayed by Will Smith in the 2016 film “Suicide Squad.”
He wasn’t the first character Green considered, but Deadshot already is becoming the signature shooter on his shoulder.
The Lakers need Green’s shooting, and so far he has delivered. Through their first six games, Green is shooting 48.5 percent from long range on 5.5 attempts per game. He’s on his way to avoiding a post-ink jinx — and to earning the “Deadshot” nickname.
James has used the moniker more than once to reference Green, including in his sideline interview with Doris Burke after the Friday win against the Mavericks. On a Saturday Instagram story, Davis also invoked it.
Exit Danny, enter Deadshot.
“Some people are telling me to change my Instagram tag and all that, but nah,” Green said. “But once (James) comes up with a name for you and it sticks, everybody’s gonna start calling you that. I’m cool with it. I like ‘Deadshot.’”
Top photo of Danny Green: Chris Elise / NBAE via Getty Images
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