The 2013 playoffs have provided many fantastic memories and moments, on and off the court. Players have had a chance to showcase their skills on the biggest stages, and show off their personalities at the podiums. While there have been many unique looks, there have also been a few trends embraced by multiple players. In this spotlight, we’ll take a look at “Stars in Stripes” and the red/pink/orange color scheme that seems to continually pop up in arenas across the country.
As always, keep up with the conversation on Twitter using #NBAStyle.
Mike Conley, featured in last week’s spotlight, pairs a modern beige jacket with a casual black and white striped shirt.
Carmelo Anthony looks classic in a white sweater with thin red and blue stripes.
The Memphis Grizzlies put together the most successful season in franchise history, making their first trip to the Western Conference Finals. Sixth-year point guard Mike Conley, Jr., was a large part of that success. During the regular season, Conley averaged a career-high 14.6 points per game to go along with 6.1 assists and 2.2 steals. The Grizzlies won a franchise-record 56 games and Conley was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive Second Team.
During the Playoffs, the public embraced the team’s “Grit and Grind” style, and their unique combination of a dominant front court and defensive-minded guards. The Playoff run also gave Conley the opportunity to showcase his versatility off the court, as he experimented with a wide range of styles.
Check out some of the different looks of Mike Conley during the 2013 playoffs, and let us know which one was your favorite using #NBAStyle.
Round 1 Game 1: Conley starts off the playoffs making a statement, mixing patterns with a striped shirt under a double-breasted blazer, abstract tie and plaid pants.
ALL BALL NERVE CENTER — Grizzlies swingman Quincy Pondexter patiently worked his way into his role with the Memphis Grizzlies, becoming a true outside threat and establishing himself during this postseason as a guy who could stretch the floor for the Grizz, giving Zach Randolph and MarcGasol space to bang inside. As Pondexter became better known on the court, he started showing pieces of his off-court personality as well, most notably bringing his dog, Buckets, to the gym while he got some shots up.
The Grizzlies surprised a lot of experts by advancing to the Western Conference finals, and though their run ended with a 4-0 sweep at the hands of the Spurs, it didn’t completely dampen the Grizz’s spirits.
Today, for instance, Pondexter began by wondering aloud on Twitter if anyone knew who had won Miss Tennessee. Chandler Lawson, who it turns out is the reigning Miss Tennessee, soon tweeted back…
ALL BALL NERVE CENTER — You could say that thus far it’s been a musical postseason, at least for Western Conference contenders. First, we saw the introduction of a song for the Oklahoma City Thunder, a dirge-y singalong led by a shirtless man that never really caught on. More recently, we saw the debut of a Memphis Grizzlies theme song by several contemporary hip-hop heavyweights.
Recently a song for the San Antonio Spurs has emerged, “Go ESpurs Go,” although it is not a recent song — this was recorded in 2008, but until recently nobody was sure who recorded it. Thanks to a little detective work, the San Antonio Express News has ascertained that the song was written by a man named Igo Mendoza Gallego. He seems to be an inveterate song writer — he has recorded seven Spurs-themed songs over the last decade and apparently wrote a song during a three minute break on Tuesday. He is best known around San Antonio for jumping over trucks (presumably in cars or other trucks) and for trying to set landspeed records (also presumably in cars or trucks).
Spurs fans are among the NBA’s most rabid, often using “Go Spurs Go” as their rallying cry. Gallego’s Spurs song plays off this slogan and is more of a slow jam, with a mariachi feel to it. I can’t imagine a stadium full of fans standing and singing in unison, but I can see it being played at a street fair or a tailgate party.
With the Conference Finals underway and the NBA Finals around the corner, let’s take a look back at the fashion of Round Two. Carmelo Anthony made the hat his wardrobe staple, Mike Conley continued to experiment with a spectrum of different styles, and Stephen Curry kept his look simple, letting his spectacular performances on the court do the talking. As always, keep up with the conversation on Twitter using #NBAStyle.
Carmelo Anthony pairs his signature hats with different outfits ranging from a colorful printed shirt to a maroon blazer. After Game 6, he loses the hat and dons a printed blue tee. [PHOTOS 1-4]
ALL BALL NERVE CENTER — A couple of weeks ago while watching Inside the NBA, I sat up straight when I heard something about Mike Conley wearing a wooden bow tie… -
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The reason this segment riveted me was because a few weeks earlier, I’d been in Oklahoma City and met a guy named Tim Paslay, who co-owns a company called Two Guys Bow Ties. He and his partner have been hand-making wooden bow ties since the fall, and Tim showed me a sample of their product. I told him at the time that it seemed natural they should get a few ties to Ernie Johnson, who wears a bow tie on TV every night. So when Ernie mentioned hoping they would get in touch, I connected Tim and Ernie.
A few nights later, well, you can watch what happened… -
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I emailed Tim over the weekend and asked where he got the inspiration for the custom ties for the Inside guys.
“As soon as I heard Chuck say it looked like a dog bone I knew I had to incorporate Mango and Yoohoo into his ties,” Tim said. “It took some time, but I was able to track down a clip where they showed their faces and capture those to adorn the tie. The funny thing about Shaq‘s tie is that I wanted it to be hilariously over sized so I made it is AT LEAST twice the size of our normal ties. I was shocked that when he held it up in front of his neck tie that it looked just about right for him. His hand dwarfed it when he grabbed it from Ernie. I know he is big, but that blew me away.”
A player’s shoes always make a statement. Pregame, many choose to go with high-fashion dress shoes or sneakers. During games, a player can have career-defining moments that get memorialized by the shoes he wore. A player’s in-game sneakers often represent more than athletic performance. Notes can be seen scribbled across the sides, or logos crafted specifically for the player become globally recognizable symbols that represent the growth and influence of the game. In fact, the global aspect of basketball extends to shoes, as several NBA players now endorse Chinese shoe companies.
In this spotlight, we will highlight both the sneakers worn during the game, and the shoes that made the biggest statements during arrivals. As always, keep up with the conversation using #NBAStyle.
James Harden is a known risk taker, and goes all-out with multi-colored studded sneakers, which he pairs with a printed button down.
ALL BALL NERVE CENTER — I will never forget it: Pep rally, senior year, and our basketball coach is introducing the newly minted members of the hoops team to the assembled student body, who were cheering loudly from the stands in our high school gym. Coach worked his way down the list alphabetically, and I stood at the end of the row of players, waiting to run across the floor — the only person with a last name starting with a “W” — knowing I would be the last name called.
Or so I thought, because Coach called the name before mine, and then he momentarily forgot about me, and asked the crowd to give a big hand to the team. Meanwhile, I stood alone, momentarily forgotten yet never more visible than at that moment. My teammates, to their credit, pointed me out to our Coach, and he double-checked his list and hastily blurted out my name. No harm, no foul, although the memory has obviously stuck with me for a while.
So I, for one, can understand if Memphis guard Jerryd Bayless feels a little under-appreciated after yesterday’s postgame news conference, when Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins banked on Bayless’ name. Just like my high school coach, Hollins consulted the paper in front of him and made a pretty quick recovery, and I’m sure he meant no harm from it.
ALL BALL NERVE CENTER — The Memphis Grizzlies have taken the NBA postseason by storm, winning eight of their last nine games and grit-and-grinding their way right into the Western Conference finals. And, of course, no good postseason run by a sports team is complete without a theme song to go along with it.
The Grizz’s new song comes courtesy of a couple of Memphis-born hip-hop luminaries: Rapper/producer Drumma Boy, teaming up with Three 6 Mafia co-founder DJ Paul. The song is titled “We Don’t Bluff,” which has a dual meaning: It’s a nod to the city of Memphis’s longtime nickname, “The Bluff City” — Memphis was settled on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. But it also references Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph, who after an altercation with Oklahoma City’s Kendrick Perkins back in November, said, “There’s a lot of bluffin’ going on the court, that’s all, you know. And I don’t bluff.”
And as we’ve seen this postseason, neither do the Grizz. -
While many NBA players have different interpretations of high fashion and the latest trends, some are sticking with basic suits, while still mixing it up a bit. Perhaps the most important facet of today’s suit is an ability to break up the pieces and wear them with other items in your wardrobe. Let’s take a look at several different styles, including trends that can become part of any closet. Keep up with the conversation using #NBAStyle.
THE EXPERTLY TAILORED SUIT
Derrick Rose, Amar’e Stoudemire and Zach Randolph are in favor of finely tailored, slim cuts.
Catch up on every single game-winning buzzer beater during the season and see how it rates on the Horry Scale.
