Best NBA Players With Curly Hair
While there are a number of rules and regulations in the NBA which outline what is and isn’t allowed both on and off the court, there is no rule stating that a player must maintain a certain hair length or style. As such, many NBA players have taken the liberty of expressing themselves via their haircuts and differing hairstyles.
Below, we are going to look at the best NBA players with curly hair. And while we’ve previously discussed the best NBA players with afros, curly hair is distinctly different in that it is more of a simple spiral or wave, whereas an afro is developed via kinky hair, often due to a torsion twist within the hair.
Interested in the complete opposite hairstyle to curly hair? Be sure to check out our reviews of the best current NBA players who are bald and the best bald NBA players of all time!
Larry Bird
Perhaps the best Boston Celtic of all time, Larry Bird, nicknamed “the Hick from the French Lick” and “Larry Legend”, was a basketball phenom from an early age. Heavily recruited he originally signed with the Indiana Hoosiers under Bobby Knight but dropped out after only a month to attend a local community college.
The following year, Bird signed to attend Indiana State University, playing for three years for the Sycamores. He was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the sixth pick in the 1978 draft. However, Bird elected to remain with Indiana State University for one additional year, entering the NBA for the 1979-1980 season.
Larry Bird made an immediate impact for the Celtics, starting as power forward and leading the Celtics to a 32-win improvement over the previous season. He played for the Celtics for his entire career, leading them to five NBA finals appearances and three NBA championships.
In his time in the NBA, Larry Bird was a 12-time NBA All-Star, won two NBA Finals MVP awards, and received the NBA Most Valuable Player Award three consecutive times. He was also a member of the gold medal-winning 1992 United States men’s Olympic basketball team, more famously known as “The Dream Team”.
Jerry West
Jerry West, a current basketball executive, played with the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA. Nicknamed “Mr. Clutch” for his abilities to make big plays in crunch-time, he is also best known as “the logo” in reference to his silhouette being incorporated into the NBA logo.
Playing the guard position, West was voted 12 times into the All-NBA First and Second Teams, was elected into the NBA All-Star Team 14 times, and was chosen as the All-Star MVP in the 1972 game. In addition, Jerry West holds the NBA record for the highest points per game average in a playoff series with 46.3.
Dirk Nowitzki
Dirk Nowitzki is a German professional basketball player who is currently a special advisor for the Dallas Mavericks. Widely regarded as one of the best power forwards in the history of the league, Nowitzki is also considered to be one of the greatest European basketball players of all time.
Drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks as the ninth pick in the 1998 NBA draft, he was immediately traded to the Dallas Mavericks, where he played his entire 21-year career. Nowitzki led the Mavericks to 15 NBA playoff appearances and reached the NBA Finals in both 2006 and 2011.
John Havlicek
John Havlicek spent his entire NBA career with the Boston Celtics, winning eight NBA championships, four of them coming in his first four seasons with the team.
In the NBA, he is just one of four players to have won eight championships in their playing careers, with only teammates Bill Russell and Sam Jones having won more. Considered to be one of the best basketball players of all time, Havlicek was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball hall of Fame in 1984.
Bill Walton
Bill Walton is a current television sportscaster and former professional basketball player. Having played college basketball for coach John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins, he won three consecutive national college player of the year awards and led UCLA to NCAA championships in 1972 and 1973 and an impressive 88-game winning streak.
Bill Walton was selected as the first overall pick in the 1974 NBA draft and led the Portland Trail Blazers to an NBA championship in 1977, winning the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award. He would go on to win another NBA championship with the Boston Celtics in 1986 and would be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.
Pete Maravich
Pete Maravich, known by his nickname Pistol Pete, was a former professional basketball player. Born near the Pittsburgh metropolitan area and raised in the Carolinas, Maravich played college basketball at Louisiana State University and is the all-time leading NCAA Division I scorer with 3,667 points scored with an average of 44.2 points per game.
One of the youngest players to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Maravich died suddenly at the age of 40 during a pick-up basketball game as a consequence of an undetected heart defect.