Mickael Gelabale cut off his dreadlocks for health reasons

The NBA has had some uncommon hairstyles in his time — remember Scot Pollard, everyone? — but sometimes those new 'dos end up coming perfectly standard basketball looks. For instance, when players first started sporting dreadlocks, fans were taken aback by something they were most familiar with via their well-played copies of Bob Marley's "Legend." Now it's no big deal.

But perhaps we have been ignoring a real problem. Minnesota Timberwolves big man Mickael Gelabale, now back in the NBA after four seasons in Europe, sported dreadlocks as a member of the Seattle SuperSonics from 2006 to 2008. Now his locks are shorn.

It wasn't an aesthetic choice, though, because the hair apparently threatened Gelabale's health. From a Google translation of the Spanish sports publication Marca (via TBJ):

In the last two seasons, had suffered constant injuries Gelabale muscle took origin in his famous look. The dreadlocks, the weight in the head that carries carry such volume hair, bad posture cause generating fibrillar articular pathologies and injuries. They can even alter the way of running. Experts believe that it is harmful to the athletes wear their hair like that. Not start, but in the long run, hurt the player dreads.

The explanation is simple. Glowing hair like Gelabale prompting for years and many changes the center of gravity of the body. The hair pulled back from her head, the player must correct this displacement with the muscles of the neck, with the passage of time this unnatural gesture takes work and a mismatch in the neck and eventually degenerates into continuous ailments.

It is not the first at something happens. A teammate Joakim Noah, who also played the game with France yesterday, the Bulls doctors advised him to cut his hair. The pivot, more rebellious refused and had less hair and has helped Gelabale a ponytail, almost a bow, one of its hallmarks. In Chicago they have made shirts with him. [...]

Athletes, of course, can wear their hair and if you wish, but they must be well prepared. Require large muscles in the upper body and strong legs to bear the burden of hair naturally, without harming your neck.

If you have difficulty reading poor translations, the idea here is that Gelabale's hair weighed too much and caused the muscles in his neck and shoulders to overcompensate, thereby creating problems in the rest of his body, as well. This situation might sound odd, but it's actually in keeping with the philosophies practiced by some of the best training staffs in the NBA. A slight problem in one area of the body can have wide-ranging consequences.

The difference here, of course, is that we're talking about heavy hair, not a sprained ankle. It's an odd thing to consider, even if it makes medical sense. We're just not used to considering hair as a medical hazard. If this news spreads, perhaps dreads will fall back out of style.