FINALLY A REASON
Carlos Boozer finally explains his infamous 'shoe polish-hair' incident
By
Kelly Dwyer9 hours ago
Ball Don't Lie
.
View photo
Paul Pierce desperately tries to get away from whatever is on Carlos Boozer's head. (Getty Images)
In the relatively tame world of nationally-broadcast NBA games on ABC, this one stood out.
Carlos Boozer, then a Chicago Bull, showed up to his team’s game against the
Boston Celtics on a Sunday afternoon with hair that …
[Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball
]
… well, you remember:
Here’s the transcription, via Mark Hinog at SB Nation:
Dan Le Batard: "What was going on with your hair that day?"
Boozer: "Oh man. Man, listen, so ... truth be told, as you can tell, I started losing my hair a little bit..."
Bomani: "I know the struggle. I'm with you."
Boozer: "...they came out with this -- it's like a hair dye, whatever, for men called the 'bigen.' Well, I had one guy that was like, 'Yo, have you ever thought about growing your hair out?' And I was like, yeah, I was thinking about it, until I saw some of these little bald spots on my head. So, I was like, you know, I just cut my hair off. And so he was telling me that he could -- you know, 'grow your hair out, I could cover it up a little bit, and make it look like you got a regular haircut.' So I tried it, and he just made myself look like shoe polish up there ... this is like five years later, and I'm still hearing about it."
Bomani: "Oh yeah! You're gonna hear about it till the end!"
Boozer: "I still get this!"
Bomani: "We've been sitting here for 20 minutes trying to figure out how to work it in!
Bomani: "You know, we didn't want to hurt your feelings! But, you know, it was a thing!"
It certainly was a thing. In a lockout-addled season short of levity, Boozer’s struggle was a much-needed release.
[Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce clowned him for what seemed like his insistence on taking a magic marker to his head. He also claimed that the decision was exacerbated by the fact that he had a good game in Chicago’s four-point loss to Boston, putting up a 20-20 game with the cameras following his forehead’s every move. He’s half right in that one: Boozer managed 22 points, but just seven rebounds.
Carlos Boozer is still currently a free agent, and for years he’s been regarded as one of the NBA’s bigger punchlines. It’s good to see that the man has a sense of humor about the entire incident.
(Even if he didn’t get 20 rebounds.)
(Even if the Bulls lost.)
Carlos Boozer finally explains his infamous 'shoe polish-hair' incident