According to a recent ESPN profile, just six barbers were selected for the NBA’s bubble playoff at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.
As part of an effort spearheaded by Rajon Rondo’s older brother, Will Rondo, whose hospitality company Superior Global Travel & Concierge has been making lives easier for NBA players for years, the league has converted an array of hotel suites into an appointment-only barber shop, open from 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. daily, and manned by six different barbers: New York’s Marcos “Reggae” Smith, L.A.’s Daniel Thomas and Willie Brooks, Miami’s Mo Rodriguez, Orlando’s Joel Padilla and Sedric Salinas from the Bay Area.
The shop will have all the fixings — including real (probably a bit bigger than usual) barber chairs, and facial steaming stations — and will see some more serious cleaning than the standard, end-of-day sweep. Hired professionals will come in at the end of each day to give the shop a deep clean. The NBA is working too hard to pull this thing off for an unsanitary buzzcut to bring it all tumbling down.
While the set-up is meant to give the 300-plus players in the bubble a sense of comfort and confidence (at a time when few of us would feel comfortable showing our pandemic ‘dos to the rest of the world), it will end up being a huge boon for the few selected barbers. Beyond increased name recognition, each will head home with a ton of cash. The NBA and NBPA will be paying a flat rate out to each barber, but they can also collect custom tips from the deep-pocketed players. With three-hour shifts, and the potential for dozens of cuts, at least one barber expects the experience to singlehandedly cover his mortgage.
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