What Hairstyle Does Jeremy Lin Play Best In?

A comprehensive statistical analysis of the Charlotte guard's hair throughout the season.
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Jeremy Lin’s second NBA season saw the emergence of Linsanity—one of the few bastions of hope for New York basketball fans over the last fifteen years. So naturally, James Dolan felt compelled to let him skip town to Houston in favor of Raymond Felton. A quiet stint with the Rockets led to an even quieter stint in Los Angeles, save for the occasions when Kobe would very publicly scream and berate him. But this season, a resurgence! Not necessarily of Linsanity (though it should be noted that Lin has become an integral spark off the bench for the Charlotte Hornets) but of—stay with me now—Hairsanity.

Not since Dennis Rodman was first introduced to Hot Topic has an NBA player’s hair meant so much to the success of his team. There was the Mohawk, of course, but also the way-too-long comb-over and the I-think-that’s-making-it-worse headband. For one night only, there was even a double ponytail! Sure, it was all funny and weird and something to tweet about at first, when Kemba Walker was on the bench instead of doing Kemba Walker things, but the Hornets have parlayed a 33-49 record in 2015 into a sixth-seed in the Eastern Conference.

And who is currently being lauded as one of the most dominant forces of this year’s NBA Playoffs thus far, drawing premature comparisons to MJ in the process? Mr. Jeremy Lin.

But what hairstyle should Lin be rocking for Game 6 against the Miami Heat if he wants to ensure victory? We looked at all 83 games Lin has played in this season to find out which cut is most likely to bring Linsanity back for real.


Charlotte Hornets guard Jeremy Lin, right, flies across the lane looking to pass to a teammate as Utah Jazz center Jeff Withey, center, applies defensive pressure during first half action on Monday, Jan. 18, 2016, at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C. (Jeff Siner/Charlotte Observer/TNS via Getty Images)TNS via Getty Images
Comb-over

Games Played: 16
PPG: 11.8
APG: 2.9
SPG: 0.8
RPG: 3.1
TO: 1.9
Overall record: 15-1

Perhaps most notable is the success of the comb-over, which Lin favored from early January until mid-March. The Hornets were a middling 17-18 when Lin truly adopted the look, and he dropped 26 points on the Clippers in a losing effort on January 9, one of his best offensive outputs of the season. Lin returned to the look on January 22, which marked a turnaround in Charlotte’s season, as well as an improvement in Lin’s game, most notably in a 24-point outburst against LeBron and the Cavaliers. While he was donning the side-swept look, the Hornets went 15-1 and saw their record improve to 37-28 by the time Lin officially retired the comb-over on March 12.


Charlotte Hornets guard Jeremy Lin, right, flies across the lane looking to pass to a teammate as Utah Jazz center Jeff Withey, center, applies defensive pressure during first half action on Monday, Jan. 18, 2016, at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C. (Jeff Siner/Charlotte Observer/TNS via Getty Images)TNS via Getty Images
Headband

Games Played: 2
PPG: 10.5
APG: 4
SPG: 0.5
RPG: 7
TO: 2.5
Overall record: 1-1


Charlotte Hornets guard Jeremy Lin, right, flies across the lane looking to pass to a teammate as Utah Jazz center Jeff Withey, center, applies defensive pressure during first half action on Monday, Jan. 18, 2016, at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C. (Jeff Siner/Charlotte Observer/TNS via Getty Images)TNS via Getty Images
Ponytail

Games Played: 2
PPG: 7
APG: 2.5
SPG: 0
RPG: 1
TO: 1.5
Overall record: 1-1


Charlotte Hornets guard Jeremy Lin, right, flies across the lane looking to pass to a teammate as Utah Jazz center Jeff Withey, center, applies defensive pressure during first half action on Monday, Jan. 18, 2016, at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C. (Jeff Siner/Charlotte Observer/TNS via Getty Images)TNS via Getty Images
Double Ponytail

Games Played: 1
PPG: 11
APG: 3
SPG: 0
RPG: 5
TO: 4
Overall record: 1-0

Experimentations with various ponytails and a headband were short-lived and primarily flops. The Hornets went 3-2 on these occasions, and Lin’s performances were mediocre at best. One high point, though, was the eight rebounds he snatched against Boston on December 3, while wearing the headband. He followed that up with six boards on January 18 against the Jazz, a significantly higher margin than his season average. Is it possible that with a headband presumably stopping any excess hair-gel flow, Lin’s vision and depth perception were improved, thus allowing him to track down errant shots with more success?


Charlotte Hornets guard Jeremy Lin, right, flies across the lane looking to pass to a teammate as Utah Jazz center Jeff Withey, center, applies defensive pressure during first half action on Monday, Jan. 18, 2016, at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C. (Jeff Siner/Charlotte Observer/TNS via Getty Images)TNS via Getty Images
Slick-back

Games Played: 30
PPG: 12
APG: 3
SPG: 0.9
RPG: 3.6
TO: 2
Overall record: 13-17

The Charlotte coaching staff may want to keep Lin away from the slick-back for the remainder of these NBA Playoffs, however. With what was Lin’s most popular styling (30 games total), the Hornets went 13-17, including an initial stretch of 1-9 following the slick-back’s debut. These games also saw some of Lin’s worst offensive performances—he scored 5 points or less on six different occasions.


Charlotte Hornets guard Jeremy Lin, right, flies across the lane looking to pass to a teammate as Utah Jazz center Jeff Withey, center, applies defensive pressure during first half action on Monday, Jan. 18, 2016, at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C. (Jeff Siner/Charlotte Observer/TNS via Getty Images)TNS via Getty Images
Man Bun

Games Played: 4
PPG: 15.3
APG: 3.5
SPG: 0.8
RPG: 3
TO: 1.5
Overall record: 3-1

And then there is the man bun, which could very well go down as the pinnacle of Hairsanity. In an interview back in February, Lin told GQ’s Chris Gayomali that there were “a lot of other things I wanna do, but it’s not long enough right now.” Could he have been alluding to the man bun he debuted in Game 2 against the Miami Heat? Yes, the Hornets lost that game, but they have since taken the last three games to go up 3-2 in the series, thanks in large part to Lin and the man bun. In Game 3, he dropped 18 points. Game 4 saw him go 6-10 from the field for 21 points. Game 5 saw Lin dish out 7 assists, including one that led to Courtney Lee’s eventual game winner. This begs the question, though: What if Lin were to somehow combine the success of both the comb-over and the man bun for Game 6, to get a side-pony-bun? He might just mess around and get a triple double.


Charlotte Hornets guard Jeremy Lin, right, flies across the lane looking to pass to a teammate as Utah Jazz center Jeff Withey, center, applies defensive pressure during first half action on Monday, Jan. 18, 2016, at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C. (Jeff Siner/Charlotte Observer/TNS via Getty Images)TNS via Getty Images

Mohawk

Games Played: 28
PPG: 12.1
APG: 2.9
SPG: 0.9
RPG: 2.9
TO: 1.6
Overall record: 16-12