CAMERAS LINED THE player`s entrance at Paycom Arena, flashing as the Indiana Pacers` star guard arrived for Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Tyrese Haliburton sported an off-white Carhartt button-down jacket, white pants, black shoes, and sunglasses. For the biggest game of his career, his chosen accessory was his debut signature sneakers, the Puma Hali 1, designed by Salehe Bembury in a vibrant hibiscus colorway.
Almost an hour later, the hallway again lit up as the league`s MVP made his minute-long walk to the locker room. Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander entered wearing light blue-tinted sunglasses, a comfortable gray shirt jacket, and his `Masi Blue` SHAI 001 Converses, paying tribute to his younger brother, Thomasi.
The MVP`s statement piece? A Chanel cross-body bag, accentuated by a pearl-detailed strap and accompanied by a smaller cross-body mini bag.
“Shai`s been doing it since he came to the league,” Haliburton told ESPN about his Thunder counterpart. “He is kind of like the undisputed king of [NBA fashion].”
Gilgeous-Alexander and Haliburton are not only the star point guards who led the Thunder and Pacers to a 2-2 tie in the NBA Finals, but they are also recognized as two of the league`s most stylish players, celebrated for unique fashion senses and designer outfits as versatile as their on-court performance.
While both guards are intensely focused on winning their first championship, Gilgeous-Alexander and Haliburton are among the players bringing a touch of haute couture to this small-market NBA Finals matchup.
In the city where Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Serge Ibaka once showcased their boldest outfits, Gilgeous-Alexander—alongside teammates like Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren—has re-established Oklahoma City as an NBA fashion hub. For Haliburton, keenly aware of the spotlight, he`s using the Finals to silence critics with his clutch play and turn heads with his personal style.
“OKC is a legendary tunnel with Russ and what Shai`s doing,” Haliburton told ESPN last week before Game 1.
“OKC is definitely one of everybody`s favorite tunnels.”
WESTBROOK USED TO frequent this same tunnel wearing diverse looks, from a COOGI crewneck to Saint Laurent boots.
He seemed willing to go to great lengths for fashion, even tearing holes in jeans and sewing pieces himself, often acquired off the rack.
“My mom used to sew, so I used to watch,” Westbrook told ESPN during the 2023-24 season. “So if I rip something, if I cut it like I cut my jeans, I cut it up myself in the room.
“I can sew it by hand [with a needle]. I ain`t done it in a while, but I can also [sew] it by machine as well, too.”
Gilgeous-Alexander, the first Thunder point guard to lead Oklahoma City to the Finals since Westbrook`s 2012 team, currently holds the NBA`s unofficial fashion crown.
“Shai is acknowledged pretty widely as the reigning king of NBA style,” said Wall Street Journal reporter Sam Schube, formerly GQ`s sports director. “He`s the guy who`s really picked up the mantle from LeBron [James], Allen Iverson, Dwyane Wade and Russ. He`s the next dude. … Shai`s sort of his own world. It doesn`t really feel like he`s playing the same game as everybody else.
“I don`t know how much Chanel you`re seeing in the NBA tunnel. That just tells you that that guy knows exactly what he wants to wear and feels great about doing it … to take a really classic fancy French lady women`s wear brand and twist it as an NBA player is like, `Ooh yeah.` You`re feeling good about yourself.”
Gilgeous-Alexander is having a legendary season. He`s won the regular-season scoring title, MVP, the Western Conference Finals MVP, and is aiming for a potential Finals MVP.
Westbrook, who won league MVP with the Thunder in the 2016-2017 season, is known for helping style his teammates by taking them shopping, buying clothes, and offering style advice. Now with the Denver Nuggets, Westbrook has kept some memorable outfits, including those from past Met Galas, his wedding, and draft night suits.
These days, he primarily wears his own fashion brand, Honor The Gift. The 17-year veteran wears a different outfit to every game and then gives his clothes to friends, students at his Westbrook Academy, or charity.
“I teach them fashion, but being affordable,” Westbrook said of his shopping trips with teammates. “I`m not big on having young guys go to [Louis] Vuitton and [Christian] Dior and spending $2,000 on stuff. I`m big on thrift shopping. That`s how I was brought up. My mom was the one that taught and helped me understand about being able to have what you have but also looking good with what you have. And that`s why I was able to create my own brand.”
Now, OKC boasts another MVP making waves in the fashion world. At 26, Gilgeous-Alexander walked the runway in Thom Browne`s show at Paris Men`s Fashion Week in 2022. He`s a former GQ Most Stylish Man of the Year and is Converse Basketball`s creative director.
“The European Fashion Week trip has become kind of a box to check if you`re a pro athlete,” Schube said. “But it`s hard to remember guys walking in a Thom Browne show outside of Shai. He appears to have real relationships with some of these designers and sort of studies the craft as it were in a way that some of his peers don`t.”
It`s unsurprising it took him about 40 minutes to assemble “eight to nine outfits” before the Finals, ensuring alternative options if the series goes the distance.
“Before every series, I plan out my outfits for sure,” Gilgeous-Alexander told ESPN. “I don`t know if you`ve noticed, but every round I`ve debuted a new colorway of my [Converse] shoe. Round 1, all the outfits were centered around the gray shoes. And then Round 2, they were centered around the black shoes. Round 3, the clay shoes. And this round would be the blue shoes.”
SIMILAR TO WHEN WESTBROOK, Harden, and Ibaka turned Oklahoma City`s pregame arrivals into a fashion runway, Gilgeous-Alexander is not the only style-conscious Thunder player. Williams, Holmgren, and Lu Dort, all key contributors on the second-youngest team to reach the NBA Finals, also express themselves through their pregame fashion.
Williams, in particular, is not afraid to cause a stir, once wearing an all-black headpiece covering his entire head with three cushioned rows across his face.
He was fined $25,000 by the NBA for wearing clothing with profane language during his second-round Game 7 postgame media session.
“I`d say my style right now is baggy,” Williams told ESPN. “But it`s also just me, whatever I`m feeling. So if I`m feeling lazy, I`m not afraid to wear pajamas. I`m not afraid to be comfortable.”
For Game 1 of the Finals, the 24-year-old Williams opted for a vintage, relaxed look with a 90s vibe, featuring a black and pink zip-up hoodie jacket, a hat, a graphic T-shirt depicting Michael Jackson from the `Dangerous` album cover, baggy jeans, and a `Pinky and the Brain` soft-sided lunch bag.
“This is like a classic Gen Z cool kid outfit,” Schube said. “Big sneakers, giant jeans, little shirt and then a trucker hat that looks like maybe you could have gotten it at a gas station, but I`m sure it costs a thousand dollars. And is he carrying a lunch box? This could not be more of a Gen Z outfit.”
Holmgren, 23, also prioritizes comfort, describing his style as “casual but classy” and wearing whatever makes him feel confident. For Game 1, he wore a black hoodie, sunglasses, and pants. He admits he and the MVP are in different fashion leagues.
“It`s not a competition because the budget isn`t the same,” Holmgren told ESPN about Gilgeous-Alexander, who signed a five-year, $172 million extension in 2021. “That`s a dangerous game to try to play. So I don`t even try to play it.
“I look at them as fashion professionals,” Holmgren said of Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams. “And I`m more of a fashion hobbyist.”
Williams also concedes he`s not at the MVP`s level. Gilgeous-Alexander took Williams shopping in New York during the forward`s rookie season in 2022-23. Williams saw firsthand the fashion connections Gilgeous-Alexander had as they shopped at designer stores Williams couldn`t afford at the time. Williams mostly just observed Gilgeous-Alexander shopping that day.
“The first time, it wasn`t that fun,” Williams said of the shopping experience with Gilgeous-Alexander.
“I just have more money now so I can kind of keep up.”
Williams said competition never arises among Thunder teammates regarding who has the best outfits. The MVP sees it as providing fashion assists to his teammates.
“It doesn`t really get competitive,” Gilgeous-Alexander told ESPN politely when asked about fashion battles. “I don`t want to sound like … they`re like, those are my kids in terms of fashion. I showed them what to do and what not to do.”
This is why Oklahoma City has again become an NBA fashion epicenter.
“You do not think of Oklahoma City as the most fashionable place on Earth,” Schube said. “And yet there`s something in the water there. They`re a small market. [GM] Sam Presti, who built both of those teams, is obviously a guy who knows how to be creative and flexible when it comes to building a roster. And that means finding young players and empowering them.
“And so you get these young dudes who are just absolutely dripping and it happens to be in Oklahoma City.”
PRIOR TO GAME 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Haliburton entered Gainbridge Fieldhouse dressed as if for a funeral. With the Pacers poised to eliminate the New York Knicks, Haliburton arrived in a sharp all-black outfit with sunglasses and carried a black duffle bag.
Ben Stiller, actor and dedicated Knicks fan, reposted a video of Haliburton`s arrival with some playful trash talk.
“Good thing he brought his duffel for the flight to NY,” Stiller wrote on X, hoping the Knicks would force a Game 7.
Haliburton eliminated the Knicks with 21 points and 13 assists in the Pacers` 125-108 victory, and the point guard delivered a perfect response to Stiller, who famously spoofed male supermodels in `Zoolander`.
“Nah, was to pack y`all up,” Haliburton wrote back on X.
The Pacers point guard is a massive wrestling fan and enjoys delivering top-rope moments with his fashion choices. He`s aware of which arena tunnels are high-profile, like Madison Square Garden`s ramp. As Schube notes, Haliburton appears “aware of how this is all going to play on social media” and “of the narrative and theatrics of it all.”
“Good style,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of Haliburton. “Above all, he wears it. He embraces his style and doesn`t care what anyone else thinks. He just wears it. And that`s all you can really do is, `I`m going to go in my closet and have my eight outfits that I think are fire`… all you can do is trust your feel and wear it with confidence.”
Haliburton, 25, is accustomed to both positive and negative social media reactions to his style choices. Whether he`s aiming for a “Peaky Blinders” look or wearing a Prada trench coat that drew online comparisons to Inspector Gadget, Haliburton likes to spark conversation.
“He doesn`t have one lane he just sticks to,” said Pacers teammate Myles Turner, also interested in fashion with a self-described “preppy Western” style. “Whatever he feels, he`s going to throw it on and it`s a conversation starter piece for sure.
“He`s bold, but so is his personality.”
At the 2024 All-Star Game, Haliburton wore a long double-breasted Prada runway jacket with shaggy blue fur around his biceps and knees. Some online likened the blue fur to the Cookie Monster.
“I think people just always fight things that they haven`t seen before or everybody just wants to fit in,” Haliburton told ESPN. “This is a world where if you try something different, everybody`s going to say something about it. I don`t dress like anybody else and I`m OK with that.
“I think there`s a lot of people that are truly in the fashion world that would tell you that I dress very well and I believe I do. But for some people who really don`t know anything about fashion, it would be like he dresses terrible. I just do what I want to do at the end of the day. I`m not here to please anybody.”
Haliburton takes a practical approach with his outfits. While he enjoys standing out in pieces from Comme des Garcons, Prada, and The Row, Haliburton keeps many items in rotation. He mentioned he can wear 10 to 15 pairs of the same shoes and rewear pants or a black button-up multiple times as layering pieces.
“I mean, we got money, but clothes are expensive, bro,” said Haliburton, who tries to stay grounded even after signing a five-year extension worth up to $260 million in 2023. “That`s why I try not to get too many super loud pieces that you could see I wore again.”
When it comes to those standout pieces, Haliburton sometimes sells them anonymously on Grailed, an online resale marketplace, or gives them to Olivier Rogers, his fashion stylist, to sell on sites like The RealReal.
“I have secret accounts on sites where you can resell clothes,” Haliburton said. “Even if I don`t get all the money back … say if I bought a jacket for five grand and I get three grand back, that`s better than getting nothing and it`s sitting in my closet.
“When I first came to [the NBA], it bothered me so much. I would spend all this money on a colorful pair of jeans and a vintage T-shirt. And once I wear it once and post it on my Instagram, I can`t wear it again.”
As Haliburton prepares to face the Thunder again in Monday`s Game 5, hoping to replicate the magic of Game 1 when he hit the game-winning shot, the Indiana star returns to Paycom Center, honoring the standard of bringing heat to the OKC hallway.
One item unlikely to be for sale are the Hali 1`s he wore in Game 1. After sinking one of the most clutch shots in Finals history to complete the Pacers` comeback win, Haliburton placed his signature Pumas next to the microphone at his postgame news conference.
“The secret sauce today was these,” Haliburton said, pointing to his shoes after helping erase a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit.
Later, he posted the perfect mic drop on X, echoing one of the most iconic lines in NBA fashion history and paying homage to Spike Lee`s Mars Blackmon.
“It`s gotta be the shooooeeesss,” Haliburton wrote.
