Today's Ridiculous Postgame Press Conference Outfits: How Did We Get Here?

In recent days, the entertainment that the NBA has provided has extended beyond just the play on the court and ventured into the halls of the postgame press conferences, thanks to the ridiculous outfits that players are putting on. 

How did we get there? 

Russell Westbrook might be the biggest culprit of the ridiculous outfit, but now everyone is involved. Dwyane Wade rocks pick pants. LeBron James' glasses don't have lenses. 

Nick Young is just on an entirely new level. 

Let's take a look back at the last 25 years and figure out how we got to this point. 

Ridiculous Jerseys

We're going to begin our tour through the fashions of the NBA's last 25 years by revisiting one of the ugliest, yet coolest, jerseys in the history of this league. 

I have no idea who thought it was a good idea to put pixelated mountains against a backdrop of a perfectly horizontal rainbow, but the sheer ugliness of the jersey made it popular. 

Alex English's iconic Denver Nuggets throwback jersey from the late 1980s remains one of my favorite jerseys of all time, and I have to believe that it was part of the inspiration for later jerseys like the dinosaur-in-the-front Toronto Raptors ones. 

Amazingly enough, the design is relatively sane compared to some of the things you're about to see. 

Larry Johnson in 1991

Larry Johnson took advantage of the fact that he was going to be the No. 1 pick of the 1991 NBA draft and decided to dress in such a way that he would blind all of the other members of his draft class once he got on stage. 

Seriously, how can you possibly describe the swirls on this shirt? It's utterly hypnotizing. 

I think I spent about 10 minutes just staring at it before remembering stories about my childhood that I'd tried to forget. 

If current NBA players are using Grandmama as a fashion role model...

Dennis Rodman

Dennis Rodman is crazy enough that I once used a "Worm Scale" to rank the 15 wildest players in NBA history. 

Part of what made the original Worm so wild was his outlandish hairstyles and crazy outfits. You never knew if Rodman was going to show up with rainbow hair, solid hair of a striking color or some mixture of the two. 

You never knew when he was going to show up dressed like a bride. 

With Rodman, you never knew anything. 

Jalen Rose in 1994

Jalen Rose is still on the Dennis Rodman side of the crazy-dressed spectrum but in an entirely different way. 

When he showed up to the 1994 NBA draft, he did so wearing an outfit that may very well be the worst draft-day suit in NBA history. Not even Joakim Noah can touch this one. 

The red pinstriped suit isn't even the worst part of this outfit. The tie is. 

I'm completely convinced that Rose had an extra oriental rug lying around on his floor, forgot to buy a tie and decided to cut himself one out of that rug. 

Isn't that the only explanation? 

Craig Sager

Let's just ask Shaq what he thinks (No. 8 in the video). 

For a second opinion, let's turn to Kevin Garnett. 

And just for fun, here's KG one more time. 

Early 2000s Press Conferences

Skipping ahead to the early 2000s, I'm convinced that Allen Iverson is the true predecessor for the current fad of crazy press conference ideas. 

With the sideways hats, du-rags and t-shirts, The Answer was ushering in an era of fashion that David Stern just didn't want to see. The stereotype that prevailed was the "gangster" vibe, and Stern didn't want that image associated with the league. 

As the demographic of the league shifted, so too did the fashion, for better or for worse. 

Suits Take over

To counter the new hip-hop look, David Stern instituted a new dress code for NBA players. The following is taken from an ESPN article from 2005, written by Darren Rovell: 

"In a memo issued Monday, the NBA set forth a "minimum" dress code starting with the 2005-2006 season. The following highlights are excerpted from the memo:

1. General Policy: Business Casual 
Players are required to wear Business Casual attire whenever they are engaged in team or league business. "Business Casual" attire means:
•  A long or short-sleeved dress shirt (collared or turtleneck), and/or a sweater.
•  Dress slacks, khaki pants, or dress jeans. 
•  Appropriate shoes and socks, including dress shoes, dress boots, or other presentable shoes, but not including sneakers, sandals, flip-flops, or work boots.

2. Exceptions to Business Casual
There are the following exceptions to the general policy of Business Casual attire:
a. Players In Attendance At Games But Not In Uniform
Players who are in attendance at games but not in uniform are required to wear the following additional items when seated on the bench or in the stands during the game:
•  Sport Coat.
•  Dress shoes or boots, and socks.

3. Excluded Items 
The following is a list of items that players are not allowed to wear while on team or league business:
•  Sleeveless shirts.
•  Shorts.
•  T-shirts, jerseys, or sports apparel (unless appropriate for the event (e.g., a basketball clinic), team-identified, and approved by the team).
• Headgear of any kind while a player is sitting on the bench or in the stands at a game, during media interviews, or during a team or league event or appearance (unless appropriate for the event or appearance, team-identified, and approved by the team).
• Chains, pendants, or medallions worn over the player's clothes.
• Sunglasses while indoors.
• Headphones (other than on the team bus or plane, or in the team locker room).

"

The result of the dress code was the suit movement, led by fashion-conscious players like Dwyane Wade. For the first time in a while, everyone tried to look like businessmen, even though they might have agreed with The Wire's Avon Barksdale (more on this when we get to the next slide). 

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Tattoos

For those of you who haven't seen The Wire, this slide is going to contain some spoilers. 

After Avon Barksdale gets out of jail, he finds that Stringer Bell, his right-hand man, has changed business strategies. While Avon was behind bars, Stringer turned the drug trade into a business, wearing a suit and tie and dealing with other gangsters instead of just taking corners with the muscle employed by the drug organization. 

This, Avon realizes, isn't who he is. He isn't a "suit and tie wearing businessman," but rather, "just a gangsta.". You can view the full clip here, but be advised that it contains graphic language. 

Once David Stern implemented his new dress code, a lot of the players in the NBA had an Avon-like realization and realized that even if they had to wear suits and ties, it wasn't who they were. 

As a result, players started to express themselves via tattoos. You can view the results when you turn on any NBA game. 

Recent Press Conferences

Now that a lot of NBA bodies are fully covered in ink, players have to find yet another way to express themselves. 

Enter the ridiculous press conference outfits we've been seeing lately from Russell Westbrook, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant, Nick Young and so many others. 

It seems as though the lens-less glasses and crazy shirts are in. 

Who knows where we'll go from here?