Warriors Big Man Willie Cauley-Stein Shares His Ink

From the moment he burst on the scene in 2014, Willie Cauley-Stein demanded your attention. The seven-foot center was a force of nature while playing for John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats. Cauley-Stein was an integral part of that tremendous team that fell just short of a perfect season in 2015. 

After being drafted sixth overall by the Sacramento Kings, Cauley-Stein has spent most of his career toiling in obscurity playing for one of the worst franchises in sports. Not to say that he has played poorly, because he hasn’t, but it’s impossible to stand out in such a third-rate town. Even when you’re seven feet tall and covered in tattoos. 

Now that Cauley-Stein is playing for the Golden State Warriors a lot of people are paying notice to him once again. While the team has been struggling with injuries, Cauley-Stein has been playing a strong center, especially on the defensive side of things. 

Cauley-Stein recently sat down with NBC Sports to discuss some of his tattoos, including the meaningful story behind the ink on his eyebrow. 

“I recently just got these two exes above my eye, I had a friend who passed away,” Cauley -Stein explains. “I got the two exes and the teardrops. Every time I look in the mirror that’s literally driving me to accomplish what we set out to do.” 

The center explains how many of his tattoos have served as motivation over the years. This includes one of his earliest pieces—script on his arm that reads “The greatest pleasure in life is doing what others say you cannot do.”

“I got that in high school,” Cauley-Stein says. “It has literally helped me out through the most trying times of my life.”

We’ve always noticed Cauley-Stein’s ink when he’s out there on the court, now that we know the meaning behind some of his work we’re even more impressed. You can see the whole video here.