As I brainstormed column ideas this past Tuesday afternoon, I found myself watching an exhibition NBA game. The Philadelphia 76ers were playing against the Phoenix Suns in Cologne, Germany as part of the NBA Europe Live Tour. I sat there watching Mike D’Antoni’s offensively electric Suns fall to Allen Iverson and the 76ers 103-100 when something in particular caught my attention.
There he was. A short-haired, flashy point guard was orchestrating the Phoenix offense to perfection. The weird thing was this player bore a striking resemblance to the reigning two-time MVP, Steve Nash of the Suns. He looked like Nash. He wore Nash’s No. 13. More importantly, he played like Nash, dishing out amazing assists and splashing three-pointers. I asked myself, who is this guy? And what did Phoenix do with Nash? Then it clicked. This guy was Steve Nash.
Something wasn’t right though. It had to be the hair. This wasn’t the Nash ‘do that we’ve grown accustomed to. I’m used to seeing him in his long, greasy-looking hair. I’m not saying that I’m not happy that Nash cut his locks. Few things annoyed me more than seeing Nash tuck his hair back behind his ears as he back-pedaled his way on defense.
Nash’s hair was about the only bad thing he had going against him. He’s been the most valuable player in the league for two years now, mainly because during the past two seasons he has averaged more than a dollar in dimes per game.
The Phoenix Suns better hope that Nash’s haircut doesn’t have a Samson-like effect, making him lose his playing ability this season. I’ll tell you what though. As glad as I am to see his long hair gone, Nash did not improve his style much. His buzz-cut has grown out, and his short hair still looks terrible. I hope he didn’t pay for that chop job he received. I could have done better with a pair of hedge clippers and a blindfold. With a few small patches of hair awkwardly sticking out, Nash looked like he had squirmed around in the chair like an insane kitten not wanting the barber’s scissors to come anywhere close to his head.
Now I’m a big fan of rocking different hair styles as long as that’s what Nash is going for. I’ve worn my hair in almost every way conceivable: spiked, buzz-cut, gelled, shaggy, hidden under a hat, dyed, parted, straight out of bed, slicked back. Heck, I even braided it last year. I am proud to say that no matter what I did to my hair, it never looked as bad as Nash’s hair always does. On the other hand, no matter what Nash does to his hair, he’ll never be as bad at basketball as I am. Long or scrappy short hair, he’ll still be able to alley-oop a basketball through his legs, off my impeccably hair-styled head and right to Amare Stoudemire for a slam dunk.
