About eight years ago, Meleyen Tengben checked his Instagram direct message folder and he saw a message from a freshman at Minnehaha Academy named Chet Holmgren.
Tengben is a barber who has started his own shop in Brooklyn Park (with a new location coming soon in Atlanta). He had been cutting the hair of Holmgren’s friend and teammate Jalen Suggs, and Holmgren was interested in working with him.
What Holmgren asked Tengben still makes him laugh today.
“He asked me, ‘Can you can you cut white hair?’ Like, Chet, what kind of question is that, man?” Tengben said.
After Holmgren told Tengben he usually gets his hair cut at a chain barbershop, Tengben told him, “You’re gonna love my haircut.”
So began a now eight-year friendship between Holmgren and Tengben, who has grown his business, Meleyen’s Sports Barbershop, in part through relationships he has had cutting hair for professional athletes. His client list includes Holmgren, Suggs and several current and former Timberwolves players and personnel like Naz Reid, Jaden McDaniels, Jaylen Nowell, Jarred Vanderbilt and incoming controlling owner Alex Rodriguez.
Tengben grew up in Minneapolis, attended Moler’s Barber School and his social media presence played a role in his career’s path. It led him from Suggs to Holmgren after Tengben posted how work with Suggs on Instagram.
As Holmgren has navigated his NBA career, Tengben has not just been a barber, but a friend, confidante and someone who Holmgren trusts among his circle of close friends. Tengben will spend significant time in Oklahoma City hanging out with Holmgren in the middle of the season, with Tengben taking one of the guest bedrooms in Holmgren’s house. Their friendship is akin to a lot of friendships athletes have with their barbers; they become close friends, like family.