Over time the NBA tunnel has develop into just as highly watched because the basketball games themselves, as players have used the platform as a technique to exhibit their personal style.
This season, basketball players like Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Clarkson, P.J. Tucker, Chris Paul, Kevin Love and others have continued to make an impression on fans with their pre-game outfits, known as “tunnel matches.” Starting from high-end designers to emerging labels, these athletes have created many viral fashion moments this season, thanks partially to the stylists they work with closely.
“[The tunnel] allowed them to actually exhibit how they feel, what they love and what they’re into — what their aesthetic may very well be or ought to be,” said Toreno Winn Jr., who styles Kuzma. “They get to jot down that narrative on a consistent basis. They’ve 82 games to point out that, plus the playoffs. Playoffs are when essentially the most eyes are on them.”
With the assistance of their stylists, many NBA athletes have used the tunnel to experiment with their style or show a more personal side.
On one end of the spectrum there are players like Paul and Love, who stick to a more classic style, in line with their stylist Courtney Mays.
“It’s really vital for me to lean into their authentic style sensibility,” said Mays, who also styles DeAndre Jordan. “Something that I’m really pleased with is that each one of my clients look completely different. I don’t think there’s a mark that claims, ‘Courtney Mays dressed them.’ It’s really about how can I elevate or accentuate the things they already love.”
She explained that Love’s style is “classic Americana,” favoring heritage designers, luxurious fabrics and denim styles from brands like Ralph Lauren, Zegna, Kith and Aimé Leon Dore.
Kevin Love
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Paul, alternatively, leans more into athleisure for his tunnel looks. The Phoenix Suns player prefers to support emerging and Black designers along with his looks, favoring brands like Todd Patrick and fellow NBA player Russell Westbrook’s line Honor the Gift. He has also develop into known for using his tunnel matches as a technique to highlight vital issues or to support causes he believes in.
“He’s really about using fashion as a platform to talk to larger social issues, so we’ve been championing historically Black colleges and universities through his wardrobe,” Mays said. “He’s really inquisitive about supporting scholarship and helping kids out within the education space, so let’s use those moments within the tunnel — those two seconds and that one photo — to actually shine a lightweight on historically Black colleges and universities.”
Tucker, who’s styled by Kesha McLeod, is considered one of many NBA players whose sneakers are an indicator of their style. McLeod’s styling strategy often revolves around Tucker’s impressive sneaker collection, as he commonly debuts latest launches or wears unreleased styles during his tunnel walks.
“Lots of it revolves across the sneakers,” she said on why the Philadelphia 76ers’ style resonates with fans. “Inaccessible sneakers nobody was in a position to get. He premiered certain sneakers, just like the Fear of God he played in on the court, and certain styles he’s brought back, in order that resonates with an entire other industry.”
On the opposite end of the style spectrum, players like Kuzma of the Washington Wizards and Torrey Craig of the Suns have develop into known for his or her more experimental and attention-grabbing looks, with each athletes commonly walking the tunnel shirtless or wearing more avant garde pieces.
“There’s nothing [Kuzma] is afraid of and I believe his versatility is what scares people sometimes,” Winn Jr. said. “Perhaps not scares people, but some persons are like, he doesn’t have an aesthetic, and I believe that’s the great thing about all of it. In case you can do multiple styles, it shows the way you’re feeling that day. You’re not only playing a personality and putting on a dressing up. If he’s feeling like a grungy rockstar, he’ll throw on skinny jeans, a leather jacket and a few silver hardware. The following day, he can seem like something out of an anime cartoon. I just love that you just never know what you’re going to get with him.”
Kuzma has arguably made the most important impression on spectators along with his fashion. This season, the Washington Wizards player went viral for several of his tunnel matches, akin to going shirtless under a rainbow knitted cardigan with an identical Marni balaclava or wearing an oversize Rick Owens puffer jacket.
“One thing we spoke about was individuality and finding his voice in fashion after which creating his own persona that wasn’t tied to anyone else and really separating him from others,” Winn Jr. said about when he first began working with Kuzma. “You either like it or hate it. You force an opinion out of individuals. In case you feel indifferent about his style, then we mechanically lose. I do know that individuals are going to feel a technique or one other and it doesn’t hassle me. I don’t lose sleep about it. It’s cool if I can force people to feel a way — then we’re on the best track. It then becomes art greater than it becomes just clothes you wear.”
For Craig, the Phoenix Suns player has worked closely with stylist and designer Layla Harte this season to lean right into a more playful style, mixing patterns and vivid colours and searching to emerging designers.
“It’s finding pieces which can be eye-catching and likewise start conversations,” Harte said about creating viral tunnel matches. “The primary outfit we did where he had the open vest, he had just gotten a bunch of tattoos on his chest and stomach, in order that was an enormous moment. People don’t often not wear a shirt within the tunnel. So as to create those viral moments, you’ve got to always be searching for the most recent design or the following trend. Being on that wave before everybody else.”
While a lot of these tunnel matches go viral, the stylists stated there’s nobody formula to making a viral outfit; nevertheless, authenticity is a key component in styling a glance that resonates with NBA fans.
“In relation to viral outfits, there’s a difference in a way,” Winn Jr. said. “You type of know that individuals are going to speak, but you don’t know that they’re going to — like an example, you realize a song goes to be on the radio, but you don’t know if it’s going to go primary. I feel such as you don’t really know until shortly after whenever you hear people buzzing. With the tunnel, it’s more of a touch-and-go moment. It’s here after which it’s gone, and never many [looks] stay in people’s minds, however the consistency does.”
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