NBA’s Mane Attraction

So, Shaquille O’Neal now looks like the starting center for the Hair Club for Men. But even if he isn’t a card-carrying member, Shaq apparently endorses a bedrock tenet: A man’s head should have hair on it, no matter how it looks.

Meanwhile, Coach Phil Jackson has shed his Midwestern I-wear-flannelshirts-and-drink-Budweiser hairdo for a West Coast I’m-garbed-in-silk briefs-and-enjoy-a-good-sip-of-Pinot haircut. The Enlightened One also hacked his beard leaving only a soul patch--that hairy and fabulously hip growth under his lip. It could just be Los Angeles. It could be feng shui. Who really knows?

Whatever the motivation, the real issue hanging over everyone’s head is simple: What do these reconstituted hairstyles mean for the Lakers, the league and for hairstylists everywhere?

It’s too early to determine whether this situation is a win/win, a win/lose, a lose/win or a lose/lose for the World Champions. One could argue that an aerodynamically more efficient Jackson can jump off the bench quicker to contest bad calls and communicate instructions to his disciples.

Shaq, when asked about his hair Friday night, said he hopes his current GI Joe look grows into “a mini-fro, like Kobe.” But the Laker star warned that the hair goes if the team starts doing poorly. “Then, I’ll go back to the real Shaq.”

Hair today? Gone tomorrow? See you at the NBA finals.