Patrick Gonzalez, Student Forced To Shave Matt Bonner Haircut, Scores Courtside Spurs Playoffs Tickets

Patrick Gonzalez, the 12-year-old student forced to shave off his haircut -- which was a tribute to San Antonio Spurs player Matt Bonner -- finally got some good news: The player arranged courtside seats for Gonzalez at Thursday's playoff game, KSAT-TV reports.

And if that wasn't enough excitement, Bonner also autographed several pieces of the fan's memorabilia and, according to the Associated Press, encouraged him to "keep supporting us redheads in the NBA."

Gonzalez told KSAT-TV that Bonner is one of his favorite players because they both have red hair, and hopes to get the haircut again once summer vacation begins.

Earlier on HuffPost:

Comments

[jl4141]

11:36 AM on 05/22/2012

The powers-that-be at this kid's school can go suckazz. Is this what they should be doing, punishing their students into conformity and uniformity and . . . well, I can't think of other "ormities" right now, but you get the gist of it.

[proteusdecision]

01:54 PM on 05/21/2012

With all the problems schools need to address, this is what they focus on?!? You see what the problem REALLY is?

[acumenguy]

06:08 PM on 05/20/2012

That barber is a genius.

[catboycolo]

02:18 AM on 05/20/2012

Schools are starting to look dumber than the students they are producing...not a great sign.

[single malt]

02:09 AM on 05/20/2012

uptight a little

[thefinaledict]

01:14 AM on 05/20/2012

What if it was a t-shirt?

Would that be banned too?

[ramp613]

12:26 AM on 05/20/2012

I'm so glad we homeschool.

[Andrea Blackwell]

10:32 AM on 05/20/2012

Hopefully, it will catch on as a more accessible option. I never relied on school to fully educate my daughter, but I could only do so much damage control. She would have done so much better if I could have telecommuted and had a more active hand in her education. This is clearly the dummying-down of America at work.

[Atwill]

12:43 PM on 05/21/2012

Do you also teah the bible while doing that? and ignore the facts about the Earth and evolution and sexuallity?

[kiddub]

10:43 PM on 05/21/2012

Did you take critical thinking or just block sorting while you were in school?

[ramp613]

10:32 PM on 05/24/2012

Atwill, we teach evolution and science. And freedom and equality. And we've presented the bible as one set of myths among many.

Homeschoolers are not the conservative, religious monolith that many would have the public believe. Plenty of us in this area are progressive and secular.

[iLdoRight]

10:27 PM on 05/19/2012

Anyone distracted to a significant degree by this kids haircut should never be allowed near shinny objects. I suspect that some teachers or other school officials should be forced to read the constitution out loud to the entire school body as there is nothing morally wrong with what the kid had done. Their stance reminds me of some of the detrimental faculty in the school I went to. I thought some of them should have served some jail time for their in school conduct.

[candlesmp]

07:54 PM on 05/19/2012

that haircut was amazing! Shame he had to shave it off. Cool that he got tickets to the game!

[mlaiuppa]

07:12 PM on 05/19/2012

Very cool.

I see no reason to have forced the kid to get a haircut. Just some anal-retentive, controlling administrator with delusions of godhood.

It would have grown out in a few weeks.

But great for the kid. Bonner, you are a wonderful person to do this for the kid.

[bessielil]

03:35 PM on 05/19/2012

I can't imagine a dress code rule that speaks to faces in haircuts. That would take a lot of imagination for folks who write the rule book.

[mlaiuppa]

07:13 PM on 05/19/2012

It's under if it causes a disruption to the learning process.

In other words, if the kids in class were paying more attention to the kid's hair than the teacher and wouldn't settle down and focus. If it repeatedly caused problems.

[LJohns1216]

01:22 PM on 05/20/2012

What a crock....it would divert about 2 minutes....

AND it would be a positive 2 minutes as everyone of all ilks would enjoy this type of tribute.

[duckzilla]

04:13 PM on 05/21/2012

if they are that easily distracted...they probably wouldnt have done very well in school anyway

[carnivaluv]

12:04 PM on 05/19/2012

I'm glad the kid got all the autographs and courtside seats. The school should have never made him shave his head in the first place.

[Hlynn]

11:14 AM on 05/19/2012

Such a shame he had to have it cut out of his hair; that is quite a tribute by a fan. I had no idea that kind of cut was even possible and wonder how many other people get images like that cut into their hair.

I hope local people who disagreed with the school's decision will get together to change that policy for anyone in the future. I'm glad Gonzalez got the attention of his favorite athlete and reaped rewards from his haircut drama.

[Andrea Blackwell]

10:36 AM on 05/20/2012

Black barbers have been doing that for decades.
It's pretty common in Chicagoland.
What a silly thing for a school to do, considering how much emphasis they
put into sports.
What a lame example to set...institutionalized bullying....sad.

[124pythias]

10:53 AM on 05/19/2012

I want to meet whoever cut that hair. WAY too much talent to waste in Texas.

[OC4Obama4Pres]

02:52 PM on 05/19/2012

You can say that again!

[Andrea Blackwell]

10:37 AM on 05/20/2012

Go to any Black barbershop. If you don't find someone there, they probably can point you in the right direction.

[jeremyv1980]

01:47 AM on 05/22/2012

I dunno man. I have went to black and white barbers. Generally they are good at cutting the hair they normally cut. Generally if you go to a barber shop that is has exclusively black patrons you get a messed up cut (if your white, and not always I am sure). They try to shape your hair like it is a bush. White peoples hair don't cut like that. Well most. Some of them do, but not in my case. My hair is fine and lays flat. No shaping to it. I fade my own now. Some barbers just can't figure out a mid fade.

[bazingabrickfists]

10:43 AM on 05/19/2012

gingers do have souls!

[catboycolo]

02:20 AM on 05/20/2012

Nice SP reference!