Matty'$ Pick$ - Facial Hair Follies
And Some Friday Night Pick$
Folks Jayson Tatum is becoming a big old star right before our eyes. He’s averaging over 30 points per game in February (a short month but still!) while playing top notch defense. A lot of people are wondering what’s changed. Was there a strategic shift in the Celtics gameplan? Is it just a hot shooting streak? Did this beauty of a tattoo unlock something in his game?
Questionably punctuated body art aside, there is something perceptibly different about Tatum. Reader Ben directed me toward this explanatory tweet:
Jayson Tatum is 21 years old. Reader, I probably don’t need to tell you this, but that’s young! It’s not no-facial-hair-at-all young, but it’s often patchy-facial-hair-at-best young. A look through the yearbooks shows us that JT has been trying to grow out his facial fuzz for quite some time, with some middling results.
In the top left see young Jayson in his only season at Duke. He’s 18 years old and working hard to sculpt that pencil thin flavor savor and harvest as many chin hairs as possible. His rookie season NBA headshot shows a similar growth pattern, filled out a bit more. No way he shaved any part of that chin glove in the year between photo one and photo two.
The bottom left is from the summer of 2019. Tatum is 21 years old here, and obviously feeling better about his face follicles. This look was quite a jump from the on-again/off-again mutton chops Celtics fans witnessed throughout the 2018-2019 season. But a keen eye will notice the size of the indent between the end of his sideburn and the beginning of his extended goatee area. There is some connection between the two, but it’s not really what you want in a beard!
Finally, though, young Jayson’s persistence appears to have paid off. A few weeks ago, his beard fully connected. As mentioned above, the results on the court have been chef’s kiss, and C’s fans everywhere will be sending beard supplements and product to make sure it stays as full as possible.
Readers I think it’s pretty clear that Tatum’s recent improvement on the court is the result of an uptick in confidence stemming from achieving his beard goal. A feel good, play good type of situation. I think there’s a lesson the gambling community can take from this test case. An obvious application of this theory would tell us to keep an eye on the facial hair growth of other young NBA players. One candidate that jumps to mind immediately is Trae Young:
Young is already a very good player, and even started in the All Star Game this year. But that facial hair is pretty weak, and Young is only 21 years old. Could he take another leap to MVP type output if his goatee looks less pre-pubescent? Only time will tell.
James Harden is the standard-bearer for beards, and looking at his game’s evolution in comparison to his beard’s growth makes a strong argument for facial hair confidence. I mean in this gif he goes from 6th man to MVP:
If hair-related confidence is what’s put Tatum over the edge recently, a corollary to this theory may be to look for guys who thrive despite uncommon appearances. Those who maybe aren’t blessed with conventional good looks and yet continue to thrive at the highest level. Like we should’ve been betting heavily on Anthony Davis to succeed from very early on based on the confidence it takes to rock a unibrow.
I don’t think nearly enough attention it paid to Davis’s brow. It’s the most famous unibrow since Frida Kahlo’s and I don’t think it’s close. When I was in high school if I saw the shadow of hairs between my eyebrows I would immediately grab a pair of tweezers and get to plucking. The fact that this guy has just been rolling with the caterpillar look for years and continues to be one of the best players in the world should clue us into an unmatched level of confidence.
The final example here hits close to home. As a follicly-challenged white guy, seeing Alex Caruso thrive has been nothing short of inspirational. While I’m out here wondering if I can get away with wearing a hat indoors, Caruso is going full male-pattern-balding while closing out games with the Lakers.
What’s the Lakers best duo in terms of net rating you ask? That would be Caruso and King LeBron, another guy who’s no stranger to the perils of watching the hair on your head disappear.
Matty’$ Pick$
Building off our theme of confidence, I like the Toronto Raptors at home against the Charlotte Hornets tonight. After Kawhi Leonard left in the offseason, a lot of people thought the Raptors would take a step backwards this season. Instead, they’ve been rolling right along, brimming with the confidence that came from winning the championship last season. I mean, Kyle Lowry tried to draw a foul by going between George Hill’s legs the other night:
It didn’t work, but the gall it takes to do something like that is pretty dang impressive imo.
Toronto has done well against the spread at home this season. Tonight they’re favored by 14 points. That’s a lot, yes, but the combo of Charlotte’s weak offense and Toronto’s insufferable defense has me thinking tonight could be a blowout. Give me $50 on Toronto (-14).
Last Time Out
Split theories of the case led to split outcomes. Both games I bet went over. Unfortunately, I took the under on one of them, hoping Houston would miss a lot of threes. Turns out NBA players don’t get rusty as quickly as you or I, reader.
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