NBA players are among the most stylish athletes in the world. For a long time, it has been a tradition for NBA stars to dress up for match day.
Nowadays, resale platforms sponsor stadium tunnels and almost all NBA players have stylists.
Whether they play with long hair or are balding, ball players are serious about their appearances, and especially their hairstyles.
One particular fashion style that has been popular among NBA stars has been the dreadlock hairstyle.
Despite the fact that dreadlocks tend to cover a person’s eyes, many ballers around the globe have adopted the hairstyle for its spectacular appearance
In this post, we are going to be looking at some of the best NBA players with dreads that fans love.
Below are 13 Best NBA players with dreads that have been a fashion statement on and off the court.
13 Best NBA Players with Dreads in 2022
Ja Morant
Ja Morant is a youg, exlosive talent who is currently one of the best NBA players with dreads.
After earning the NBA Rookie of the Year award for his first season, Ja Morant kept on making a name for himself when he won the NBA Most Improved player award in 2021.
Apart from his poster-making dunks, Morant also has one of the best dreadlocks in the NBA.
His locks are very clean and colorful and he adds touches of blue or purple to stand out.
Jimmy Butler
Jimmy Butler started his career in the league rocking a classic low cut. However, over the years, his looks have changed just as his game matured.
Jimmy went from having a low cut to rocking one of the most outlandish dreads in the NBA.
From his playing days with the Chicago Bulls, Butler started growing his hair slowly. At first, it was the classic side fade with top twists styled into short dreads.
However, as he moved to the Miami Heat, so did his hairstyle took a different turn.
Over the last couple of years, Jimmy Butler has flourished into one of the top players in the league, and every year, his hair only grows longer and longer.
Right now, Jimmy Butler one of the biggest NBA stars rocking dreadlocks on the court.
Derrick Rose
Derrick Rose is one of those NBA stars that fans love and connect with. At the time he was drafted into the NBA, he had a simple low cut.
With a massive talent and ability to change the game, Derric Rose was seen as the next big-time behind Jordan in the Bulls franchise during his prime.
However, injuries got the best of him and he had to undergo multiple surgeries on his knees and legs.
Derrick Rose’s NBA career almost came to an end, however, he change his playing style and came back into the league as a different player.
This time, Rose grew his hair and styled it into one of the best dreadlocks in the NBA.
Even right now, with his medium-sized dreads, the former MVP looks flawless.
DeAndre Jordan
DeAndre Jordan is another star who started his career in the league looking like an average guy on the streets.
At the start of his career with the Los Angeles Clippers, Jordan spotted with a top-up curl with twists on top which he started growing slowly over the years.
By the time he joined the Brooklyn Nets in 2019, DeAndre Jordan’s dreads had fully grown and matured into one of the best in the league.
Jordan may be past his prime now, but is still considered one of the nicest players in the NBA.
D’Angelo Russell
D’Angelo Russell is another NBA star who never disappoints with his hairstyles. Throughout his career, Russell’s Hair has been styled in multiple ways, including two-strand twists, top knots, dreaded braids, and dreadlock cornrows.
his NBA debut back in 2015, Ruseell had taper fade then extended towards the back of his head giving him a mohawk look which would be the foundation of his dreads for the following years to come.
His signature look is the thick box braids that he often wears with 3 large locks on one side and 3 on the other.
Mike Conley Jr.
Mike Conley is a hairstyle fashionista. Like most NBA players, he started his career in the NBA having the classic low cut with the side fade.
However, as the years progressed, Mike Conley’s looks changed as he started growing his hair.
He regularly switched from cornrows to dreads throughout various games which have left fans wondering if he plays better in one style or the other.
Mike Conley can easily be recognized on the court as one of the NBA players with dreads that look really flawless on him.
Jrue Holiday
Jrue Holiday is another player who came into the league with the classic fade from his college days. However, as his game has continued to evolve and get better, so too has his looks.
Presently, Jrue Holiday is among the best paid NBA player earning a salary of $33 million for the 2022/2023 NBA season.
Will he and the Bucks win another championship ring again?
Anthony Edwards
Anthony Edwards is an exciting young player to watch. Since turning pro, he has helped to revive the Timberwolves after joining a star studded squad made of Rudy Gobert, Karl Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell.
With only three years of experience as a pro basketball player, Anthony Edwards is poised to become of the big stars in the league.
And we believe his dreadlocked hairstyle too will mostly grow longer with time.
JaVale McGee
JaVale McGee has always been on top of his game as far his hairdo is concerned. The NBA champion has done several hairstyles over the years with the most famous one being his triple rat tail headbands that he did in 2017.
McGee recently signed a three year $20 million contract to play for the Dallas Mavericks. Though he’s getting closer to retirement, he still holds it down for the Mavericks.
JaVale McGee is defnitely among the most stylish NBA players with dreads.
Jae Crowder
Jae Crowder is another NBA player with dreads that are quite recognizable. He is one of the few NBA players that have had dreadlocks for many years.
In one report, Crowder shared that he trims his hair during the season and let it grow during the offseason.
He also said he keeps all his hair clippings in a plastic ziploc bag because people don’t think it’s real.
With his standout ponytail dreadlock, Jae Crowder can easily be recognozed on the basketball court.
Markelle Fultz
Markelle Fultz started his NBA career with a lot of expectations as the first overall pick coming out of college.
Even though he is still to prove that he is an outstanding talent in the NBA, Fultz is outstanding as one of the NBA players with dreads that match his looks.
Since getting traded from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Orlando Magic, Fultz switched his looks by growing his low skin fade with short twists on top to longer dreads that match the tattoos he has got all over his arm
Will Markelle Fultz’s NBA career ever look as good as his locks? Only time will tell.
Michael Beasley
Michael Beasley has done it all. From cornrows to dreads, he looks really good in any hairstyle he makes.
Like Markelle Fultz, Beasley came into the league with a lot of hype from his college basketball days. However, he hasn’t lived up to the expectations in the league and is currently a free agent.
One thing stands out though – he looks really good in the dreadlocks and cornrows he’s had throughout his professional basketball career.
Kenneth Faried
Right from his college days at Morehead College, Kenneth Faried always rocked dreads.
Throughout his professional basketball career which has seen him go from the NBA to playing in China and Europe, Faried could easily be spotted on the court with his thick fully gown dreads.
He has one of the best original dreadlocked hairstyles in the NBA.
Who was the first NBA player with Dreads?
The first NBA player with dreads is Pervis Ellison. The number pick in the 1989 NBA Draft was very good in college, however, when he got to the NBA, his career was marred by injuries.
Eventhough there had been many NBA players who kept grown hair such as Julius Erving (Dr J.) Ellison actually was the first one who kept dreadlocks.
Final Words
NBA fashion is definitely something that spices up the game and makes it more exciting. And basketball players always keep up with their hair game.
Which of these NBA players with dreads is your favorite?
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