Utah Jazzman David Benoit apparently bared too much in a photo he gave to schoolchildren last week.
Benoit was dispatched to J.A. Taylor Elementary in Davis County last week for a "reading time-out." It's part of the Jazz's "Be A Team Player — Read!" program, which coincides with NBA Reading Month. Taylor and 13 other elementaries were chosen after their students read more than other competing schools.
Benoit told the children stories and answered their questions. The Jazz threw in a portrait of Benoit for good measure.
Or bad measure, depending on how you look at it.
On Benoit's right bicep is a tattoo of a flowing-haired, topless woman.
The tattoo is somewhat identifiable in the color head shot players have taken every year. But the image apparently sharpens in black and white. Youngsters received black-and-white photos of Benoit, Jazz vice president of public relations Dave Allred said.
The children quickly noticed the tattoo. Some giggled; some said, "ew, yuck!" Some threw away the pictures. Others drew shirts on the topless woman, said principal Rod Green.
The school's PTA representative alerted Green to the offending tattoo, but by then, many of the children had gone home. Green collected as many photos as he could and had the image cropped out of the picture to deliver to morning kindergartners who didn't attend the afternoon assembly.
"Kids pick up the details on those things . . . but it's just not something that stuck out unless you were looking for the detail," Green said. "David was just trying to be a good guy. There were just a couple of things that didn't turn out the way you'd feel like were best, but it's not a major problem or anything."
Some parents took issue with the photo, however, and a handful voiced objections to the basketball powers that be.
"We didn't realize it until it was called to our attention," said Allred, who received three calls from parents and a letter. "We were certainly embarrassed to find out we had distributed this to elementary schools. It was an innocent mistake but a mistake you hate to make.
"We want to make sure we send the right message."
So does Benoit.
"I put the tattoo on before I came back to Utah. I did put it on, but I didn't do it to offend anyone. It's just unfortunate that the children were involved, but that's not the reason for putting it on," Benoit said Thursday.
Several folks in the Jazz offices didn't realize Benoit had such a tattoo. He usually wears bicep arm-bands on game days "because I know the organization I work for, and the people who support it, and I have respect for them and what they believe."
The Jazz won't distribute that Benoit photo again, Allred said. And the office the next day gave the school a replacement player photo they hoped would help rectify the situation.
It was a portrait of John Stockton.
He's tattoo-free.
Contributing: Tim Buckley
E-MAIL: jtcook@desnews.com