The famous tattoo artist who inks up NBA stars including LeBron James, Tristan Thompson and Danny Green is suing the company behind the NBA2K17 video game ... claiming they used his art without permission.
The man behind the suit is James Hayden -- a famous Cleveland-based tat artist who's been inking up LeBron for years ... and owns the copyrights on several designs he put on the NBA star. Ditto for Tristan, Danny and Kyrie Irving.
In his suit, obtained by TMZ Sports, Hayden claims he owns the copyright to Bron's famous "Gloria" tattoo as well as his "Lion Design" and LJ's shoulder stars.