If you go to Jimmy Butler's player page on NBA.com looking for his stats, you might be surprised by what you see at the top.
Not by the stats, of course. Those are still spectacular from the six-time All-Star. The surprising part is his official league portrait, which shows him sporting an impressive set of dreadlocks.
Throughout the 2022-23 season, it has been a jarring sight for fans not used to seeing Butler rocking the look. After all, he has never worn his hair like that in a competitive game in his entire 12-year NBA career.
So, why does his official photo show him with magnificent dreads?
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What happened to Jimmy Butler's dreadlocks?
During the 2022 offseason, Butler threw us all for a loop when he arrived for workouts sporting a new look: long, flowing, gold-tipped dreadlocks.
Jimmy Butler’s new look.
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) July 27, 2022
(via @Cbrickley603) pic.twitter.com/dvj2e7xI7L
Many fans took to the internet to question what was going on. Only a few months before that, he had wrapped up the 2022 postseason with his usual shorter cornrows hairstyle complete with a white headband.
But the confusion was quickly cleared up when it was revealed Butler had gotten hair extensions during the summer. He even posted a video on Twitter of himself experimenting with different cuts.
.@JimmyButler with the dreads 💈 pic.twitter.com/fWLdPZq3eP
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 28, 2022
"I don't have any extensions, I don't know what you're talking about," Butler joked when asked about the fresh cut at NBA Media Day.
He later explained the change of style was simply an attempt to rile up fans online.
Jimmy Butler on his hair: “I’m just messing with stuff to make the internet mad.” pic.twitter.com/HPKHN9jfkm
— Five Reasons Sports 🏀🏈⚾️🏒⚽️ (@5ReasonsSports) September 26, 2022
He kept the dreads for team photos and his official season portrait, ensuring that we would be seeing it throughout the 2022-23 season. However, he ditched the look before the start of preseason and never played a game with the long locks, perhaps worried that they would prove cumbersome on the court.
That decision seemed to bother ESPN more than it did the internet talking heads. The network did everything it could to avoid using the picture, going as far as using a rendering from the video game NBA 2K in a televised graphic instead of an actual photo.
They put Jimmy Butler’s 2k pic on ESPN 😂 pic.twitter.com/Xbix17NUMz
— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) January 8, 2023
Eventually, they opted to recycle an old photo with a patch honoring the late Bill Russell seemingly photoshopped onto his jersey. That is what remains on his ESPN page to this day.
"There might not be a bigger troll in the NBA than Miami's Jimmy Butler," ESPN's Brian Windhorst said in October. "He knew these pictures would be used for the rest of the season in promotional materials."
For his part, Butler wasn't pleased with ESPN's attempts to find workarounds to using the picture. He even threatened to bring back the dreads if the picture wasn't restored on the network's website.
Despite ESPN continuing to use a different picture, Butler has yet to return to the look as the NBA Playoffs near their conclusion. Perhaps a return is in order for next season?
