Jimmy Butler's 'emo' hairstyle, Rockets barring KPJ highlight NBA media day 2023
ABC13 Sports would otherwise turn a blind eye toward anything going on outside of Clutch City on this ho-hum media day across the NBA.
But when a native son of the Houston area once again got pro basketball social media users buzzing, including ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, it's definitely worth this writer's mental energy to make it make sense.
We're taking a look at Jimmy Butler's surprise new look and the newest Houston Rockets members trying on their new uniforms on Monday.
'Very emotional' Butler
Be open-minded, dear Eyewitness Sports reader. Jimmy Butler is trying something on for a change.
The normally businesslike Miami Heat star entered his team's media day surprising staff, team members, and NBA Twitter with something that would make 2004 Gerard Way proud.
The video above is from a previous report on Butler's 2019 free agency.
For the Heat's first official day of work this season, he showed up with piercings to his eye, lip, and nose, along with a swooping hairstyle and fingernails painted black.
As the Associated Press explained, it's become a trend of sorts for Butler, who went through the media day gamut last year with dreadlocks in a deviation from his usual look.
"I'm very emotional right now. This is my emo state and I like this. This is me," Butler, a Tomball High School grad, said. "This is how I'm feeling as of late."
You'd feel that way if you had to endure a second NBA Finals loss in three years, too. Additionally, the feels would be there if your team missed out on acquiring a generational player like Damian Lillard, who was traded from Portland to Milwaukee in a blockbuster deal last week.
Anyways, coaches greeted Butler with smiles and laughs. Teammates, it seemed, were caught a bit off guard. Heat center Bam Adebayo - who hadn't seen his teammate before meeting with reporters - thought someone had photoshopped something when a reporter showed him photos of Butler's look.
"That is not real. ... That is (expletive) hilarious," Adebayo said.
Added Heat guard Tyler Herro: "He told me this was his Halloween today."
We wonder what Jimmy Buckets' favorite Taking Back Sunday song is.
Anyways, as he's one to always have an opinion on just about - well - everything, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith was at a loss for words when "First Take" rolled footage of Butler's hair.
"I don't know about all of this," Smith said once he regained consciousness.
Rockets going forward with a new rhythm as KPJ banned from team
Rockets fans, if you've been in denial about the team being already in a new era over the past couple of seasons, may we try to convince you with the team's media day.
With no players from the James Harden era left and a slew of new cast members coming in, Houston got going with its first day of the NBA calendar by gathering its new members.
Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, Jock Landale, and old/new Rocket, Jeff Green, posed for their photo.
Additionally, third-year player Alperen Sengun got on the wheels of steel with the team's in-arena DJ for a video shoot. In fact, the Rockets revealed that a new introduction video is part of the 2023-2024 season, which will undoubtedly be a potential turning point for a stacked, talented roster.
Beyond Sengun, Houston has Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason, and JaeSean Tate to go along with the free-agent signings as well as the first-round picks, Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore.
The Rockets also revealed their 19-player training camp roster, which is missing Kevin Porter Jr.'s name.
The team informed the 23-year-old he can't be with the team in the wake of his domestic violence arrest last month.
Porter was arrested after an alleged attack on his former WNBA player girlfriend, Kysre Gondrezick, in a New York City hotel room on Sept. 11. Prosecutors said that the attack left her with a fractured neck vertebra and a deep cut above her right eye.
Porter has pleaded not guilty to felony assault and strangulation and is due back in court in Manhattan on Oct. 16.
SEE ALSO: Rockets and incoming stars VanVleet, Brooks to play 7 home games in the 1st 9
"The allegations against him are deeply troubling," general manager Rafael Stone said at Houston's media day Monday. "Going back a few weeks, as soon as I heard the allegations, I informed his representatives that he could not be part of the Houston Rockets. They understood and he has not been with the team or around the team or had any interaction with the team since that time and will not be at media day today or in training camp."
Porter signed a four-year, $82.5 million contract with the Rockets before last season.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
