WEBVTT - Hear They Come | The Right Fit 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:03.640 This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast network 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:12.880 search seventy Sixers podcast wherever you get your pods. It's 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:16.560 a typical game day, not the atypical new game day 0:00:16.920 --> 0:00:19.480 of the COVID nineteen era for which the rulebook and 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:23.000 rhythms are still being written, but before the coronavirus changed 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:28.560 the world sports and NBA basketball included. Hours before tip off, 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:32.159 Alex Subers is preparing for what is arguably one of 0:00:32.159 --> 0:00:37.479 his most significant assignments of the day, typically leaving the 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:41.479 office around two pm and get into the arena around 0:00:41.880 --> 0:00:44.720 two thirty. It changes depending on the start time of 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:48.240 the game, but it's typically you know, five hours before 0:00:48.240 --> 0:00:53.880 the game. As the seventy Sixers team photographer, the twenty 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:55.640 six year old Subers has to be in a lot 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:58.120 of places when he's shooting a game and needs to 0:00:58.200 --> 0:01:00.840 keep his head and eyes on swivels to capture lots 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:04.720 of things. But as critical as it is for him 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:07.640 to be in the perfect baseline position for a signature 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:10.680 Ben Simmons mean mug pose after a dunk or an 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:15.800 immediately viral Joel embiid swooping airplane celebration, Supers also has 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:19.160 to be ready for another very particular type of shot, 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:21.720 the walk in photo, and the only way to get 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:23.920 it is by being one of the first people in 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:27.319 the building. The walk in photo is when the players 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:31.039 are dressing up as they're coming in for game nights. 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:35.440 So you're seeing shoes, pants, top, it's a shirt, jacket, whatever, 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:38.479 to the tunnel or get out of their car. It's 0:01:38.480 --> 0:01:42.280 to show their heading into the game that night. Over 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:44.760 the last couple of years, the walk in shot has 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:48.480 become musty social media material. And while these photos and 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:53.080 videos have proliferated across all professional sports, in no league 0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:56.520 is this content more compelling than in the NBA. Fashion 0:01:56.640 --> 0:02:00.920 is such an integral part of what the MBA players 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:04.520 love to celebrate. This is des Rondor set, the Sixers 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:08.400 vice president of business development, take the walking photos, as 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:11.600 we call them, the players coming off the bus walking 0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:15.720 into the game. I've never seen a moment that has 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:20.760 nothing to do with the sport itself be celebrated as much. 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:22.760 I know we do it at the seventy six years, 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:27.280 but ESPN and TNT part of that lead up to 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:31.399 the game is showing the players walking off the bus 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:35.280 and highlighting what they're actually wearing. Think of guys like 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:40.639 Russell Westbrook, Dwayne Wade, Lebron James, and Chris Paul. These 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:43.680 are all stars who study style like they would game film. 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:46.520 It really gives them the opportunity to connect with their 0:02:46.560 --> 0:02:49.320 fans and people off the court, you know, which is 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:51.720 really what we're doing on social media all the time. 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:54.079 So I think it makes a lot of sense. Jamie 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:57.040 Losanti is a senior editor for Sports Illustrated, and she 0:02:57.080 --> 0:03:00.840 helps curate the publication's annual Fashionable fifty project. These guys 0:03:00.840 --> 0:03:03.760 have really they put a lot of work into that 0:03:04.240 --> 0:03:08.480 five fifteen second walk from the arena tunnel into the 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:11.720 locker room. On the surface, shooting a walk in photo 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:14.800 might seem like it gets kind of mundane, you know, 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:17.880 a player walks into arena and the photographer takes the picture. 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:21.880 For Supers, it's become the exact opposite and an aspect 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:24.040 of the gig that he admits he never really saw 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:26.040 coming when he first got into photography a bunch of 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:28.480 years ago. It's actually one of my favorite parts of 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:31.120 the night. It's one of the only times that I'm 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:34.200 actually able to get a little bit creative, you know, 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:38.840 game nights, game nights is for a photographer are pretty straightforward, right, Like, 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:41.480 I don't have control over the lighting in the arena 0:03:41.600 --> 0:03:43.440 during the game. I can't really move around too much 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:45.280 during the game, so you're typically you're getting some the 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:48.680 same photos every night of gameplay. But that's why when 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:50.760 you're doing the walk in photos, like, you can shoot 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:52.720 it in so many different ways. I can mess with 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:55.160 the lighting. I can shoot it with a hard on 0:03:55.280 --> 0:03:58.840 camera flash. I can shoot it with actual strobes set 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:01.000 up in the hallway. I can go out into the 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:03.000 parking lot and shoot them kind of getting out of 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:05.920 their cars and have that vibe. So there's like all 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:07.880 these different ways that I can mess around with the 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:10.960 lighting or just the location of where I'm shooting them 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:12.600 for their walk in that kind of make it a 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:15.080 little more fun. Well, it might be a bit of 0:04:15.120 --> 0:04:17.920 a stretch to say that style has become a synonymous 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:21.640 as skill with NBA players, the premise isn't that far fetched. 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:24.919 Fashion is a massive part of the NBA brand and 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:28.839 especially individual players brands. We now live in the world 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:32.400 of League Fits, which is an Instagram account with nearly 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:36.520 five hundred and sixty thousand followers that's dedicated exclusively to 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:41.120 NBA player fashion. What's interesting is just how much more 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:43.600 important it's gotten over the last couple of years. So 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:47.000 I started three years ago with the team, and my 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:51.160 first year we would occasionally do it. We weren't doing 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:53.400 it for every game. It was just like it was 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:55.200 a big game or if it was playoffs or something 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:56.280 like that, we would do it. But it was not 0:04:56.680 --> 0:04:59.000 by no means was the like every game we were 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:01.279 there and had to be there for walking's right. But 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:04.520 starting the next year, for the last two years, it's 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:06.640 one of those things that has just like we've seen 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:10.440 it taken off and it's just like there's there's Instagram 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:14.120 accounts that are literally built around what these guys are 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:17.640 wearing pregame. It's gotten so important over the last two years, 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:19.800 and I think, you know, it just helps them build 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:23.320 their brand and it gives them an opportunity to have 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:27.120 people see them not just in their uniform. If you 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:30.599 revisit the history of the Philadelphia seventy sixers, you'll find 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:34.720 legendary figures from every era. Wilt in the nineteen sixties, 0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:38.680 Julius in the seventies and eighties, Ai in the nineties 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:41.520 and two thousands, For as much as these Hall of 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:44.280 Famers were recognized for their talent on the court, they 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:47.599 also intersected into the realm of fashion as well. In 0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:51.719 today's NBA, plenty of seventy sixers are DRIP certified and 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:55.640 carving out their own identity through fashion. On this edition 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:58.680 of Here They Come, we examine the crossover between the 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:04.200 seventy Sixers brand and the fashion world. Welcome to Here 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:07.599 They Come, the longest form narrative podcast series from the 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:11.680 seventy Sixers podcast network. I'm Brian Seltzer, and this episode 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:14.479 is called The Right Fit. How Fashion is woven into 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:17.800 the seventy six Ers fabric. It was a few weeks 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:20.200 before the start of training camp this fall, and new 0:06:20.240 --> 0:06:24.120 seventy sixer Howell Nato was outfitted for the occasion. Except 0:06:24.200 --> 0:06:27.640 the occasion had nothing to do with basketball. Neto was 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:30.960 in New York at Mercedes Benz of Manhattan, walking a 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:34.000 makeshift runway as part of an event for the city's 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:38.400 famed Fashion Week. So it wasn't totally my idea. Now, 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:41.599 this was the handiwork of NATO's manager, who Nato says 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:43.679 has been trying to break him into the fashion world 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:46.440 for a few years now, I'm like, you know, it's 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:50.320 not really me. I don't really like it. But when 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:53.520 that opportunity came and I was in Fiey the New 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:55.480 York Fashion Week. Of course it was in New York, 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:59.200 very close from here, so I got invited to that, 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:02.400 to that show, and I was like, okay, let me, 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:05.200 let me try. I'm going to do my best to 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:09.279 describe what Netta was wearing a long, two button, single 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:12.720 breasted suit jacket accented by a color fade of navy 0:07:12.720 --> 0:07:15.280 to white that went from top to bottom and around 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:17.840 the sleeves as well. He also had on jet black 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:21.360 pants and shiny black dress shoes. He was pretty fun, 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:23.400 you know, because he was all athletes, so I got 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:25.320 to know a lot of a lot of other athletes 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:30.679 from other sports. He was something new for me. I 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:33.440 haven't done anything, not even close so that. I've never 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:37.000 even being watching a fashion show before. So it was 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:39.840 a good experience. Well, Neda might be the only member 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:42.480 of the seventy sixers who post runway chops. He has 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:46.360 plenty of teammates who are fashion conscious. There's Tobias Harris. 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:48.720 My style this year, I kind of step out the 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:51.360 box a little bit in different areas and whatnot. Fashion 0:07:51.480 --> 0:07:54.000 is definitely key, is a way to expression itself. Josh 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:58.160 richardson Basketball fashion user, I think it's all intertwined in 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:01.320 my life. At least, just being for me and myself, 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:04.240 I think is probably the biggest thing. Of course, Ben 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:07.280 Simmons and even young batist Thible has gotten in the 0:08:07.320 --> 0:08:10.080 game a bit thanks to Harris providing the custom suit 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:14.520 hook up. So Buys took me and Mario to like 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:18.920 his designers store and we picked out like fabrics, We 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:21.280 picked out every like I had no idea what I 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:23.720 was doing. We're picking out all sorts of stuff, and 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:25.680 it was cool. It was overwhelming. But then to like 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:27.640 see the finished product and then put it on and 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:29.920 then be able to like wear it on the court, 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:32.360 like on the bench, and like show off and feeling 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:34.840 us slick in my custom suit, it was pretty cool. 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:39.040 Virtually every NBA player on every NBA team, there's some 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:42.280 consideration given to game day fashion. I would say a 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:45.480 hell of a lot of NBA players care what they 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:48.400 look like when they're walking to the game or whether 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:52.000 they're just like you know, shooting an Instagram photo. Basically, 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:55.600 this again a sports Illustrated Senior editor Jamie Lasanti. When 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:59.880 we put together our annual Fashionable fifty lists for Sports Illustrated, 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:02.640 it's really hard not to make a full list of 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:06.280 fifty NBA players. You could totally do it. We should 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:10.280 probably do like a one off NBA only and now, 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:14.280 of course the w NBA is coming in strong and 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:17.360 they are killing it just as much, so we could 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:22.360 definitely do a whole basketball only list, But there is 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:25.200 no scientific we need to get the stats out there. 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:28.319 There's definitely no scientific studies being done. But I would 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:31.360 say that a ton of NBA players are interested in this, 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:34.640 and the ones who aren't are definitely hearing it from 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:38.079 their teammates. How much influence do basketball players wield in 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:41.120 the fashion industry? Who wears what when can have the 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:44.720 power to make or break brands. Over the years, it's 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:48.400 become really interesting to see how much the two worlds 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:53.200 have really converge. The fashion world is really interested in 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:56.240 what athletes are doing, and they want them to be 0:09:56.240 --> 0:10:00.160 wearing their stuff, so they've changed their ways into to 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:03.560 get these guys and these women wearing what they have 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:08.120 out there. In other words, athlete fashion has become big business. 0:10:08.600 --> 0:10:10.880 This is des roon door set from the Sexers. You're 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:16.000 seeing a lot of players now leverage the actual pregame 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:21.640 walk in into larger partnership deals with some of these brands. 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:27.439 Typically you would see star players having footwear sneaker deals, 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:31.960 but now the most fashionable people in the NBA, whether 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:35.839 they are self touted or you know, there's a consensus 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:39.559 a lot of the players that have leverage to walk 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:45.559 in have used that to sign larger fashioning based deals. 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:49.520 Think if someone like Ben Simmons, for instance, if you 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:51.760 see him in his cities before or after a game, 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:54.640 he's probably got something in his ears. It's not a 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:58.559 coincidence that those are Beats by Dre products. Here's Alex Supers. 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:02.920 It's almost like its own little side business that's going on. Right. 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:05.560 We're like, you know, if Ben might have a sponsor 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:08.120 that he's got to be you know, rapping, whether maybe 0:11:08.120 --> 0:11:10.800 it's Beats, Like maybe Beats has new headphones or something. 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:12.600 It's like, we need a picture of Ben wearing these 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:15.680 new Beats headphones. Like walking in it is important business 0:11:15.720 --> 0:11:17.920 for these guys as well. It's very unique and I 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:22.160 think that's a trend will see moving more to the 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:26.439 norm versus the exception. Similar to the broader fashion world, 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:30.160 there are plenty of stylistic subgenres supported by NBA players. 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:34.319 Jamie Lasanti and our collaborators on the Sports Illustrated Fashionable 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:39.120 fifty break the yearly list into categories like icons, trend setters, 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:43.520 street style Stars, Classics, and rising Stars. There really is 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:47.600 so many different avenues and ways that people express themselves. 0:11:47.640 --> 0:11:50.480 I think one of the most interesting ones that we've 0:11:50.520 --> 0:11:54.400 seen is what we've called in the past the difference makers. 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:58.200 You know, so people who are really using their fashion 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:02.840 and using what they wear to send a message. You've 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:05.480 got the seeker guys, the accessory guys who are always 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:08.960 wearing the hats and the watches and the jewelry. And 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:11.439 then you've got the people who, you know, we kind 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:14.760 of call them like the wild ones. They Russell Westbrooks 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:18.600 and even like an Odell Beckham, who it really doesn't 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:21.640 matter what day it is, you will not be able 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:23.480 to guess what they're going to come out in, you know, 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:27.679 because it could be anything from you know, wearing some 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:30.000 really sharp suit and then the next day they come 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:33.480 out and they're in a completely different look. When it 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:36.280 comes to the seventy six ers, the consensus is that 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:39.920 Ben Simmons probably gets the most widespread recognition for his game. 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:44.080 Ben was an interesting one because he made our Fashionable 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:48.040 fifty list pretty early on. You know, in his career, 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:51.640 he quickly created his own personal brand of style. You know, 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:55.280 he was always kind of creative and again sort of 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:57.920 like a Russell Westbrook, always had that body type that 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:00.920 was pretty easy for him to go out and get 0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:06.120 clothes from different designers or different people. Alex Subers, the 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:09.840 seventy six ers photographer, has shot Simmons as much as anyone. 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:14.040 Ben has a very clean style where he doesn't wear 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:17.880 a lot of flashy or outrageous things. He keeps it 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:22.760 very simple, like neutral tones, neutral colors, like it's very concise, 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:26.240 it's very deliberate. He's definitely a little bit more on 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:31.200 the kind of creative, cool, laid back kind of thing 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:35.640 where he's he's really embracing both street style and then 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:37.719 he'll also you know, you also see him wear a 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:41.200 suit and a turtle nack or something like that. You know. 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:43.720 So I think he's definitely has been one of the 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:47.080 people to break out almost instantly as they arrived in 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:50.440 the league. Even though Simmons is the lone sixer who 0:13:50.520 --> 0:13:53.839 layed the spot on the twenty nineteen SI Fashionable fifty, 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:56.760 Losanti says, the gap between him and some of his 0:13:56.840 --> 0:14:01.320 teammates isn't that wide. I think Tobias is definitely someone 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:03.600 who we can keep an eye out. You know, we 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:07.000 always have a rising Stars category on our list, so 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:09.560 perhaps he can be in the running there. But he 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:12.360 certainly wants to be noticed and he certainly is taking 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:15.560 some risks seeing him wear some crazy things, whether it's 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:18.960 striped pants here and there or whatever. And he again 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:20.760 has a different body type. So I think that's what 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:23.960 makes it really fun and interesting is seeing how these guys, 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.920 you know, adapt their personal style to what you know, 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:30.280 what they have and what their body type is. So 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:33.320 he's definitely one to watch. We'll see, we'll see how 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:36.880 things shake out. Josh Richardson's efforts haven't gone unoticed either. 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:40.560 He's one who is more of a risk taker, and 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:44.360 he's definitely also just kind of laid back and cool. 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:48.800 He's rocking the flannels and you know, plaids and lots 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:51.600 of as leisure, which is great. And I think he's 0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:54.560 also really into his sneakers and you can't sleep on 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:58.080 the big Man's low key stylings. Alex Supers weighs in. 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:01.320 You get the Joel where like Joel is dressing up 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:04.040 for the game, like he's wearing some some high end 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:06.960 designer stuff and he's say, he goes pretty flashy, like 0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:09.160 he doesn't do it much. But when Joel dresses up 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:11.040 for a game, like he goes to the top. When 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:13.560 Joe goes for it, he goes for it. Taken on 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:16.360 the whole, the Sixers roster reflects a range of fashion 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:19.560 as diverses the men who wear the franchise his signature red, 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:22.400 white and blue colors. I'll get texts from guys that 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:24.880 like we'll say like yo, I can't see the walk 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:26.480 in pick or something, just because like they I don't know. 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:27.760 They want to see it. They want to see what 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:30.640 the outfit looks like. They want to know what kind 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:32.760 of photos they might have or after the game to 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:37.000 be posting and look, they love it. Back in the 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:40.240 nineteen sixties, of course, there were no cell phones or 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:44.640 social media platforms that now give celebrity athletes and everyday 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:48.720 people like the power to express themselves to anyone anytime 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:53.520 anywhere had color photography wasn't even really mainstream yet, So 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:56.600 imagine for a moment the type of engagement that Will 0:15:56.760 --> 0:16:00.320 chamberlain walking content would have gotten if the technology of 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:03.760 his era were on par with today's standards. A Bleacher 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:07.720 Report article from April twenty seventeen sighted Chamberlain is one 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:10.440 of the players most responsible for bringing the style to 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:13.880 the NBA that was emblematic of and fresh for that period. 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:17.320 Around the same time that Wilt was racking up historic 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:20.760 feat after historic feat, a young man with pro potential 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:24.960 was coming of age in Brooklyn. Lloyd Bernard Free loved 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:28.160 the New York Picks, and in particular one of Chamberlain's 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:33.560 chief rivals, Walt Clyde Fraser, whose bold, outlandish outfits were 0:16:33.880 --> 0:16:36.560 and still to this day remain the stuff of legend. 0:16:36.920 --> 0:16:41.000 Essentially tailored for one man and one man old even 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:43.800 though he's older, what he you know, he always came out, 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:47.240 he was clean, always at the game. Well, Fraser's style 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:50.360 was like you know, he was, he was king, and 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:52.880 he came out and did his thing kind of like 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:55.200 you know, try to piggy back golf dad a little 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:58.400 bit to seeing how he was dressed. After starting at 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:00.960 Guldford College, World he Free went on to become a 0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:03.960 second round pick in the Sixers. On the floor, he 0:17:04.040 --> 0:17:07.399 was known for his potent scoring and smooth arcing jump shot. 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:10.120 He wants to average thirty points per game and earned 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:13.719 an All Star nine in nineteen eighty. These days, anyone 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:17.800 familiar with World be Free probably recognizes him for his creative, 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:21.480 colorful suits as much as anything else. He estimates his 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:26.040 suit collection tops three hundred. But the thing is, you know, 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:29.400 if they could talk, they had, they would have something. 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:32.520 They have a lot to say as suits, you know, 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:35.600 because every I guess, every time I you know, I 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:37.560 try to match up, try to make sure the shoes, 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:42.080 the shirt to tie. You know, everything's coordinated. You know, 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:44.320 you got to coordinate and coordinate you get it right, 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:46.800 you know. So that's how I like to always do it. 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:50.439 World B. Free is distinct, that much is for certain. 0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:53.240 Between his playing days and his two and a half 0:17:53.280 --> 0:17:56.560 decades as the Sixers ambassador of basketball, Free is kept 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:59.439 company with some of the most fashioned forward Sixers. He 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:01.920 was a team mate of the always staffer Julia Servant. 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:05.960 Some of Julie's style is a businessman Do's a guy 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:07.840 that when you look at him and say, all right, 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:11.040 that's a clean cut man, you know, does his thing 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:16.480 sometimes like his wife dressed him, so you know, but 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:19.679 for most of the time there's a different style for me, 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:22.919 because I guess we're from different places anyway. But his 0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:26.320 style is is more more more business like. He just 0:18:26.400 --> 0:18:30.760 he just looked nice in his stough. Decades later, when 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:33.760 world fe was retired, he returned to the Sixers in 0:18:33.800 --> 0:18:36.080 his current front office role, and he had a front 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:38.720 row seat to watch a six foot guard from Georgetown. 0:18:38.840 --> 0:18:42.199 He become an international fashion figure. Alan changed up a 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:44.520 lot of stuff, you know, Alan, When I remember him 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:46.480 with Larry Brown, he'd gold Larry Brown to half of 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:52.040 fifty more gray hairs. And he remember him coming into 0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:55.439 the building when he his rookie year had his pants 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:59.159 always down, you know, below his butt, you know, and 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:03.520 and his hood the hoodie on and everything and a 0:19:03.600 --> 0:19:07.159 do rag, you know, and you're coming into practice. I 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:10.600 remember somebody was simple. It was somebody on the team 0:19:10.640 --> 0:19:12.800 at that time was saying where you know that stuff? Alan? 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:15.560 And I was Allen and gout On is working more 0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:20.000 than somebody's caught, you know what? I mean, it's different, 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:22.880 it's a different trend, but that's expensive stuff he got 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:26.359 on there, you know, so and and Allen was letting 0:19:26.359 --> 0:19:28.560 a way not tell him what to do. I mean, 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:30.919 if I was a young feller at that time, I 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:32.879 would have liked that. You know, that was something that 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:35.320 I could I could have done. And that's precisely what 0:19:35.359 --> 0:19:38.000 a countless number of people did, not just in the 0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:42.160 Delaware Valley, but around the world. Iverson's style of play 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:44.919 made him an NBA favor. He's often referred to as 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:48.159 the toughest player pound for pound in league history. But 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:51.480 without his image, Iverson might not have ever ascended to 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:54.960 become one of the most transcendent global superstars in the 0:19:55.040 --> 0:19:58.320 history of professional sports. To have an image, you've got 0:19:58.320 --> 0:20:02.720 to have style, and I was all his own before Instagram, 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:07.080 before designer brands were even thinking about dressing these guys, 0:20:07.119 --> 0:20:11.560 before we had skinny suits. There was a NBA era 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:15.760 before with guys like Iverson, who you know, really left 0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:21.040 their mark on basketball and just style in general. Iverson's 0:20:21.080 --> 0:20:24.680 style was almost more like a movement. In an article 0:20:24.720 --> 0:20:28.520 published on the website hype Beast in twenty sixteen, Iverson 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:33.679 was described as the NBA's unapologetic streetwear hero and lauded 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:37.320 for bringing hip hop front center for basketball fans. Sports 0:20:37.359 --> 0:20:41.119 Illustrated Senior editor Jamie Lasanti, a lot of people were 0:20:41.280 --> 0:20:45.800 mimicking his style and it really became part of the culture, 0:20:45.880 --> 0:20:48.639 and it really speaks to how you know, music and 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:52.800 sports and fashion really all connect. And he of course 0:20:53.760 --> 0:20:57.560 had a personal brand of style on his own, and 0:20:57.840 --> 0:21:01.560 he was an icon on the court, and he definitely 0:21:02.040 --> 0:21:06.359 is someone that can be tagged as starting this conversation 0:21:06.400 --> 0:21:10.280 about fashion and MBA. We good. Oh, you know, I 0:21:10.320 --> 0:21:16.560 just felt like I was influencing guys that wanted to 0:21:16.600 --> 0:21:21.040 just be themselves. Nothing bad about it, no will will 0:21:21.880 --> 0:21:25.359 intentions or nothing like that. You know. It was just 0:21:25.520 --> 0:21:31.440 guys wanted to dress like they wanted to address. Iverson 0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:34.720 was the unquestionable face of streetwear. Growing up in the 0:21:34.720 --> 0:21:38.040 Hampton Roads region of Coastal Virginia, he always dreamed of 0:21:38.119 --> 0:21:40.760 having his own shoe. He got it, of course, from 0:21:40.800 --> 0:21:46.359 Rebuked for as different, unique, and refreshingly brash as Iverson's 0:21:46.359 --> 0:21:49.359 style was, it was also real and authentic and he 0:21:49.400 --> 0:21:52.800 had no intentions of changing. Not the answer, not even 0:21:52.840 --> 0:21:56.320 after then Commissioner David Stern implemented a dress code two 0:21:56.400 --> 0:21:59.600 thousand and five that came to benown as the Iverson rule. 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:01.960 I know is that the Union said it was a 0:22:02.000 --> 0:22:03.760 good thing to do. I did it, and then they 0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:07.000 attacked me on it. And the dress code was you 0:22:07.080 --> 0:22:10.159 could wear jeans, just wear a pair of shoes and 0:22:10.240 --> 0:22:13.720 a shirt with a collar. But our players went over 0:22:13.760 --> 0:22:17.440 the top. Frankly, they got these great bodies and they 0:22:17.840 --> 0:22:23.240 just began to be on Gentleman's Quarterly and Vogue and 0:22:23.320 --> 0:22:26.280 a little kinds of fancy places. And then they took 0:22:26.280 --> 0:22:28.360 it to the next level. They started designing their own 0:22:28.400 --> 0:22:31.800 fashion lines. I think it's great that moment in the NBA. 0:22:31.840 --> 0:22:35.320 It was really important because it did give the players 0:22:35.800 --> 0:22:39.480