The Boston Celtics beat the Orlando Magic last night 120-89 to close out their first-round series. Jayson Tatum led the way, with 35 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists, helping the Celtics set an NBA postseason record for largest margin of victory after trailing at halftime. Tatum and the Celtics now await the winner of the Knicks-Pistons series, which the Knicks lead 3-2. Game 6 will take place Thursday.
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Tatum is one of the good guys in the NBA, a fact that fans have undoubtedly noticed if they watched Netflix’s Starting 5 series. ESPN recently did a piece that drove that point home, showing how Tatum has used the same barber since the eighth grade.
Tatum said he first met his barber, Jules Gutierrez, when his dad, former Saint Louis University basketball star Justin Tatum, brought him in.
“I used to go get a haircut with my dad when he was younger,” Tatum told ESPN’s Marc J. Spears. “My dad told me he found a new barber for us. I remember I didn’t like my first haircut. I liked how it looked; I didn’t like sitting in the chair that long.”
Tatum came around once he started to receive compliments from people about his fresh look, and the rest is history. Gutierrez has been with him ever since, even traveling to Duke, Boston, or wherever Tatum has needed him to be for the last 13 years. Tatum says the relationship goes beyond a typical barber-client relationship.
“It’s like family,” he said, which is why he’s also taken his 7-year-old son, Deuce, to Gutierrez to get his hair cut.
Jayson Tatum’s look has changed over the years, but his barber hasn’t
Tatum plays on the most iconic court in the NBA, the parquet floor of TD Garden. While that classic Celtics look hasn’t changed, Tatum’s has during his career. He’s kept his hair short with more of a buzz cut, sometimes with a lightning bolt etched into the side. He’s grown it out with curls on top. Whatever the look, though, he’s always trusted Gutierrez to get it done.
The Celtics have three more rounds to get through to defend their title, and they’ll need Tatum in top shape to get it done. He missed Game 2 of the Magic series with a bruised wrist after being the victim of a flagrant foul in Game 1. It was the first time he’d missed a playoff game in his career. The wrist hasn’t seemed to bother him, though, as he’s averaged 36 points per game in the three games since.
Tatum’s hair is always on point, but even his haters can’t say that he’s focused more on his looks than his game. He might be the NBA’s best example of “Look good, play good.” As good as his hair looks, though, I’m sure he thinks a second ring would look even nicer.
