Key Takeaways
- The relationship between NBA and fashion has evolved drastically throughout history, from early style icons like Dennis Rodman to the full-on runway of today led by stars such as Jordan Clarkson and SGA. With the 2026 NBA Finals between the Knicks and Spurs in full swing, let’s take a look back at the evolution of the NBA pregame tunnel.
- Allen Iverson’s hip-hop-infused, massively influential style in the 2000s paved the way for Dwyane Wade’s risk-taking tailoring in the dress code era, Russell Westbrook’s polarizing fits post-dress code, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s modern day style icon status.
- The piece also shows how social media accounts like LeagueFits, the rise of sneaker culture, and major brand embracing the tunnel as a marketing tool turned pregame walks into cultural moments, culminating in today’s fashion-obsessed era led by stylish squads like the OKC Thunder and New York Knicks.
The 2026 NBA Finals are in full swing, New York City is ready to erupt if the Knicks win a title, and 82-0 has taken over all of our free time. Suffice to say, basketball is on the brain right now.
One of the main pillars of the modern NBA has been the fashion in the pregame tunnels across the league that elevated the superstars of the game even higher and turned role players into fan favorites. But how did we get to this point?
While Allen Iverson is largely credited with the start of the path that brought us to where the NBA tunnel is today, he certainly wasn’t the first fly player to merge fashion and basketball. Think about Knicks legend Walt Frazier and his suits and fur coats in the ‘70s, Michael Jordan’s bold Nike sets in the ‘90s, and Dennis Rodman’s boundary-pushing, ahead-of-their-time ensembles during the Bulls dynasty.
From Iverson’s trailblazing years in Philadelphia to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s current fashion dominance, this is the evolution of style in the NBA pregame tunnel.
Allen Iverson Changes the Game
It wasn’t just Allen Iverson’s killer crossover that turned him into a household name during his NBA career. Way before the pregame tunnel became the pseudo runway that we know today, he was helping bridge the gap between hip-hop culture and NBA basketball through his style in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. While other players pulled up to games in suits, he rocked fur coats, New Era fitteds tilted to the side, throwback jerseys, durags, and iced out necklaces. He never shied away from representing himself as authentically as possible. “How you gonna tell me what to wear to go to work. Let me be fresh, man. Don’t have me lookin’ like everybody else look,” Iverson told All the Smoke in September 2020.
Iverson’s personal style left an imprint on the NBA. While it was never explicitly said by the league, many believe that the 2005 NBA dress code was enacted in response to his wardrobe choices. Over the years, he’s also inspired the way other players dress on and off the hardwood. Chris Paul has said that AI “had the biggest influence on the game of basketball” and is the reason why players wear a shooting sleeve (a signature of Iverson’s). Dwyane Wade even rocked cornrows in 2019 as an homage to the Answer.
David Stern Introduces the Dress Code
In 2005, the NBA became the first major sports league to enact a dress code. In an effort to limit jewelry and baggy clothes, then NBA commissioner David Stern forced players to wear business casual attire before games. The new dress code banned sleeveless shirts, shorts, T-shirts, jerseys (unless approved by the team), chains, pendants, medallions, durags, headphones, sunglasses, and more. Many players were unhappy with the dress code and believed Stern was targeting Black players as these items were staples of hip-hop style. They felt the code limited freedom, creativity, and character.
"One thing to me that was kind of racist was you can't wear chains outside your clothing,” former Warriors guard Jason Richardson told the Associated Press in a 2005 pregame interview. “I don't understand what that has to do with being business approachable... Hey, a guy could come in with baggy jeans, a 'do rag and have a Ph.D. and a person who comes in with a suit could be a three-time felon."
Inside the NBA’s Fashion Police Segment
Before it became a trending topic on social media, NBA fashion critiques and viral commentary started on Inside the NBA. Co-hosts Shaquille O’Neal, Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith analyzed and ranked playoff fits, including Dwyane Wade’s tan and brown plaid blazers, Russell Westbrook’s lensless glasses, and Kevin Durant’s colorful, striped button-up shirts.
While much of the segment was Barkley roasting players and suggesting they fire their stylists, it helped spark conversations around what players were wearing at a time when other NBA analysts were more focused on the stats. That eventually trickled down to the rest of the NBA community. Fans began voicing their opinions on players’ outfits on social media and created viral memes. You could always count on the Inside the NBA crew for entertaining breakdowns of games and comical banter, but they were also the pioneers for making NBA fashion more mainstream to the general sports audience.
Dwyane Wade Embrace the NBA Dress Code
By the 2010s, certain players were finding creative ways to bend the rules of the NBA dress code. During the 2013 NBA Playoffs, Dwyane Wade, who was known as one of the league’s most daring dressers thanks to his unorthodox approach to menswear, went viral for his pregame outfit: a slim fitting polka dot suit with capri pants. Traditionally, exposing your ankles while wearing a suit is a big no-no, so of course it became a trending topic on Twitter and was covered by big publications like Esquire and Business Insider. Despite being universally panned, it signaled a shift—people were beginning to take NBA style seriously.
“People gave me so much flack about those looks, but I’m a risk taker and I love to make a statement,” Wade told CR Fashionbook in 2017. “I don’t mind if people don’t always have positive things to say. A year later, and everyone’s wearing the same thing anyway.”
Adam Silver Becomes Commissioner, Loosens Dress Code
When Adam Silver became the NBA’s commissioner in 2014, he didn’t reinforce Stern’s dress code, instead encouraging more lenient rules. Players were able to express themselves fully again and started to wear more creative outfits and, later, even began using the tunnel to make statements. One of more memorable moments came in November 2016, when Westbrook arrived at Oracle Arena in a photography vest for his first matchup against former teammate Kevin Durant. The outfit trolled Durant, who that summer had written a story in the Players’ Tribune about his love for photography and his experience shooting Super Bowl 50. In 2019, Anthony Davis wore a “That’s All Folks” shirt before his final game as a Pelican, making it clear he wanted out of New Orleans.
Russell Westbrook Becomes an NBA Superstar, On and Off the Court
No player took advantage of Silver’s relaxed dress code more than Westbrook. He became one of the guys that redefined the relationship between sports and fashion in the 2010s. Not everyone saw the vision right away. The internet called his outfits “absurd” and “dizzying.” Charles Barkley joked on TNT’s Inside the NBA that Westbrook looked like he shopped at TJ Maxx. But how quickly things change. In 2017, Sports Illustrated called Westbrook the “Most Fashionable Athlete” that year. He was also named the best-dressed player by the NBPA as part of the Players Voice awards from 2016 to 2019.
Loud outfits are commonplace in the NBA tunnel now. Remember Kyle Kuzma’s viral pink Raf Simons sweater or SGA’s full fur look at the All-Star Game? We don’t get to that place without Russ.
SLAM Launches LeagueFits Instagram, the First Social Account Dedicated to NBA Fashion
Social media has been pivotal in moving the discussion of NBA style forward. It has amplified NBA style on all platforms, with X being the main engine behind the conversation. Whether it was the Lakers clowning Kyle Kuzma for his Christmas Day fit, a mint green paisley suit with a white crochet tank top, on all the players’ Instagram accounts or X having a field day with James Harden’s multi-colored sleeved suit for his arrival to Philly, the NBA tunnel has become a consistent talking point amongst fans.
In 2018, SLAM launched LeagueFits, the first Instagram account under a major platform dedicated to NBA fashion. From daily posts of NBA tunnel fits to end-of-the-year awards, LeagueFits has created an avenue for NBA fans and players to compare and debate the best dressed in the league. While sneakers talk has been a prominent subcategory of the NBA, fashion was carving its own lane in NBA discourse.
Major Brands Use the Tunnel for Marketing Campaigns
By 2018, the NBA tunnel was getting national media coverage and had social media buzzing every night of the season. And brands knew it, too. The pregame tunnel soon became a clever way for superstars to market new products. In April 2018, Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell found himself in a two-way race for the Rookie of the Year award against Ben Simmons. Simmons was playing his rookie season on a technicality (he was injured during his first year), and Mitchell and Adidas took some jabs with a black hoodie that had the dictionary definition of the word “rookie” plastered on its chest. Similar T-shirts campaigning for Mitchell were released on Adidas’ website later that month that fans immediately scooped up to support him. Mitchell didn’t take the award home, but the viral moment showed that the tunnel had become a new advertising space.
Jordan Brand also did some clever marketing of its own by having Westbrook debut new colorways of his Why Not Zer0.3 by carrying them into the arena in special boxes that resembled water gun packaging or toy wrestling rings. LeBron James has also frequently debuted hyped Nike sneaker collabs, including Cactus Plant Flea Market Dunks and Off-White Air Force 1s, on his walk to the locker room. Online resale marketplace GOAT even started sponsoring the Brooklyn Nets tunnel in 2019.
In more recent years, we have seen Ronnie Fieg’s Kith utilize the pregame tunnel at Madison Square Garden by outfitting Knicks stars like Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns in pieces to promote upcoming Kith x Knicks collaborations.
LeBron James, the 2018 Cavs, and Their Iconic Finals Suits
Not everyone can pull off a short suit. But not everyone is LeBron James. During the 2018 NBA Playoffs, James and his Cavs teammates arrived to away games in matching suits custom made by Thom Browne—an idea dreamed up by Dwyane Wade before he was traded that season. The team debuted their coordinated looks by the American designer at Game 3 of their series against the Indiana Pacers. Then, during Game 1 of the 2018 Finals, they wore short suits that cost roughly $5,000 each—a gift from James. And who could forget James’ $41,000 custom alligator skin Thom Browne “Mr. Thom” bag? The episode brought more eyes to the NBA tunnel—even Vogue wrote about it—and introduced Thom Browne to a more mainstream audience.
“Dressing the same isn’t special. Being in a designed suit by a master craftsman is truly special,” James told The New York Times in 2018. Quite a difference from James’ baggy white Draft Day suit in 2003, huh?
PJ Tucker, the Sneaker King
PJ Tucker, who’s widely considered the NBA’s sneaker king, has been wearing neck-breaking sneakers his whole career. But then the NBA lifted its sneaker restrictions for the 2018-2019 season and allowed players to wear pairs that don’t match their team colors—a move the league made to encourage players “to showcase their individuality” and “passion for basketball footwear.” “Red October” Nike Air Yeezy 2s, Carmelo Anthony’s exclusive Air Jordans that even Melo isn’t sure how he got, and rare LeBrons worth tens of thousands of dollars, you name it and Tucker has probably laced it up on the court. Tucker told Complex that he spent close to $200,000 on sneakers in 2018.
“That was big,” says Tucker. “For me, it wasn’t that big of a deal because I would still wear crazy stuff even before, but it definitely saved guys from getting fined. Sneakers are a part of fashion, and getting to wear whatever based on how I feel makes everything easier.”
Tucker isn’t the only player that’s taken advantage of the rule. The updated regulations have enabled the NBA to reach a wider audience, including fans who cared more about sneakers than the game itself. “There are kids who don’t even care about basketball but are watching the game just to see the sneakers,” Allen Onyia, founder of celebrity fashion news site UpscaleHype, told Esquire in 2019.
The Social Justice Movement in the NBA Bubble
In July 2020, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NBA created a bubble at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, where 22 teams were invited to compete. But players in the Association— the only major sports league that’s dominated by African Americans— refused to stay silent following the tragic murders from police brutality of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Jacob Blake. The Milwaukee Bucks declined to play their opening playoff game in response to the death of Blake. Many of the league’s stars, including CJ McCollum, used their platform to speak up about social injustice, often wearing garments that featured messages like “Go Harder for Breonna Taylor” and “Free-ish” in reference to freedom of Black people in America. Along with McCollum, multiple players wore Black Lives Matter T-shirts. LeBron James and the entire Lakers team rocked hats with “Make America... Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor” on them. Jayson Tatum donned a custom “If you’re reading this, Breonna Taylor’s murderers are still here” shirt prior to Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The NBA tunnel was no longer just about designer brands or who had the most expensive outfit on. It also became a form of protest.
SGA and the OKC Thunder, Leaders of the New School
When you think of the modern NBA and fashion, the first name that comes to mind is two-time MVP, Shai-Gilgeous Alexander. Not only has he already etched his name as one of the best dressed NBA players of all time, his passion for fashion seems to have permeated to the rest of the OKC Thunder locker room. Now, SGA isn’t the only player on the squad showing to arenas in his best gear. Teammates Jalen Williams, Lu Dort, Jared McCain, and more have turned the Thunder tunnel into a runway show. The team even takes shopping trips together when they hit certain cities.
In an era where seemingly every player around the league is trying to capitalize on the attention put on the pregame tunnel, the SGA and the OKC Thunder have set themselves apart as the undisputed best dressed team in the NBA, as well as one of the flyest teams that the Association has ever seen.
