Mysteriously, LeBron James’ hair has looked fantastic for much of this season.
James, 30, has been dealing with the tell-tell signs of male pattern baldness for several years but seems to have found a magical solution for his follicle headache.
According to LeBron’s personal barber, there are no optical illusions at play here.
Per an amazing and unintentionally hilarious Yahoo! piece on James’ dome, whose “challenging” haircuts take nearly an hour to get just right:
“There is no dye. No additives. No preservatives,” barber Nick Castemanos said. “Everyone thinks he’s dying his hair using [temporary hair colorings] Bigen or Black Ice. It’s all his hair. They still don’t believe me. I get Bigen comments all the time. […] “I’ve become numb to it. It used to bother me. It’s not easy to hear that.”
Castemanos first began cutting the hair of NBA players in the early 2000s in Miami. Former Miami Heat swingman Dorell Wright initially introduced Castemanos to Heat guard Dwyane Wade. Through Wade, Castemanos said he often landed private jobs cutting players from teams visiting Miami. Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant and film producer Spike Lee are some of his past customers. While Castemanos’ celebrity list grew, so did his reputation as an elite barber. […] James’ four-year tenure with the Heat began when he signed as a free agent in 2010 after departing from the Cavaliers amidst chaos. In October of 2010, Wade set up James with Castemanos for a haircut. Castemanos quickly hit it off with James and has been cutting his hair all over the United States ever since.
Since 2014, Castemanos has gone to Portland, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco and Cleveland to cut James’ hair. Castemanos was summoned to a Sprite commercial shoot in Akron, Ohio, last August when James made him a life-altering offer, asking him to move to Cleveland to become his private barber – while also allowing him to take clients on the side when he was available. […] “LeBron said, ‘Hey Nick, I really think you should come to Cleveland to work for me,’ ” Castemanos said. “I didn’t give him an immediate yes or no. But his mom said, ‘You better take it.’ “
