Even though LeBron James has admitted to losing his hair, it doesn’t appear that he has been fully honest about how he has helped his hairline. As his hairline receded, the size of “King” James’ headband started to grow in a futile effort to hide that he was balding. By 2014, members of the press noticed that the Cleveland Cavaliers forward’s hair was noticeably thinner. Around that time, Deadspin pointed out that the former MVP’s hair was much thinner in June than it appeared in September of that year at a promotional event. It appeared that James’ untold truth was that he had hair transplants put in.
As speculation rose whether James had a surgical procedure to restore his hairline, experts began to weigh in. “He definitely has more hair there’s no question,” Rob Hoffman, the president of the Hairline Clinic of Akron, told Cleveland 19 News in September 2014. According to Hoffman, it appeared that James had a hair transplant known as follicular unit extraction (FUE). “We go in and we take each hair follicle out one at a time,” Hoffman explained. A multitude of videos have been made breaking down James’ hair transformation. “I guess as time goes by, he’s been getting more transplants,” plastic surgeon Dr. Gary Linkov said in a video posted to his popular YouTube page while looking at the progression of the basketball star’s hair. Linkov also believed that James was using “concealer” to fortify his hairline.
Contrary to those claims, James’ former personal barber, Nick Castemanos, insisted that the Cavs player didn’t use any hair gimmicks. “There is no dye. No additives. No preservatives,” Castemanos told Yahoo! Sports in June 2015. Later, an on-court mishap revealed that James was indeed receiving assistance.
When LeBron James’ hair moved during a game
While working out with some of his Cleveland Cavaliers teammates in October 2017, LeBron James took to Snapchat to gush over Dwyane Wade’s hairline. “Yo, is it not fair that he can grow his hair like that?” he said in a video posted from the team’s workout room. In a follow-up snap, James joked about using his beard as a hair transfer. “Why can’t I just velcro this (beard) off and just put it on top of (my head)?” he said to the camera. A couple of years later, it seemed that James did, in fact, try to adhere extra hair to his head.
James experienced a wardrobe malfunction during a game in October 2019 that exposed (one of) his hair secrets. Teammate Anthony Davis alerted James that his hair had moved along with the headband. Clips of the exchange of Davis pointing to his head from the bench while shouting at James on the court went viral. Naturally, the trolls had a field day. “Bron’s weave guy is SO fired,” one X, formerly Twitter, user wrote. Many were confused about what exactly was happening with James’ hair.
The following month, Jalen Rose spoke about the Los Angeles Lakers player’s hair situation. “So LeBron has something that’s called a ‘unit,'” Rose said while appearing on Hot 97 in November 2019. “If you notice, you ain’t seen LeBron rocking a headband since,” Rose said, referring to the viral moment with James and Davis. The former NBA player-turned-analyst said that James was using something akin to a hairpiece and not a hair transplant. “What I hear is it’s not necessarily surgically done. It’s more stitched,” Rose added.
