4Dec/095:37 PM

Some not-so-recent great moments in Suns hair history

By Vince Marotta

Mark McLane fired the first salvo–basically calling me old, and more capable of chronicling the older great moments in Phoenix Suns hair history. And I can’t argue– I am old, so here you go, Mark.

The Suns have had some really, really memorable hairdos over the years, not even including the 5 different looks of the hair chameleon himself, Steve Nash. We’ll get to that later.

Neal Walk was the Suns’ consolation prize in the 1969 NBA Draft. The team lost the coin flip with Milwaukee, so Alcindor went to the Bucks, and the Suns got Walk out of Florida. He was good, too. Walk averaged 20.2 points and 12.4 rebounds per game in 1972-73. And if you look at the picture, there’s nothing really out of the ordinary about the hair on his head. But how about the shoulders? In the 70’s, body hair was a badge of honor for men in the United States…Neal Walk must’ve been proud of his chest pelt!

If you saw the movie “Semi-Pro” starring Will Ferrell and Woody Harrelson, it was a pretty good depiction of the hairstyles that were running rampant in the NBA and the ABA in the early to mid-70’s. Nobody rocked a better fro while with the Suns than Walt Wesley. Wesley was a journeyman who played for 7 teams in 10 seasons, and only wore the orange and purple for 45 games in the 72-73 season. But check out that fro! Awesome! Little known fact…Wesley’s afro won Second Team All-NBA Defensive Team honors by itself in 74-75! (Runner up for ‘fro awesomeness - Ronnie Lee.

When you think of the great mustaches in sports history, names like Goose Gossage, Rollie Fingers and Marge Schott come to mind. Former Suns center James Edwards had one of the great ’staches in Phoenix sports history. Edwards sported the “buddah” mustache for 6 years in the Valley, averaging 14.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and several food particles caught in his flavor-saver per game.

Another unfortunate trend in men’s hair fashions of the late 70’s and early 80’s was the perm. Wait a minute, the process smells terrible and I get to look like a poodle when I’m done…where do I sign? The best perm in the Valley sports scene in those days belonged to Suns’ guard Don Buse. Buse, who was known for his defensive prowess during his playing days in the ABA and NBA, came to Phoenix in 1977 and racked up 432 steals in just three seasons, and was named to the All-NBA Defensive Team all three times. Maybe opponents were distracted by the perm? Want proof that his hair wasn’t naturally curly? Here you go.

Kyle Macy was a phenom in the college ranks when he played at perennial powerhouse Kentucky. Macy was a starter on the 1977-78 Wildcat team that won a national championship, and was the 1979-80 SEC Player of the Year. One of the strong suits in Macy’s game was his free throw shooting. In his five seasons with the Suns, Macy shot 88.4% from the free throw stripe. But the thing that stood out for me was Macy’s impressively-coiffed hair helmet. Nary a hair was out of place, regardless of how long he played. These days, wouldn’t you know it, there’s still not a hair out of place on Macy’s head.

In the 90’s, players in the NBA got really creative with their hair, but the most identifiable style of the era was the flat top/fade, and nobody wore it better than Suns’ center John “Hot Rod” Williams. Williams’ landing pad conjured up images of the lead singer of Cameo (Word Up!), sans the codpiece of course. Williams played in Phoenix for three seasons, averaging 6.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.

Sure, Steve Nash gets a lot of pub for his hairstyles du jour these days, but how can you leave his look during his first stint with the Suns off the list? Answer: you can’t.