Boston Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown had one of the cleanest high tops the NBA has ever known throughout his first three seasons in the league. In fact, Brown rocked a high top for nearly seven years. For this season, however, the former No. 3 overall pick has decided to go with a new look.
Instead of his perfectly-groomed high top fade that became so recognizable, Brown is now sporting a much shorter hairstyle.
What's with the change? As part of an interview with Bleacher Report, Brown revealed that he cut his hair as a way to move on from the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China, where he and his Team USA teammates were upset by France in the Quarter-Final round.
Cue the barber…
“I wanted to forget about last year, and that was a representation of the new energy, the new vibe I was looking for,” Brown said, referring to his reason for the new look. “People, a lot of times, identified me by my hair, and that was a part of the things I'm trying to get away from.
“I think people put you in a box, based on what they've seen from you, maybe the first time they watched you. I wanted to give people a whole new idea of who I am and what I'm about.”
For a variety of reasons, several prominent NBA players decided to withdraw from Team USA's roster prior to the games. Ultimately, the team finished in seventh place. Brown played well, but he admits he wanted to win badly.
“I wanted to win that so badly,” Brown told Bleacher Report. “It would have been good for me.”
Brown took Team USA's exit hard. He later noted that he was devastated by the loss and the way his team performed:
“I was devastated,” Brown said.
The change of hairstyle seems to be paying off for Brown, as his numbers are on the rise. Last season, he averaged 13.0 points and 4.2 rebounds per game while playing a diminishing role with the Celtics. In this campaign, however, the Marietta, Georgia native is averaging 20.0 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
Though he's seeing much more playing time now Kyrie Irving has left the team, Brown admits that his confidence was faltering last season:
“I kind of got pushed to the side, and that kind of messed with my confidence a little bit,” Brown says. “Not only did I start not believing in myself that much, but I started overthinking, and that's when anxiety and stuff came in. It took me a while to get out of that.”
Brown, who agreed to the terms of a four-year, $115 million contract extension with the Celtics in October, will look to forge on with his new cut.
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