Grantland Offers a Meditation on Andrew Bynum’s Hair

Sure, it’s fun to have a laugh about Andrew Bynum’s ever-evolving Afro, writer Wesley Morris says, especially when the 76ers’ center remains bench-bound with bowling-injured knees. But what does Bynum’s hair mean? “The fun being poked at Bynum is easy. One day the hair really did look like Frederick Douglass’s. On another, it was early Don King. But the issue isn’t what Bynum’s going for. It’s what Bynum’s going through, professionally and tonsorially. It’s hard, and the gray veining through his young hair implies as much. He’s a basketball player in frustrating want of an outlet for his talent. Without that, he’s just some dude with occasionally bad hair living under the tyranny of the camera phone. For a couple of months, his mess has been hot, and it shows no signs of cooling down. But there’s a sobering, defiant honesty in that. If he’s not working, then neither will his hair.” That’s actually pretty deep. [Grantland]