Avon never got a haircut in peace.
After several rewatches of The Wire, you start to notice random story lines that really have nothing to do with the main themes.
One I noticed is that in the midst of Avon Barksdale running west Baltimore’s drug scene, he had a hard time just getting a simple haircut.
In Season 1, after the conclusion of the annual East vs West basketball game versus Prop Joe, Avon is recognized & spotted by Detective Sydnor who then alerts Lt. Daniels that he has eyes on Avon, wearing a red shirt with a white visor. As Avon leaves the game in his Ford Excursion, he is tracked down by Lt. Daniels, Detective Santangelo & Detective Sydnor. After their failed attempt at following Avon, a later scene shows Avon informing Stringer of what happened after the game. The conversation continues & Avon states that he thinks they were trying to see where he was going, which he then tells Stringer that he was going to the barbershop to get a haircut. Stringer then replies, going to get a fade? - Avon’s haircut of choice.
In Season 3, Avon is finishing up getting a haircut when Brother Mouzone walks in the front door of the barbershop leading to the barber asking if Brother Mouzone & Avon are good. This leads to the intense conversation between Avon & Brother Mouzone in which Avon gives up Stringer for his betrayal of Brother Mouzone in Season 2 when he’s ambushed by Omar at the motel.
Long story less long, it seems that Avon’s time for a haircut was always interrupted by the game being the game.