SAN ANTONIO — De’Aaron Fox didn’t even know why it happened. When he arrived at Spurs practice on Thursday, he saw the two faces of his team: Keldon Johnson and Victor Wembanyama. What he didn’t see was any hair on their heads.
After landing home from their 119-98 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Johnson and Wembanyama did what anyone would do after a tough day at work: They shaved their heads bald.
“Bad things happen, I guess, when we lose to OKC,” Fox said. “We landed. They got in Vic’s car and started shaving their heads.”
Of course, Johnson had to share his side of the story. He’s never been shy of the mic, and he’s never missed an opportunity to join in on some fun. It turns out that Johnson was jealous that his best friends were bald and he just wanted to be like them.
“So I told all my teammates I was going to bald my head,” Johnson said. “We had a TV game, so I couldn’t bald my head.”
The OKC loss on NBC presented the perfect time for a fresh start. The Spurs were on top of the NBA world when they beat the Thunder three times in 12 days during December but have fallen back to earth over their last 10 games. They are 4-6 since beating the Thunder on Christmas and have ceded the second seed in the Western Conference back to the Denver Nuggets. After Wembanyama took a beating against the Thunder, it was time to switch something up.
“Then last night, Vic was like, ‘Yo, let’s bald our head.’ I was like, ‘S—, let’s do it,’” Johnson said. “I’ve been looking for a reason to do it.”
Keldon Johnson explains that he and Victor Wembanyama shaved each other’s heads:
“Last night, Vic was like, ‘Yo, let’s bald our head.’ And I was like, ‘Shit, let’s do it. ‘ I mean, I’ve been looking for a reason to do it.“ pic.twitter.com/UTAMN66l7F
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) January 15, 2026
When they got off the plane, they obtained some clippers and got to work.
“Vic bald my hair, and I bald his hair. No ladder,” Johnson said. “But you know I got to work on my skills a bit, my clippers. I might be a barber when it’s all said and done.”
Barbers have different styles. Some make it an adventure along the way, and some just get the job done as quickly as they can. Some are quiet, and some won’t shut up. It won’t be hard to guess which camp Johnson falls into.
“It took me a little bit. I was trying to be cautious, ’cause he got hit. He had a knot on his head,” Johnson said. “So I was trying to make sure everything was smooth. I take my time. I had to fade it up a little bit at first, then I gave him a little bowl cut, then we just went from there.”
On the other end of the spectrum was Wembanyama, who knew he had to move quickly to take advantage of a moment of calm from his teammate. Johnson admitted he was jittery after the game — as he always is — but was chill when it was time to go bald.
“He did good. He was quick with it. No lie, Vic probably took three minutes,” Johnson said. “Boom, boom, boom, knock it all down. I was like, ‘Wow!’”
While Johnson was inspired by his friends, Wembanyama actually went bald this summer when he was training with Shaolin monks in China.
“No one saw Vic (in person) when he did it during the summer. We just saw pictures. But this? I have nothing to say about this,” Fox said facetiously.
Count on Johnson to give his teammates what they need, even if it may not be what they want. He is an unavoidable presence in the locker room and on the court. The first to rip a shirt off his back for his teammates, although he’s usually not wearing a shirt anyway.
He might need to start dressing for warmth a bit more now. The only downside to Johnson’s decision is that it got cold in San Antonio once he returned, with overnight lows in the 30s. While he knows what to do with his body on the court and in the gym, his head is having a hard time figuring out how to regulate his body temperature.
“This (is) the first time my head’s been sweating,” Johnson said. “My head’s cold. I’ve been trying to keep the skully on.”
The Spurs had some impressive consistency in the first third of the season, even without their biggest star missing significant time. Johnson’s persistently good vibes, and even his singing voice, helped them maintain focus while having fun.
Times are getting tougher lately as they reach the part of the season when many young teams hit the wall. But Johnson won’t let that take away their joy. He loves doing things together. He wouldn’t even shave his head until a teammate joined in. The player who has been with the Spurs the longest remains a key part of the team because his favorite part of his job is being part of the team.
“I wake up every day, and I enjoy coming to work and being here with this group,” Jonson said. “Learning, laughing, joking, going through the good times and the bad times, I feel like that’s what builds real bonds right there. I feel like this group has been amazing.”