Just so you know, this is a sponsored post...
I had some fun with the first Top Grooming Moments in Clipper History post earlier this week. That first post focused mostly on facial hair, with Brian Skinner coming away as the clear winner. But the comments section reminded me of Shaun Livingston's unbelievably detailed hair, and bearing in mind that this is a series about grooming, not just about facial hair, I think Livingston deserves his own post.
I think all Clipper fans remember Livingston fondly. In his second season in the league he was a key member of the best Clippers team until now that went to game seven of the Western Conference semi-finals. At the time, I believed he was destined to be the true difference maker of that group of players; I was fairly certain that he was going to be better than Elton Brand. His combination of size, skill and court vision does not come around often. He was already a terrific defender, at the age of 20. He had it all.
We know how that ended, in a heap under the basket when his knee imploded on a routine layup in February 2007. Shaun has worked hard to get back into the league, but he never played another game for the Clippers, and he's never lived up to his original potential post-surgery -- which is not surprising considering the severity of his injury.
Livingston had something else, beyond size, vision and a high basketball IQ -- he had great hair. Few NBA players before or since have rocked the corn rows quite like Livvy.
You may think that Livingston's corn rows were always more or less the same, but there's a lot of art of effort that goes into it. Now, I'm a middle-aged, balding white dude, so I have no direct experience with this. But I can certainly appreciate craftsmanship when I see it.
This one is quite an interesting variation for Shaun, with a geometric pattern around the front....
The S curve was a look he frequently used, and this particular one has some nice cross-hatching on the side as well, giving it an extra layer of depth...
This one may be my favorite. It brings to mind flames....
Obviously there's a lot going on here. Lightning bolts, overlaps, and is that a spiral on the top right?
During his injury rehab, he had some extra time to spend at the stylist, as you can plainly see in this shot of Shaun on the bench in street clothes...
And of course, every once in a while Livingston would let it all hang out and rock the most bad ass 'fro since Dr. J.
Now, those are some Top Grooming Moments. We miss you, Shaun.