LeBron James is no stranger to switching his look. He’s done everything from stubble with a moustache to a fully groomed beard now. While the hair around his chin has never been an issue, it’s the lack of follicle growth on his head and the King’s subsequent fashion decisions to combat it that have intrigued fans. And on Saturday night against the Grizzlies, he wore a headband, a style he used to sport while at Cleveland.
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It’s no secret that James has struggled with a form of male pattern baldness along with a receding hairline for well over a decade. The easiest way to sidestep this problem was to rock a headband. He did so from the mid to late 2000s while playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was still in his 20s back then.
LeBron carried that style into his Miami Heat days, too. Things took an unexpected turn in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. He seemed far too locked into the matchup and did not wear the headband. Miami won the game to tie the series 3-3 before winning the next game to win the championship. LeBron sported the headband in the 2013-14 season as usual.
It was midway during his first season back in Cleveland (2014-15) when he ditched the headband completely. James has brought that old style back.
Throughout Saturday night’s matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies, the 40-year-old rocked a black headband, leading to a fair bit of banter from NBA fans on whether this looks good or not. Most argued that it did not.
“LeBron looks weird with a headband now,” said a fan. They reasoned that it looked strange since James, a veteran now, is far removed from his headband era. Another wrote, “LeBron, time to shave your head…”
LeBron, time to shave your head. Leave the headband alone #BallIsLife #Lakers #NBA
— Joseph Tomas Villanueva (@JTVOG777) March 30, 2025
I’m just gonna say it: LeBron looks weird with a headband now. It’s weird to say bc he started the first half of his career with it. But now? Nah it looks weird lol
— Kal-El Atreides (@Superfan_K) March 30, 2025
The noise didn’t get to LBJ’s head, though. He dropped a ‘light’ 25-6-8 game while shooting 40% from beyond the arc in the 127-134 win over the Grizzlies. Perhaps James brought the headband back due to the magnitude of the game.
With the win, the Purple and Gold have a 3-1 season series finish. They will have home-court advantage over the Grizz in the Playoffs if they face each other. Given how potent of a home arena Memphis is, being back home in Crypto for a potential Game 7 is always a plus.
This wasn’t the first time LeBron wore a headband out of the blue. On November 8, 2018, during his first season with the Lakers, he wore one. This was in a victorious outing against the Miami Heat at home. There have been a couple of other scattered instances, too.
Is there any correlation with performance? Well, the way LeBron is operating at the moment, hairdo, or headbands, are just incidental, while his production provides the style quotient.
