SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Ben Sheppard started growing his mustache on a whim after the Indiana Pacers drafted him with the No. 26 pick in 2023.
He was clean shaven as a college player at Belmont and stayed that way long enough to take all of the post-draft photos alongside fellow first-round pick Jarace Walker. Then he just started letting his facial hair grow.
By the start of NBA Summer League in 2023, he was showing some stubble, but eventually gave up on everything but the hair above his lip. By training camp he had a full-grown mustache.
‘At first I couldn’t grow any other facial hair except for a mustache,’ Sheppard said, ‘but I like how it looks on me.’
Sheppard, who scored six points and added an assist during Indiana’s Game 2 win over New York in the Eastern Conference finals Friday night, said his parents didn’t buy into his new look right away.
His parents, David and Susan, were not big fans and suggested he shave it. Ben was about to acquiesce, but then he saw a picture of them at their wedding and noticed that his father had a mustache that was almost exactly the same as his.
‘I just wanted to keep it after that,’ Sheppard said.
At that point David bought into the idea, Ben said, because what could he say? Susan was still more than skeptical but eventually had to surrender.
‘It probably took my mom a year to accept the fact that I have a mustache,’ Sheppard said. ‘But my dad likes everything that I do.’
It has since become the defining feature of Sheppard’s aesthetic as he’s settled into a rotation role as the Pacers’ high-energy, low-maintenance wing off the bench ‒ an ’80s style ‘stache sitting above a seemingly permanent smile.
‘I feel like it’s like a part of me now,’ Sheppard said, ‘so I’m keeping it for the time being.’
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