Image via Complex Original
Of all the sports in our sports-obsessed nation, basketball has always been the stylish one. Full of balletic athletes and individual narratives, more graceful than gladiatorial, the NBA is the perfect repository of larger-than-life personalities acting as both fashion bellwethers and tastemakers, through which all the major trends of the past half century of American culture have passed. Here, we present the NBA’s pioneers—the ones who have taken, synthesized, and redefined style for their fellow athletes and the rest of us over the NBA’s six decades of existence. Here is The Definitive NBA Style Icon of Each Decade.
The ’60s: Wilt Chamberlain
Signature swag: Original player's club steez.
When you’re as popular with the ladies as Wilt was, you know you’ve made serious advances in the swagger arts. Wilt complemented his tall tale of a life on the court with his flawless lothario style off it, full of big-time suits and confidently open shirt collars. Wilt dressed like a man who knew how to rack ’em up: points, boards, and other, well, you know.
The ’70s: Walt “Clyde” Frazier
Signature swag: Suits that bound and astound. Oh, and Pumas.
The NBA’s icon of icons: feathered fedoras. Blingy, gratuitous walking sticks. Velvet everything. Capes. And, the first NBA player to drive a Rolls-Royce. Frazier was the ideal New York star for the halcyon days of the Knicks, unafraid of Broadway glitz and more than willing to dress the part. And his radical suit game remains the highlight of Knicks broadcasts today.
The ’80s: Magic Johnson
Signature swag: On-point guard.
Nothing exemplified the ’80s like the Showtime Lakers, and their leader most of all. Magic was the ideal b-ball star for the decade of Miami Vice, accentuating his extravagant on-court style with confidently draped tailoring and double-breasted suits. Nobody looked more natural next to palm trees and Lamborghinis than Magic—and all the championship rings didn’t hurt, either.
The ’90s: Michael Jordan
Signature swag: It was all about the shoes, but for a time, it was about the matching sets, too.
When you’re the G.O.A.T., you can change fashion almost by default, but Jordan, in his day, had the savvy to match his game. From his iconic sneaks to a wide array of athletic gear, Jordan had a large hand in pushing the casual warm-up look outside its traditional court-bound domain. So when you’re rocking hi-tops and jogger pants on weekdays in the near future, know that your suit-free freedom of athleisure has more than a little to do with the influence of His Airness.
The ’00s: Allen Iverson
Signature swag: Sweatsuits so steezy David Stern had to ban them.
It’s difficult to redefine style by your attitude alone, but that’s precisely how much A.I. meant to the late-’90s and early 2000s. With his hair, his tats, and his sheer unstoppable, underdog abandon, Iverson was the basketball icon of the hip-hop generation. He forced a wide contingent of NBA fans to face the racial divides and undertones of a changing culture and an evolving game. And from the circus layups to the SLAM covers, Iverson was a new face for a new era of the game, whose impact is still reverberating through our hearts and minds to this day.
The ’10s: LeBron James and Russell Westbrook
Signature swag: Runway meets courtside.
After an ages-long glut of four-buttoned gangster suits and shapeless warm-ups, the NBA has turned its style thermostat back up to fire this decade, with these two men at opposite ends of the forefront. LeBron is the progenitor—the superstar whose move to Miami and team-up with equally style-minded stars in Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh kick-started a wave of social media peacocking and friendly competition that transformed the way NBA players think about tailoring. Russell, meanwhile, is the avant-garde choice—the outlier whose unconventional prints, patterns, and combos are constantly redefining the outer edge of how athletes dress. With these two at the helm, we’re looking forward to the NBA remaining the epicenter of sports style for the foreseeable future, where players not only dress well, but also define the trends for years to come.