University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Two worlds

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Two worlds

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Content Two Worlds
by
Classie Love
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL
OF JOURNALISM AND COMMUNICATIONS
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM)
December 2024

TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES ………………………………………………………………………… i
ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………………………..…. ii
INTRODUCTION Fashion can be bought. Style one must possess. …………………… 1
CHAPTER 1: FLASHY IS IN, LET’S BREAK THE NORMS ………………………… 2
CHAPTER 2: THE INFLUENCE OF HIP HOP ON BASKETBALL FASHION ……. 5
CHAPTER 3: (DRESS) CODE: BUSINESS …………………………………………..… 6
CHAPTER 4: DENNIS RODMAN AS VISIONARY NOT FOOL ……………………. 9
CHAPTER 5: THE RISE OF THE SNEAKER CULTURE ……………………..…….. 11
CHAPTER 6: HOW THE DRESS CODE WORKED FOR THE BETTER …….…… 15
CHAPTER 7: SUITS: NBA DRAFT EDITION ………………………………………… 17
CHAPTER 8: BASKETBALL MEETS FASHION, AGAIN, BUT BIGGER! ……….. 19
CHAPTER 9: EVERYONE NEEDS A STYLIST, EVEN THE GUY AT THE END OF
THE BENCH …………………………………………………………………………… 20
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………………………… 23

i
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1 New Orleans Jazz guard Pete Maravich playing in a game in the Superdome
FIGURE 2 Walt Frazier in the free-throw court of his Clyde Frazier’s Wine and Dine
restaurant in New York
FIGURE 3 Walt Frazier Clyde
FIGURE 4 Fabolous, Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri during Bow Wow In Concert at
Madison Square Garden at Madison Square Garden
FIGURE 5 Carmelo Anthony, BET Awards
FIGURE 6 Allen Iverson: Respect the Game SLAM Cover by Clay Patrick McBride
FIGURE 7 Michael Jordan in Maryland
FIGURE 8 Space Jams
FIGURE 9 Michael Jordan and Travis Scott
FIGURE 10 Dwayne Wade
FIGURE 11 NBA DRAFT 2001
FIGURE 12 NBA Draft 2003

ii
ABSTRACT
Serving for their respected team’s city on billboards then to serve a look immediately after. NBA
players are taking on active roles on the fashion side of things.
NBA players have cracked the code on what the walk from the hotel lobby to the bus to the bus
to the locker room can do for them. Athletes have found ways to create or represent brands
through this. These athletes can be at fashion week in Paris or New York for fun but they also are
the ones who have a chance to to turn it into a real business later on down the road after their
basketball career.
In 2005, Stern executed an obligatory clothing regulation for the NBA, requiring all players to
dress in "business or moderate clothing" while addressing the NBA in any official capacity.
NBA fashion took a turn in the mid-2010s. No era has ever paid this much attention to what
people wear, this is the era for NBA fashion. But we also have to give the credit where it’s due to
the OG’s before tunnel fits were a true thing. Walt Frazier, Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, ,
Allen Iverson are just to name a few.
SLAM’s LeagueFits account on Instagram has also led the way in showcasing player fashion
circa 2018.The page has accumulated one million followers within a six year span. The account’s
annual All-LeagueFits Awards is a pretty big deal and so is having your work on their page as a
stylist.
This league is now overflowing with fashion icons. Early on you could say a ball player wanted
to emulate themselves as their favorite rapper and vice versa but now the players are just trying
to hold their own in the fashion world.
Other sports are trying to ride this wave but NBA fits will always be more popular over NFL
outfits, that’s just how it is. If you’re an NBA player and you want to stand out aside from being
on a court, you need to have a sense of fashion. Statlines, minutes, all what you did on the court
that night aside. You can be the 12th man on the bench and still get fly. When tunnel fits first
came along only the most elite would have a personal stylist but now even the rookies have a
stylist and fashion consultants before they get drafted because it’s a brand and a way to boost
your image.
But let’s be clear here this isn’t just about some professional basketball players wearing
expensive clothes. It’s about bringing two worlds together, something that once seemed so far
apart because they were once two different worlds.

1
Title: Two Worlds that were once so far apart are now closer than ever: NBA & Fashion
Introduction: Fashion can be bought. Style one must possess
Fashion and sports, and in particular basketball, are a natural match.
For style, as well as a means for showing character.
Fashion alludes to the latest things and what's trending at a particular time. Style refers to one's
demeanor, which can be through fashion – but it's in your general appearance, your aura. This is
who I am.
Fashion can be impermanent. It is continually changing.
Style is timeless.
1 Style is all 15 members of the 2018 Cleveland Cavaliers team and even Coach Tyronn Lue
being dressed in Thom Browne Suits in Game 3 of the playoffs against the Indiana Pacers.
Basketball fashion became famous in the African American community, accelerated by the rise
of hip-hop. Young Black children could, and did, view players as rousing characters key to their
own lives and personalities.
To their – style.
Fashion and style intersect in what has, over the past few years, become a nightly cultural ritual
attendant to the National Basketball Association – the tunnel fit.
The walk from the team bus to the locker room has in these years become a personal fashion
runway show for scores of NBA players.
How did this happen? Why? And what does it mean?
As a stylist myself, the intersection of fashion, style and the NBA holds keen interest. The saying
goes that the clothes make the man. But the clothes, it turns out, say – speak to – so much more.
1 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/20/style/cleveland-cavaliers-lebron-james-thom-browne-.html

2
The NBA has undergone a tremendous cultural and sociological shift illustrated by the
emergence of the tunnel fit – the next step, perhaps even a natural evolution, of an emphasis on
fashion that dates to the dress code imposed two generations ago in the aftermath of the so-called
Malice in the Palace brawl, a sartorial imposition that unquestionably can be traced to the sport’s
connections to Black culture and the hip-hop community, one players first fought like a
straightjacket but learned over time to turn to their spectacular advantage.
Their own combination of fashion – and style.
“Fashion is whatever you think it could be. Sustainable or high end, it’s just a complicity of
materials. Style is someone’s personality coming through the clothes. It’s taking the way
someone views life or creativity and adding their spin to it.,” Dallas-based NBA and WNBA
stylist MacKenzee McDonald said.
“Fashion is the foundation. But style is where it’s amplified.”
--

3
CHAPTER 1: FLASHY IS IN, LET’S BREAK THE NORMS
Understand that the NBA had once been the very essence of conformity.
Bob Cousy, arguably one of the greatest point guards in NBA history, played with the Boston
Celtics for almost his entire career. He wore his hair high and tight.
Jerry West, the Los Angeles Lakers guard, similarly was not one for flash. Just performance.
West is immortalized as the NBA logo. No flash there.
Then, though, came a new breed.
In the NBA, you are not hidden by helmets as in football. It’s not one game a weekend; it’s
several games per week. The game intrinsically lends itself to individuality – and flair. To be an
individual. To be unique.
White or Black, you could be – you.
To be – Pete Maravich.
On the court, Pistol Pete was unbelievably precise. He dished. He had long, shaggy hair. He
played for a team called the New Orleans Jazz. He played ball like it was rock ‘n’ roll. 2 His
floppy socks were his calling card. That and his deadly jumper. His 68-points.
nt masterpiece against the New York Knicks in the 1976-77 season, at the time most points by a
guard in the league – years before the league adopted the 3-point line.
2 https://www.nba.com/jazz/archives/pete_maravich_ultimate_showman.html

4
New Orleans Jazz guard Pete Maravich playing in a game in the Superdome in 1979 |
Associated Press
And you could be – Bill Walton.
Walton, who died in May at age 71, was, in his youth, a Southern California flower child. When
he played, he had wild red hair that he accented with a headband, shaggy muttonchop sideburns,
and a beard with no mustache.
Or, best of all, you could be Dr. J – Julius Erving. The man flew and soared and had grace. He
had – style.
All the same, the gentleman who really took the crown when it came to style was another Hall of
Famer, the New York Knicks’ Walt “Clyde” Frazier.

5
Walt Frazier in the free-throw court of his Clyde Frazier’s Wine and Dine restaurant in
New York | Matt Furman for the Wall Street Journal
Frazier was 3
one of the first to affirmatively link basketball and fashion.
Clyde was the NBA’s first legitimate fashion guru, with his butterfly neckline unfastened to his
navel. Clyde with a black cape, long gold chain and fedora. Clyde with the mink coat to the
ground posted up in front of a Rolls Royce while spinning a basketball.
You either have it or you don’t. He not only had it. He owned it.
Walt Frazier Clyde | The New York Times
3 https://www.gq.com/story/walt-clyde-frazier-puma-sneakers-style

6
This was the disco era. Leisure suits, bell-bottoms, fringe vests, chest protector ties, bowties and
platform shoes.
The ‘70s marked just the introduction. The politics and the social movements of those years
delivered players who assuredly did not hesitate to pronounce their individuality both on and off
the court – players who paid attention to the details of fashion.
--

7
CHAPTER 2 THE INFLUENCE OF HIP HOP ON BASKETBALL FASHION
The association between basketball and hip-hop culture began in 1984, with Kurtis Blow
referring to 25 players, including Erving and Moses Malone, in 4
his hit single Basketball.
Now the hip-hop world has begun to influence the NBA. The Run DMC looks, the long chains,
big loose attire, throwbacks and durags that are emblematic of hip-hop fostered connections to
the NBA. At one point, too, it dawned on athletes to mirror the rapper lifestyle – and you started
to see some rappers trying to be as cool as the athletes.
Fabolous, Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri during Bow Wow In Concert at Madison Square
Garden at Madison Square Garden in New York City 2005 | Getty Images
Numerous rappers have since referred to the sport in their lyrics and recordings, using the game
as a metaphor for everything from progress to difficult work to a means to conquer an
impediment. 5 Take, for instance, Drake: “They should call me James cause I’m going Harden
this b*tch.”
Then again, as is well understood but nonetheless deserves a deep dive, the considerable irony of
hip-hop's impact is that it can be tied to a rule – one initially assuredly designed to restrict
expression, not promote it.
4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_shxzlTRK44
5 https://genius.com/Fetty-wap-my-way-remix-lyrics

8
CHAPTER 3 (DRESS) CODE: BUSINESS
The heated November 6
2004 fight between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers – the
7
"Malice at the Palace," as it is eternally known – joined players and fans in a battle that played
out for 10 minutes on television.
Ron Artest got a full-season suspension for punching fans, he and four other players were
charged with assault and battery. Five fans demonized players with racial slurs.
Something, then-NBA commissioner David Stern reasoned, had to be done.
In October 2005, Stern made the NBA the 8
first major sports league to have a dress code. As
ESPN noted in an article at the time, Stern ordered that players were to wear “business casual
attire” to games and a sports coat with dress shoes on the bench.
In propounding this order, Stern was taking a significant step toward banning the styles and
embellishments that made the sport more urban. Some players thought ‘urban’ was code for
‘Black,’ and said so, publicly.
When Stern implemented the NBA's dress code – again, this was 19 years ago, the fall of 2005 –
he was taking a decided risk. The association was, it seemed, taking aim at the harmonious
relationship that had created among ball and hip-hop.
Was it also prohibiting the styles and extras that made b-ball 'metropolitan' —another code
word?
NBA players had hip-hop to thank for their rising social impact and reputation.
All through the 80's and 90's, the two developed increasingly closely together, with similar attire
and ways of life. By the 2000s, the two universes were almost identical. Many of the ballplayers
9
dressed like rappers with gaudy chains; some significant number of 10rappers dressed like
athletes with throwback jerseys. The players of that time had come up in the culture, frequently
hailing from similar areas and living under similar financial circumstances to the rappers they
were modeling. NBA players ventured considerably further into that culture by sounding off
about their own hip-hop aspirations and bringing it to the NBA arenas and benches.
6 https://www.netflix.com/title/81026439
7 https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/sports-brawls-nba-infamous
8 https://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?id=2194537
9 https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/nba-tunnel-fits-style/
10 https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/nba-tunnel-fits-style/

9
Carmelo Anthony, BET Awards 2004
Percy Robert “Master P” Miller even had a – short – run in NBA circles. In the late 1980s, Miller
had been dynamic in the music business, then made it big in the 1990s, first with his 11 hip-hop
group TRU, next by himself. By 1998, Miller was perhaps one of the most compelling
performers in the United States.
At the pinnacle of his career, the popular rapper chose to begin playing professional basketball.
In 1998, Master P joined the Fort Wayne Fury in the CBA. He 12 did not set the league afire.
Regardless, in January 1999, 13 He joined the Charlotte Hornets’ training camp roster for 10
days. Music and hoop had, for at least these 10 days, merged.
All the same, putting a stop to the relationship between the two universes was precisely what
Stern wanted to do with his clothing standard.
“The NBA was invested in drugs for a while,” Jalen Rose, the former Michigan standout who
saw time in the league with six teams before turning to broadcasting, said on ESPN in a January
2, 2020 piece.
“And he (Stern) had to clean all of that up and prove that it was a marketable league,” Rose
said, “I’m going to fast forward that to the early 2000s where we had for the first time an MVP,
Allen Iverson who just so happened to have cornrows and a durag.
When the dress code was first presented, players were unified: they were absolutely against it.
11 https://64parishes.org/entry/percy-master-p-miller-and-no-limit-records
12 https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/master-p-s-nba-career-who-rap-mogul-play-fare
13 https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/master-p-s-nba-career-who-rap-mogul-play-fare

10
14 In a piece published by the Wall Street Journal shortly after the rule was announced, Stephen
Jackson accused the NBA of being terrified of being "too hip-hop," and thus attempting to
restrict them from showing their personalities – the looks of some of their greatest stars.
Paul Pierce contended NBA players were not businessmen but, rather, performers. Even mildmannered Tim Duncan believed it was "a heap of poo."
Iverson, in a 15 2022 interview on the Dan Patrick show, looking back at the imposition of the
rule, said, “With the dress code, I was hurt by it. I didn’t understand it.
“Now,” this was 17 years on, “you see guys wearing whatever they want and looking the way
they want. I know it had a lot to do with me getting scolded. When you look at the game,
everybody don’t play the same. So, why would they look the same?”
If a certain group of people is responsible for generating a huge portion of an organization’s
revenue, it’s reasonable to ask if that entity should, at the least, make sure those people feel most
comfortable, right?
Black players made up 74% of NBA rosters. Yet because of Stern’s rule, they suddenly in the
fall of 2005 seemingly had to leave their culture at home or be someone else.
Not Allen Iverson.
Drafted in 1996, he earned 16 Rookie of the Year with a season that would for all time be
associated with his Michael Jordan crossover.
Iverson turned heads off the court, too, from his braids to his tattoos.
Iverson, with his rebel soul, would prove perhaps the primary mover in reshaping sports fashion
for the next era, a symbol of expression.
It might be said that if Michael Jordan brought attention to the NBA from one side of the planet
to the other, Iverson was the person who made each youngster want to dress, and subsequently,
become a basketball player. He was clearly not the first to don tattoos, yet one of the first to
make it a cool thing.
14 https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB113140927968090603
15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coUWtMLPBqE
16 https://www.nba.com/sixers/76ers-alumni/allen-iverson

11
Allen Iverson: Respect the Game SLAM Cover by Clay Patrick McBride May 2000
--

12
CHAPTER 4 DENNIS RODMAN AS VISIONARY NOT FOOL
Nobody will contend the clothing regulation wasn't spurred to some degree by race, and by an
anxiety toward the "thuggish" parsimoniousness the NBA's greatest stars had been bringing in
from their culture and the world of hip-hop.
All the same, another age of NBA players have since taken the limits of the association and made
those limits their own.
17 A tiny fraction of 1% of all high school basketball players wind up getting drafted by an NBA
team. This tells you the profoundly serious nature of basketball at the expert level.
There are 30 NBA teams. The Draft has two rounds. Each Draft thus sees 60 players drafted.
Recent years have of course seen increasing numbers of players from overseas – for instance,
Victor Wembanyama, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 Draft, who went to San Antonio.
Meanwhile, during the 2021-22 school year, the most recent for which figures are available per
Statista, 521,616 boys took part in high school basketball programs across the United States.
This is straightforward math: 0.0115%
Those are the odds of making it to the NBA from an American high school.
Those who do – they figure it out.
“The main inspiration for me, of course, was Dennis Rodman. How crazy his styles were, the Idon’t-give-a-fuck persona, I’m going to wear what I want and be happy with that,” Jeremy
Sochan, a 2022 San Antonio Spurs first-round pick who likes to dye his hair, among other
fashion turns, said in a June 2024 interview.
Here’s the thing. Some believe if you look good, you feel good. You feel good, you play good.
The problem at first, way back in 2005, was that a lot of guys felt like they couldn’t do their job
unless they felt like themselves.
"You're expressing yourself, expressing your identity. It's taking away our self-expression. I like
to dress and change it up," Jason Richardson, the Michigan State star who played for 15 seasons
in the league, 2001 to 2015, said in an interview.
17 https://www.statista.com/statistics/267942/participation-in-us-high-school-basketball/

13
"Some of them have religious meanings behind their chains, others have personal messages
behind their chains. Some guys just like to wear them. I think that was indirectly racial."
Rodman — the NBA's rainbow-haired rebounder — was tabbed as odd, even weird. It
additionally helps explain why, today, he's perceived rather differently: as a somewhat
revolutionary style visionary.
The path Rodman blazed nearly 30 years ago has been rediscovered by an entirely different age
of style kings, among them Sochan.
On NBA 2022 Draft Night, Sochan wore a lilac Indochino suit. It complemented his hair at the
time: bleach blonde.
Since, he has sported, among other outfits, a white twofold breasted suit with no shirt under —
all-out rockstar move — and a dynamic lime-green sweatshirt.
On the court, Sochan has gained notoriety for one-handed free-throw tosses. These have struck
some NBA fans as another way to draw attention to himself. He embraced the methodology
during the 2022-2023 season after Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, try it. Sochan’s make rate
went up 30%.
Sochan said he assuredly likes attention. On the court. And off, with what he wears:
“There’s definitely some type of influence from Dennis Rodman, I can’t hide it with my hair and
stuff. To be honest it was never, ‘Oh, shit, Dennis Rodman did this so I have to do it.’ In my eyes
it looked cool to me, I do it because I think it looks cool on me, I feel comfortable doing it, it
makes me confident.
18 “It’s cool to see people get out of that box. It’s good for the league because we influence so
many kids and people around the world with fashion. It’s important for them to feel included in a
way.”
18
Interview with Jeremy Sochan

14
CHAPTER 5 THE RISE OF THE SNEAKER CULTURE
“A shoe is just a shoe until my son steps into it.”- Deloris Jordan, mother of Michael Jordan
In sports, the best can drive each of us to be – better. The genius of Air Jordans is elemental.
They helped you “Be Like Mike.”
That is, help you – anyone and everyone – feel closer to Michael Jordan.
Realistically, one may not be able to do the things that he’s done on the court – but if this is the
closest, I can get to feeling like Jordan in his flu game, why not?
But you know what also sells? Taking someone back to a certain place and time – and that’s how
sneakerhead culture came about. People have created a living off this, with resale stores just for
shoes.
Throughout his career, Jordan showed magnetism, dominance, aerial physicality and a yearning
to succeed, no matter what he had to do to win. He brought home six titles with the Chicago
Bulls and was compelling in globalizing and commercializing the sport of basketball and its
partners.
Nike delivered the 19 Chicago star's first shoe, Air Jordan 1, a model revolved around black and
red. At the time, most shoes in the NBA were plain white.
In 1984, Michael Jordan 20 agreed to an endorsement with Nike. It paid him $500,000 each year
for five years. As a rookie. This was nearly triple any other deal in the NBA during the time.
After Jordan wore the black-and-red shoe during a preseason game in 1984, the NBA sent a
letter to Nike, saying it had flaunted association policy – shoes must be 51% white – and would
carry a $5,000 fine per game.
Nike didn’t care. The attention that Jordan’s shoes got helped Phil Knight’s company become the
No. 1 brand internationally. The company agreed to pay every single fine.
Why? Because people loved to see a brand breaking the norms. It was something they could
maybe see themselves doing.
19https://news.temple.edu/news/2023-04-03/how-michael-jordan-revolutionized-sneaker-industry-and-ourrelationship-shoes
20https://news.temple.edu/news/2023-04-03/how-michael-jordan-revolutionized-sneaker-industry-and-ourrelationship-shoes

15
Michael Jordan in Maryland 1985 | Getty Images
Nike released the Air Jordan 1 on April 1, 1985.
The company was hoping to sell 100,000 pairs of shoes. It sold four million.
To this day, the Jordan deal remains arguably the best Nike ever made.
The Jordan Brand developed into a piece of culture well beyond basketball, a statement piece in
mainstream society.
Shoes went from an athletic need to notable easygoing wear.
Moreover, the Air Jordan turned into a staple in streetwear culture, with rappers and big names
wearing them in relaxed environments.
A new Air Jordan was released for every season that he played – in all, 21 18 versions. Spike Lee
teamed up with the Bulls star in a 22 1988 TV promotion: “It’s gotta be the shoes." In the movie
“Space Jam,” a team wanted the help of retired Jordan because he was that much of a champion.
21 https://www.nicekicks.com/kicks-on-court-classic-michael-jordan-wearing-every-air-jordan/
22 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkY7W6kCRY4

16
Space Jams 1996
Making shoe deals wasn’t an everyday thing during the time, and not to say people are getting
signature shoes out the door every day in today’s day and age but it’s more common than back
then. The Jordan Brand prepared the way for other athletes to become their own brand. Shoe
companies even collaborate with rappers like Travis Scott, who partners with the Jordan brand,
Kanye West with Adidas (formerly), and Tyler the Creator and Converse.
Michael Jordan and Travis Scott
Jordan's charm, on-court greatness and the progressive association with Nike fundamentally has
had an impact on how other athletes and their brands are seen and showcased. Air Jordans rise
above their job as athletic footwear; they are images of greatness and style.
--

17
CHAPTER 6 HOW THE DRESS CODE WORKED FOR THE BETTER
As time went on, NBA players acknowledged, then embraced, Stern’s clothing regulation. They
started having fun with it when they saw it was around to stay. They used it as a reason to find
their way into wearing high fashion.
In 2014, Dwyane Wade told Associated Press, “It was like, ‘OK, now we got to really dress up
and we can’t just throw on a sweat suit.'”
“Then it became a competition amongst guys and now you really got into it more and you started
to really understand the clothes you put on your body, the materials you’re starting to wear, so
then you become even more of a fan of it.”
It did produce some quirky fashion choices because these players, though they surely had the
money, weren’t used to wearing high fashion.
For example, Russell Westbrook wore a skirt. Most thought that was weird. It was unusual to see
a man wear a skirt Note: they wear them in Scotland!, let alone an athlete. Rodman, sure, that’s
right up his alley. But Westbrook?
Wade and LeBron James emerged as prominent actors in this new era, one that mixed the NBA
and fashion. Especially – especially – after James decided in 2010 to 23 take his talents to South
Beach.
Again, fashion is what the person is wearing. Style is how you make it you. It is clear fans began
to show interest in how athletes were expressing themselves through their fashion choices
because, simply, that was a way to feel closer to these athletes.
In 2013, Wade had a fashion mishap with a Gucci suit, one that retailed at $2600. He had
intended to get the pants hemmed to fit above the ankle. Let’s just say maybe 24 the tailor
misunderstood how tall he actually was, and they were overly tapered.
He owned it.
23 https://www.cnn.com/2015/12/09/sport/chris-bosh-nba-fashion-miami-heat/index.html
24 https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/in-defense-of-dwyane-wades-man-capris-6541169

18
Dwayne Wade 2014 | TMZ
Everyone thought having them that short was his intent because he was Dwyane Wade, and they
weren’t too nice about it. But he didn’t care. He had enough confidence to rock it and make it
look like that was the intended style. He didn’t reveal it wasn’t on purpose until a 2022 25
podcast with LeagueFits.
In 2015, the NBA established itself as the trendiest pro league by being the first to produce a
fashion show featuring its players. What better time to do it than All-Star Weekend? This was
confirmation the association was beginning to embrace – style. Who was in this
James, meantime, had begun, using his platform to offer different expressions through fashion in
2012. That year, LeBron tweeted a photograph of the entire 26 Miami Heat team wearing hoodies
to pay tribute to Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old Black teen from Miami Gardens, Florida, who
had been fatally shot on Feb. 26, 2012, by 28-year-old George Zimmerman, a Hispanic
American claiming self-defense. (Zimmerman would eventually be charged and tried; in 2013, 27
a jury acquitted him of second-degree murder and manslaughter.)Four years before Colin
Kaepernick would kneel in the NFL, the motion was a take-off platform for NBA players to
involve fashion for the purpose of pointing out issues encompassing civil rights – a trend that
continued in 2021, when, around the league, players wore 28 “Built by Black History” warm-up
shirts before each game.
25 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p0jLVGfKas
26https://www.espn.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/7728618/miami-heat-don-hoodies-responsedeath-teen-trayvon-martin
27 https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/us/george-zimmerman-verdict-trayvon-martin.html
28 https://www.denver7.com/news/national/nba-players-activism-on-display-during-black-history-month

19
CHAPTER 7 SUITS: NBA DRAFT EDITION
The NBA Draft isn't simply a pivotal occasion for hopeful ball stars. It has become a style
display that has evolved, and fundamentally.
An excursion through the change of NBA Draft Night design starts during the 1980s.
Back then, NBA Draft Night fashion saw young men wearing conventional formal outfits,
sticking to the conventional standards of professionalism. The emphasis was to make a great first
impression feeling as they set out on their journey.
NBA DRAFT 2001 | Jeff Zelevansky /Associated Press
As the NBA entered the 1990s, Draft Night looks started to move towards a looser and more
chill vibe, you might say. While suits were still a staple but with more extensive outlines and
more bright ties. A few players drew motivation from the lively '90s vibe, trying different things
with patterns and jewelry.
In the mid 2000s we were in the baggy era, big boxy suits, the style decision an extension of the
trend at the time.
During the 2010s, players started utilizing their apparel decisions on Draft Night to tell their
stories. Draft Night outfits became a mural, on the inside of their suit jackets, for recognition of
their culture, family or homes. Too, the sneaker culture was on the rise, bringing in the era of the
suit with the sneakers.
Today's NBA Draft Night style sees players pushing limits, testing standards and rethinking the
fashion scene. Strong decisions like this have enthralled crowds yet highlighted the steadily
advancing nature of fashion in the sports world. By embracing fabulousness and special
self-articulation through their style, these draftees are adding to a continuous discussion about
fashion's part in the domain of sports and individual personality.

20
NBA DRAFT 2023 | John Minchillo / Associated Press
“There’s definitely more people talking about men’s fashion, especially in the NBA more than
ever,” Yasha Morehouse, a fashion professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design, said in
a July 2024 interview with me.
“I think that's because of social media getting more of the content out, and that creates a platform
where more people can say something about it or have access to say something about it.”
What was once a straightforward event where young ball players were chosen by teams has now
turned into a stage for these athletes to feature their own style and put themselves out there
through not basketball but fashion also. Athletes today are not just basketball players; they are
likewise businesspeople, influencers, and representatives for different brands. They know their
own image is a significant resource and that style assumes an urgent part in forming that brand.
“I think it's always important for everyone to express themselves but especially NBA or NFL
athletes those tend to be the ‘macho’ sports,” Morehouse said.
“The trend of the tunnel walk and using it as an opportunity is really cool to me,” she added. “I
think it's really creative. I think it's great to bring that into the world of athletes. It's an area
where we hadn't really used that chance before to let people express themselves. I think it's smart
on the league's part.”
--

21
CHAPTER 8 BASKETBALL MEETS FASHION, AGAIN, BUT BIGGER!
What’s smart on the league’s part is allowing players to, as Morehouse said, express themselves.
It’s what the walk from the hotel lobby to the bus – or from to the bus to the locker room – can
do for them. Athletes have found ways to create or represent brands while being able to express
their fashion and artistic interests in fashion.
Moreover, there is profit – real money to be made – in these walks.
Westbrook has his brand Honor The Gift. Jordan Clarkson of the Utah Jazz, one of the most
influential athletes when it comes to fashion, represents Lululemon. He has his own Lulu
collection. Shai Gilegeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder does not miss on or off the
court. He has built his image in fashion so deeply it’s not unthinkable he’ll more than likely be
somewhere directing a high-end brand after his playing career.
Then there is a push by any number of local brands.
In any NBA town, local brands try to put athletes in their clothing pieces because it’s like the
Mike effect (Jordan, that is): everyone wants to be just as cool as their favorite athlete. You see
brands like Kith, Skims, Fear of God, Canada Goose, Off-White and others partnering and
launching collections to keep in touch with the latest fashion trends.
SLAM’s LeagueFits 29 account on Instagram has also led the way in showcasing player fashion.
The page has accumulated one million followers in just six years. The account’s annual AllLeagueFits Awards is a pretty big deal, and so is having your work on their page as a stylist.
Other sports are trying to ride this wave, but NBA fits will always be more popular than NFL
outfits – that’s just how it is. If you’re an NBA player and you want to stand out, aside from
being on-court, you need to have a sense of fashion. Stat lines, minutes, all what you did on the
court that night aside – you can be the 12th man on the bench and still get fly.
“Basketball – there's a lot more emphasis on this is my brand, this is my image,” an NBA and
NFL stylist known in this world by the moniker Jazzy J said in a June 2024 interview with me.
“This is my personality – it speaks to my personality. Whereas football, it's kind of just,
whatever. I also think that with basketball these guys are more open minded to dress a little
differently.
29 https://www.highsnobiety.com/tag/leaguefits/

22
“Football is traditionally like an older crowd and then you have a super young crowd but, like,
basketball, I feel like it's a lot more teenagers and young adults who are just open to it and could
appreciate it. So, I think the crowd, what they expect to get back from the media in terms of
backlash or favoritism, whatever it might be … OK, I can dress like this, and I don't have to
worry.”
Donnay Ragland, stylist for Denver Nuggets small forward Justin Holiday, said, “If you're not
playing, at least your fit speaks.”
In the 2023-24 NBA season, Holiday started nine games. He played 58. An NBA regular season
is 82.
“I'm grateful he was getting some love on the fits like reposts and stuff,” Ragland said.
“I was like, ‘Oh that's good, because although he’s not playing, he started finding some passion
in this fashion and if that was ever over least you got something to play with’
“Right now, he’s figuring out how he can get into modeling and that’s what I’m trying to help
them with.”
The obvious driver – hardly a secret – to all of this: the power of social media.
Social media marks the way fans now feel closer to their favorite athletes. Too, it’s how they can
relate in today's day and age because fashion may be the most popular element in the NBA:
everyone wants to be best dressed.

23
CHAPTER 9 EVERYONE NEEDS A STYLIST, EVEN THE GUY AT THE END OF
THE BENCH
When tunnel fits first came along only the most elite would have a personal stylist, but now even
the rookies have a stylist and fashion consultants before they get drafted, because each player is
his own personal brand and looking good – having that style – is a way to boost your image.
But let’s be clear here. This isn’t just about some professional basketball players wearing
expensive clothes. It’s about bringing two worlds together, something that once seemed so far
apart because they were once two different worlds.
Basketball, and fashion.
This intermingling of fashion and the game is where the association merits recognition:
It’s now nearly 20 years since David Stern said what he said. Since, the league and the players
have found a way, everyone adjusting so players can mesh their own interests into ball.
As a stylist myself for NBA players, I can tell you it’s not easy. It’s our fault for making it look
that easy.
Many think, “Why can’t someone dress themselves?”
Again, each team plays 82 regular-season games. Then, assuming they make it to the playoffs.
The last thing these players want to do is surf the internet for clothes.
Finding clothes for human beings who are on average 6-foot-2 or taller, wearing size-14 shoes
and up, is not the easiest task. Or having to fly to New York because your client can’t tie a tie
properly but wants his pictures to be on LeagueFits – yes. It’s that serious.
Whenever one of my clients, San Antonio Spurs guard Malaki Branham, plays in New York, it’s
a ritual that he dresses in his Sunday best because Madison Square Garden has one of the best
tunnels and New York is a fashion staple.
I am there to go shopping with him. To be clear, the ball is pretty much in my court when it
comes to shopping. If I like it, I buy it, and we discuss the details later.
In the beginning of our time working together, Malaki didn’t believe in spending much money
on clothes. His rookie year in New York we went shopping together on his off day and I told him

24
that I’d seen a beast varsity jacket on Kith’s Instagram. We walked to the Kith in Manhattan, not
far from the hotel.
As I walked in, I saw Adidas to Chanel and more on the wall. It’s something I love about Kith.
They have a range of multiple brands.
The associate asked if we were looking for anything, and I showed her the jacket. She brought
out a size XL. Malaki fell in love with the jacket instantly but saw the price and wasn’t sure if it
was worth $950. I said, it’s worth it, and to trust me – if he got this piece his outfit would
definitely end up on LeagueFits. This, I said, is where hoop and lifestyle collide.
At the time, we felt that outfits deserved to be on LeagueFits because sometimes they hype up
the most mediocre outfits. Rookies don’t make LeagueFits often.
He looked me in the eyes and said, “Go half with me.”
Yes, a millionaire who could’ve bought 100 of those jackets told me to go half with him. I did.
I believed in my vision, but if that’s what it was going to take for him to believe in it and me then
so be it.
I had the vision that it was a slack look. I had him pack dress shoes, a button up, slacks and
jewelry before he came to New York.
We went back to the hotel and an hour later he told me he only had Nike elite socks, not any
dress socks. I took an Uber to the nearest Ralph Lauren store, got him three different pairs to
choose from and went back to dress him.
As he left to get on the team bus, I walked to the nearest taxi and made my way to the airport. As
I got back to Atlanta, I saw that Malaki had texted me. It said, “Did you see LeagueFits?”
I instantly checked. There was a photo of him on their page captioned, “This is an elite way to
make your LeagueFits debut.”
Did I know what I was doing, or what?
As time went on, Malaki understood that looking good costs money. He grew to have a love for
it and is now willing to pay a pretty penny for a good piece of clothing.

25
REFERENCES
Alleniverson#3. Allen Iverson Player History & Awards | Philadelphia 76ers. (n.d.).
https://www.nba.com/sixers/76ers-alumni/allen-iverson
Bishara, M. (2016, February 5). NBA fashion: Chris Bosh, Lebron James Dress to impress.
CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2015/12/09/sport/chris-bosh-nba-fashion-miami-heat/index.html
Boggs, J. (2023, February 15). NBA players’ activism on display during Black History Month.
Denver 7 Colorado News (KMGH). https://www.denver7.com/news/national/nba-playersactivism-on-display-during-black-history-month
DePaula, N. (2024, January 17). Every Air Jordan shoe that Michael Jordan played in. Nice
Kicks. https://www.nicekicks.com/kicks-on-court-classic-michael-jordan-wearing-every-airjordan/
Dunne, B. (2017, April 11). This is how Big Air Jordans were when they first came out.
Complex. https://www.complex.com/sneakers/a/brendan-dunne/air-jordan-1-og-sales-numbers
https://genius.com/Fetty-wap-my-way-remix-lyrics
Goldaper, S. (2011, September 13). Pete Maravich: The ultimate showman. The official site of
the NBA for the latest NBA Scores, Stats & News.
https://www.nba.com/jazz/archives/pete_maravich_ultimate_showman.html
High School basketball players in the U.S. 2021/2022. Statista. (2022, December 8).
https://www.statista.com/statistics/267942/participation-in-us-high-school-basketball/
History.Com Editors. (2021, September 2). NBA players and Fans Brawl at infamous “Malice at
the palace” Game | November 19, 2004. History.com. https://www.history.com/this-day-inhistory/sports-brawls-nba-infamous
Jefe, E. (2020, July 4). History reveals optimal height to make the NBA. Stathole Sports.
https://www.statholesports.com/history-reveals-optimal-height-to-make-the-nba/
Kunkel, T. (2023, April 3). How Michael Jordan revolutionized the sneaker industry-and our
relationship to shoes. Temple Now | news.temple.edu. https://news.temple.edu/news/2023-04-
03/how-michael-jordan-revolutionized-sneaker-industry-and-our-relationship-shoes
Leaguefits: All about the NBA tunnel fits platform. Highsnobiety. (2018, February 2).
https://www.highsnobiety.com/tag/leaguefits/

26
McWhorter, J. (2005, November 8). NBA Stars Should Trade “Street” Clothes for Dignified
Duds. https://www.wsj.com/
Merrill, R. (2014, September 18). Dwyane Wade says Stern helped with fashion sense. AP News.
https://apnews.com/arts-and-entertainment-celebrity-ba393ed5da2149428e3ebf4a3163f6dc
Munzenrieder, K. (2013, May 14). In defense of dwyane wade’s man capris. Miami New
Times.https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/in-defense-of-dwyane-wades-man-capris6541169
Mutoni, M. (2014, September 19). Dwyane Wade says David Stern’s dress code improved NBA
fashion. SLAM. https://www.slamonline.com/archives/dwyane-wade-says-david-sterns-dresscode-improved-nba-fashion/
https://www.netflix.com/title/81026439
Pagano, A. (2020, November 17). The aesthetic evolution of the NBA draft. nss magazine.
https://www.nssmag.com/en/sports/24259/draft-nba-style-evolution
Press, A. (2017, August 29). Jackson says dress code is racially charged. Daily News.
https://www.dailynews.com/2005/10/20/jackson-says-dress-code-is-racially-charged/
Sebra, M. (2018, April 21). Lebron James and the cavs just murdered the NBA’s style wars. GQ.
https://www.gq.com/story/lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers-thom-browne
Windhorst, B. (2012, March 12). Heat don hoodies after teen’s death. ESPN.
https://www.espn.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/7728618/miami-heat-don-hoodiesresp
Woolf, J. (2016, October 6). Walt “Clyde” Frazier is still the NBA’s greatest style god, and he
knows it. GQ. https://www.gq.com/story/walt-clyde-frazier-puma-sneakers-style
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_shxzlTRK44
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p0jLVGfKas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEwqRHK-FCk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coUWtMLPBqE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkY7W6kCRY4
Zazzini, R. (2024, February 8). How NBA tunnel fits pushed beyond the NBA and hip-hop
narrative. Highsnobiety. https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/nba-tunnel-fits-style/

27
SOURCES:
ALISON P TROPE / USC FASHION TEACHER
DONNAY RAGLAND / NBA STYLIST AND FASAHION ENTHUSIAST
JAZZY J / NBA NFL STYLIST
JEREMY SOCHAN / SPURS PLAYERS / LEAGUEFITS ROOKIE HOF
MACKENZEE MCDONALD / FASHION ENTHUSIAST AND WNBA STYLIST
MALAKI BRANHAM / SPURS PLAYER
YASHA MOREHOUSE / PROFESSOR IN FASHION PROGRAM AT SAVANNAH
COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Serving for their respected team’s city on billboards then to serve a look immediately after. NBA players are taking on active roles on the fashion side of things.

NBA players have cracked the code on what the walk from the hotel lobby to the bus to the bus to the locker room can do for them. Athletes have found ways to create or represent brands through this. These athletes can be at fashion week in Paris or New York for fun but they also are the ones who have a chance to to turn it into a real business later on down the road after their basketball career.

In 2005, Stern executed an obligatory clothing regulation for the NBA, requiring all players to dress in "business or moderate clothing" while addressing the NBA in any official capacity.

NBA fashion took a turn in the mid-2010s. No era has ever paid this much attention to what people wear, this is the era for NBA fashion. But we also have to give the credit where it’s due to the OG’s before tunnel fits were a true thing. Walt Frazier, Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, , Allen Iverson are just to name a few.

SLAM’s LeagueFits account on Instagram has also led the way in showcasing player fashion circa 2018.The page has accumulated one million followers within a six year span. The account’s annual All-LeagueFits Awards is a pretty big deal and so is having your work on their page as a stylist.

This league is now overflowing with fashion icons. Early on you could say a ball player wanted to emulate themselves as their favorite rapper and vice versa but now the players are just trying to hold their own in the fashion world.

Other sports are trying to ride this wave but NBA fits will always be more popular over NFL outfits, that’s just how it is. If you’re an NBA player and you want to stand out aside from being on a court, you need to have a sense of fashion. Statlines, minutes, all what you did on the court that night aside. You can be the 12th man on the bench and still get fly. When tunnel fits first came along only the most elite would have a personal stylist but now even the rookies have a stylist and fashion consultants before they get drafted because it’s a brand and a way to boost your image.

But let’s be clear here this isn’t just about some professional basketball players wearing expensive clothes. It’s about bringing two worlds together, something that once seemed so far apart because they were once two different worlds.

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Creator Love, Classie Kelise (author)

Core Title Two worlds

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Degree Conferral Date 2024-12

Publication Date 10/14/2024

Defense Date 10/14/2024

Publisher Los Angeles, California (original), University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

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