- What's up GQ?
I'm Allen Onyia and today we're going to be going through
some of the year's biggest tunnel fits from the NBA.
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I am a style coach.
I work in this sport called style
and I have my hands in, curating a lot of the looks
for some of your favorite athletes and entertainers.
Style is a sport just like how these guys step out
in the arena and they're competing against one another.
You're doing the same thing with your style
and what I love about style so much is that
everyone can compete.
You know, I might not be able to get out there
and compete against LeBron, but I can compete against LeBron
at the GQ party.
For me, Kyle Kuzma has taken the throne.
Kyle has said like I wanna be recognized
as the NBA's fashion guy and he's doing a great job with it.
Very, very polarizing.
It looks feel very, for some reason I want to use
the word "animated" because you feel like
each look can be its own character.
You know, there is no like super cohesiveness
but it's almost like he's walking into a booth
and coming out as a different person.
That's what's interesting about it and I think
that's very, very intentional 'cause he experiments
with everything from wearing jackets
with no shirt underneath, wide pants.
There's no silhouette, no shape, no fabric,
no cut that he avoids, any type of head wear.
He's not afraid of anything.
That's Kyle Kuzma in a nutshell,
not afraid to really just go for it.
My favorite out of all these,
to me has to be the purple Raf Simons blazer
with the Raf Simons hat,
because I saw that on the runway and I was like,
I wasn't sure how anyone would be able to pull that off.
Not saying you couldn't wear it, but pull it off.
And I think they did a great job in really pulling that off.
'Cause if you see the look on the runway,
I didn't see how that would translate to the NBA
and I was curious to see if I was gonna see any NBA player
work that into their their wardrobe.
And they did it. Did it right.
They toned it down obviously with the black jeans
and the Rick sneakers, but that's probably my favorite.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
He's the one coming for Kyle Kuzma's neck.
If Kyle Kuzma slips up, Shai's right behind him.
He's Gen Z. He's tapped into Gen Z.
He gives them exactly what they're looking for.
He has a uniform.
Go baggy trouser, baggy jean and some sort of baggy top.
Everything's like kind of baggy with Shai.
It's like a nod to like Iverson,
if Iverson was now or like that era of The Diplomats,
Jim Jones like Cameron, it feels like very much so that era.
Boot cut jeans, Timbs, Shai's really tapped into that
and it's like his uniform,
if I see anyone walking around now, any other NBA player,
I'm like oh that's Shai's uniform.
My favorite would have to be leather jacket,
those orange Timbs, blue jeans, the hoodie underneath,
the LV bag matching the Timbs in a way.
It's the most well-balanced look for me,
as far as like silhouette and proportions.
But the color palette's really nice.
Feels good.
Like I said, there's a few guys up there who are playing
on a different wavelength and Jordan is one of 'em.
So much about attitude, so much about energy.
Trendy, but he does trendy well. That's rare.
Someone who knows how to mix and match
the trendy very well, is very, very impressive.
But not afraid of silhouettes.
He is definitely one of the guys that
I think everybody kind of talks about.
To me it's either Jordan, Kuzma, Shai,
as the guys who are kind of really, really throwing
their hat in the ring.
Out of all three, he's my favorite.
So this look is very, I wanna say like Kanye, ASAP Rocky.
But it feels good though.
You have the Prada jacket with the hoodie
wrapped around his waist, like a plaid shirt, denim jeans,
black sneakers, black sunglasses,
that's a masterclass in layering right there.
That's a lot of layering.
That's a vibe for sure.
So Devin's style just reminds me of like California,
San Diego, little bit like the Bay Area.
He loves the Converse.
This is a guy who can pretty much get his hand
on any sneaker he wants.
But the fact that he really intentionally chooses to wear
Converse or a black boot, kind of speaks volumes
to how particular he is about his style.
It feels like the cars he drives, it feels very classic,
it feels very timeless.
And so yeah Devin Booker's style is gonna be a style
that's not gonna speak to you in a very loud fashion,
but very subtle and something that you appreciate over time.
So this is James' Christmas Day look.
The Christmas time usually comes with like the,
usually a week where it's like the ugly sweater week.
This feels like Grinch vibes but feels like very modern.
He has the LV bag, which is super, super exclusive.
I like the look.
The balaclava is everybody's latest like fashion accessory
and so he worked that into the look.
The balaclava has been around for a little while.
You've seen a lot of brands recently.
Raf Simons with the Calvin Klein collaboration he did,
he really put a focal point on that particular piece.
But I think COVID is what really set this off.
I think guys looking for a fashion statement to kind of
cover their faces and the balaclava became a hit.
I gotta give it to P.J. I think he did his the best.
I just think that the color palette on his look
is just phenomenal.
The Bottega suit, the neon shirt underneath it
and the complimenting green balaclava and then the LV bag
with the hints of that electric blue.
That's a vibe for sure.
Russ is about attitude.
What you see is what you get.
He's fearless.
It's kind of like the way he plays,
very, very fearless and you look at this first look
with the Tom Brown kilt with the blazer.
I thought this was a very, very balanced look.
You know, sometimes you'll see guys who opt
for the the kilt or the skirt,
sometimes their tops will be a little bit more fitted.
I like that he went for a more boxy top
with the blazer and the shirt and he kept it
very schoolboy too, you know, with the high socks
and the white sneakers.
So it felt very preppy, very classic.
But it still felt like Russ.
I feel like Russ has toned it down over the last few years.
And so Russ is also very, very competitive.
And I think he's seen the James' and the P.J.'s
and the Kuzma's do a lot of the things that he did
several years ago and I think he's now
taking a different approach.
Still fearless and still taking some risky chances,
as you can see in the Tom Brown look.
But he's definitely intentionally toned it down.
But Russ is probably the NBA player that's chosen to
really dabble in fashion.
Russ has kind of taken it and made it his
and so like you said when I work with guys around the league
or entertainment, Russ is one of the first names mentioned,
like, hey, I want to emulate some of what he did.
I think LeBron's always been consistent.
He's always been who he is.
He's probably one of the few athletes
who's had a lens on him since the beginning
of his career till now.
I can go back and look at his looks and they've never been
totally out the box.
He doesn't take huge risks but he shows
how someone grown and professional should dress.
He's like, if MJ was in this generation,
I would expect him to dress like LeBron.
And so a lot of his looks are going to be,
like say they're not, looking at Kyle Kuzma,
Russell Westbrook or James Harden,
they're not gonna be risky and it's very intentional.
He's not trying to play the game that they're playing.
He's appealing to a different audience with his style.
I like it. It resonates with me.
If you're looking for how to wear a nice top coat
with trousers and with boots or sneakers and crop trousers,
LeBron is the one for that.
Giannis is my guy. I love him as a player.
I love the tenacity which he plays with in the energy.
I just feel like he can do so much more with his style.
Giannis' style is so chill, very casual.
Nothing really stands out to me.
Sometimes we hear him in the conversation,
it's like the face of the NBA
and I think that face needs to come with the wardrobe.
When you wanna be the face of the NBA
you also gotta not only talk it,
but you gotta walk it.
Even off the court.
And that's why I feel like his style just hasn't evolved
all the way there yet.
Once he figures out what that tunnel can do for him
off the court, I think the sky's the limit.
So from one African to the other,
Giannis call me. We can do some things. [laughing]
Ja dresses like senior or college student.
With a little bit of money and that's fine.
He just hasn't tapped into the next evolution
of who he can be.
So I think once he realizes that there's
a room for these casual looks, these jumpsuit looks,
and then he incorporates a little bit more fashion
and not even like loud fashion,
just like you switch up some variety into his looks.
'Cause he has the build and he has the attitude
and the energy to kind of carry anything.
So yeah, Ja can really do some damage.
He just hasn't really tapped into that yet.
I don't think anyone considered Steph and fashion together.
But now he's made a huge, huge jump.
I see him, obviously he's been sitting out
a lot of games this season,
so you got a chance to really see his style,
and I see the evolution.
And I think they're doing a great job
of making it feel true to him.
They're brands that make sense.
A lot of times too, the brands that you wear
kind of represent who you are too.
And so a lot of guys don't pick up on that.
But he wears brands that speak to his status
and where he is at in his life.
You know, I don't think he's a hundred percent there yet
but I do like the direction that he's going
in the last few years.
I gotta go with the Corduroy.
The other one feels a little too trendy,
with the Marni cardigan, the Rick cargos
and the Bottega boots.
And doesn't feel like him, but the Prada Corduroy overall
with the jacket laid over feels a little bit more
Stephan to me.
Lamelo's always been...
I struggle to describe his style.
It's definitely a product of Gen Z,
but it's just a whole lot of red,
like it's just, it's too much red.
There's no denying that red is his favorite color.
Imagine a look where, red bubble jacket red, track pants
and red sneakers.
That's aggressive.
That one's not my favorite.
I'll definitely have to lean with the one
that doesn't have as much red.
But even that one has a lot of red.
Red sunglasses, red watch, red leather pants, red sneakers.
There's two different things going on.
I think there was an area where,
we matched everything from head to toe
and then there was an area where you found a way
to play with the color wheel.
You know, browns go with yellows
and yellows go with greens.
And I think he's tapped into the era
where you matched everything head to toe.
He's like, I got the red leather pants,
I'm wearing with these red sneakers,
got the black and red tee,
I'm gonna throw him my red sunglasses and red watch.
And so there's definitely an audience for that.
But Justin's definitely not one of my favorites.
It's just a whole lot of red.
Jason is definitely one of the guys that,
you will see him mix it up from time to time.
Like you'll see him in a suit,
you'll see him in a cardigan set
and you'll see him a little bit more flamboyant
with a furry jacket and ripped jeans.
And so Jason shows that he has range.
Huge fan of what he's doing
and just gotta keep on getting there.
I could see him slowly becoming what
LeBron and Chris Paul have have become.
Just someone who shows guys his size
how you can dress and still be stylish.
What I think was interesting about Jason Tatum
is that you in a time where the dress code has gone away
in a sense he still chooses to suit up sometime.
And it's not just suit up for a special occasion,
where it's the first game of the season or special event.
I think he mixes in suits on a regular basis.
Another guy that I see doing that
is Denver Nuggets Center, Jokić.
Jokić just made a real big decision
and put in a lot of effort this season dressing up in suits
for pretty much all the big games or all of his games.
I think his mindset behind that is like,
work is all business.
And so he's coming in his business wear.
I respect the guy who still fashions a suit
even when they don't have to.
Because a suit is timeless and classic
and it always means business.
There was a time where it was rare to see a athlete in Paris
or sitting front row or even able to walk the runway.
I think now, as you can see,
these guys are taking the opportunity to showcase
who they are even more, showcase their styling and more.
And they've taken the opportunity to do it
before every game.
And it's walking the runway, walking the tunnel
and making noise with it.
This is GQ.
Thank you guys for watching.
See you next time.
Salute.
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