Each team’s players have been bringing their A-game to the court and their best fashion sense to the tunnel as the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics square off in the N.B.A. finals.
The arrivals of professional basketball players have become something of a fashion display. The “tunnel walk,” where players enter an arena from below ground and make their way to the locker room, has evolved into a fashion show before games. The Warriors’ star point guard, Stephen Curry, has been using his public appearances as a platform to promote the work of emerging Black fashion designers.
Since the beginning of the year, Sherri McMullen, owner of the Oakland boutique McMullen, has been collaborating with Mr. Curry and his stylist, Sheraine Robinson. For Black History Month, Ms. McMullen was asked if she was available to style him in order to bring attention to underrepresented Black designers.
Many of Mr. Curry’s February outfits were shared on his business Instagram account, @sc30inc, where he tagged menswear brands including June79, Talley & Twine, and Spencer Badu. While Black History Month was winding down on February 28, he said in an Instagram caption for his own account that “#BHMFits doesn’t stop here.” Together with Ms. McMullen and Ms. Robinson, he would continue to seek for and highlight the work of Black designers during the postseason.
The finals are a great chance for participants to show off their own sense of flair and for designers to gain exposure. Nielsen said that there were roughly 13 million people watching Game 1 at its peak. (At its highest point, Game 2 was seen by almost 14 million spectators.)
Ms. McMullen explained why this is the case, saying, “the first look is always really important.” Los Angeles-based designer Patrick Henry (also known as “Fresh”) of the Richfresh label made a one-of-a-kind lightweight wool suit with red, green, and yellow colorblocking to honor Pan-Africanism. Nearly five million people have seen an Instagram video of the outfit provided by the NBA and Golden State.
