It wasn’t a box score or a highlight reel that had San Antonio Spurs fans talking tonight, but the sudden disappearance of Victor Wembanyama’s signature hair. Initially, there was no explanation why. Was he going to meet the monks again? A teammate clarified the reason.

“I told my teammates I was going to bald my head,” Spurs forward Keldon Johnson told reporters. “We had a TV game, so I couldn’t bald my head. I think that was like last week. And then last night, Vic was like, ‘Yo, let’s bald our head.’ And I was like, ‘S—, let’s do it.'”

Almost like a team-building exercise, Johnson, who had been planning to go bald for a while, was convinced by Wembanyama to finally do it, and the Frenchman seemed to go through with it himself. Johnson described the sequence, which took place after the team’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, where the two shaved each other’s heads.

According to Johnson, Wembanyama is not half-bad at shaving heads and took “three minutes” to finish the job, which surprised him.

It’s not too surprising once you remember that this isn’t the first time the Spurs center has gone bald. Last year, in the offseason, Wembanyama shaved his head as part of a trip to the Shaolin monks in China.

Johnson was more careful when shaving Wembanyama’s head, as the center had a lump on his head from the physical game against the Thunder.

“I was trying to make sure everything went smooth, take my time,” Johnson said. “I had to fade it up a little bit at first. Then I gave him a little bowl cut, and then we went from there.”

What Victor Wembanyama’s haircut reveals about the Spurs

What made the moment between Keldon Johnson and Victor Wembanyama resonate with fans was how it was initiated. Sure, the two went bald, but franchise centers rarely lead with gestures that undermine hierarchy. Wemby did so, without cameras or an announcement, through a shared act that put him on the same level as his teammate.

In a league where superstardom like Wembanyama’s can create distance in the locker room, the Spurs have gone the opposite direction, and it’s not surprising given the franchise’s history.

Back when Wembanyama first went bald in China, he explained that the move was a part of putting his body through “things that it’s not used to doing and allowing my range of movement and strength.”

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Considering that the big man has struggled with injuries early this year and the team has been on a losing streak, perhaps the haircut feels more like a reset for both him and Johnson.

Moments like this might not help them climb in the standings, but the effect on chemistry and stabilization is undeniable. Johnson even revealed that he enjoys “coming to work” with his Spurs teammate.

After the game against the Milwaukee Bucks tonight, Wembanyama addressed his new hair directly, joking that he trusted Keldon because “what can go wrong” if he planned to get rid of all his hair, before telling reporters:

“I had been having this in the back of my head for a little bit, and the fact that he wanted to do it as well just convinced me. I felt like we had to lock in real quick because we had been losing a little bit.”

For a young roster, seeing their star and clear leader embrace togetherness sends a clear message: we’re in this together, no matter how hard things get.