One of the NBA's most outlandish characters just got a little less eccentric.
Chris "Birdman" Andersen, he of the copious tattoos, huge beard and mohawk ditched his signature hairdo before the Heat's game against the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.
Andersen explained the move by saying the new look was "less maintenance."
Here's Andersen as we're used to seeing him:
And here's what he looks like now:
Andersen's mohawk has a long history, dating back to his rookie season in 2001. Then with the Denver Nuggets, Andersen debuted the mohawk during a playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Upon seeing Andersen in the locker room, Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik was not pleased. Bzdelik told Andersen to change his hairdo, while Andersen charged that he spent $500 getting it styled.
"You've got two choices,'' Bzdelik reportedly told Andersen. "Go in the shower and rinse that out of your hair, or do an about-face out of here because you ain't playing or even sitting on the bench like that. This game isn't about you drawing attention to yourself."
Andersen went to the shower and washed his hair.
This time around, Andersen's new 'do may be a bigger deal with everyone else than it is with him.
Spoelstra on Birdman's no~hawk, "I think he has quite a few other things that people can still look at."
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) February 19, 2014
Chris Andersen already tired of talk about the no-Hawk. Overhears a reporter asking about it. Chimes in: "Oh my goodness, it's a haircut."
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) February 19, 2014
Coincidentally, or perhaps not, Andersen had a stellar game on Tuesday. His 18 points against the Mavericks were a career high and his fourth quarter three-pointer was just the sixth three-pointer of his career.
