C.J. Toledano and Alex Wong talk all-things off-the-court, covering NBA fashion, sneakers, pressers, and league current events.
On this episode, CJ and Alex discuss NBA Draft fits with Tres Dean. Tres wrote at article for GQ on Chet Holmgren's Draft night suit fitting. They discuss how Chet and the other the draftees pulled off their looks, and which NBA fashion trends need to go right now.
Running the Break with CJ and Alex is a production of iHeart Media and the NBA.
All right, welcome to a brand new episode of Running the Break. I'm one of your house CJ Toldano joining me and my permanent co host, Alex Walling. Alex, how you doing, man, I'm good man. You know, my favorite episodes are one we have guests on because you know, we can just let the guests do all the heavy lift. No, but we do get good guests that are again Running the Break if your first time listener, we don't care about XS and O s. We don't care where Kevin Durant is going um as um, but we're focusing on some of the stories and some of the behind the scenes um that are they are happening off the court from fashion and onnot and that's this episode is gonna be another fashion episode where we're taking an inside look um into uh, you know, draft day and what goes into building a fit. And we're joined by Tracey Dean who just wrote a an awesome article for g Q where he followed along with Chet home Grin as he picked out his outfit. Uh. And we'll hear more all about that. How's it going, Trace, It's going great. I am personally very concerned with where Kevin Durant is going, So I can't really, I'm just I was trying to just put it out of my head so we can get to this interview. But let's have a great time. I wish I'd had a camera on me. I like, I can't remember what I was doing and maybe like was it was on an errand or running this morning and I pulled up my phone and saw the news in the face I made was ridiculous. Yeah yeah, but thank you guys for having me out. I'm stuck to stuck to be here. Start to talk about draft fashion, yeah for sure, Trace, Like we're obviously gonna get into you know, this article and your trip with Chet, you know before the draft, you know, before his fitting. But I thought the three of us could could just talk a little bit about just Draft Knight fashion and maybe trends or things that we saw that we liked. First of all, I just love kind of the evolution of just draft day fashion because I always think about like the late nineties or the or the early two thousands, um, and just you know, the baggy suits and just like the way that the dress code on Draft night in itself has has like evolved. Uh CJ, Like, what were your thoughts seeing this year's class of of Draft fits. I feel like it was a bit of a mixture of some styles returning um from in the past, like we were talking about uh Jalen Roses um suit with the red pinstripes and back in the day. And I feel like there were some suits that I saw this year that we're we're inching closer UM or closer back to those those big suits woud suits UM as opposed to where it was just very skinny and form fitting. But I'm not the expert on that trace. What did you think? I thought it was really solid year. UM. Draft night fashion is so interesting to me because one, you know, as Alex said, like you know of late nineties like early two thousands draft fashion with like the seven button suits and stuff, and you know, like baggy fits and pin stripes are like, I kind of might not be the right word. It's maybe like maybe more like infamous, uh, And I kind of like I have a lot of love for that era, but UM, it's been cool to watch it become Like one of the notes that my editor gave me as we were preparing for the piece was the point of reference was like a met Gala fitting suiting. It is kind of like one of the big nights in fashion for basketball. Um, So, I guess the difference between Draft Night now and like, you know, something like the met Gala is that the athletes who are getting dressed for it are like nineteen or twenty, and like I remember being nineteen or twenty, and like I kind of sort of knew how clothes worked, but I didn't totally knew how they worked. And so you get guys taking like really big swings and like some of them hit and some of them miss, and it's it's just it's very interesting. Yeah, yeah, And I think up all two, I think you guys probably remember, you know, when t J four got drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks, like, um, he was wearing this like just gigantic suit and I remember talking to him about it a few years ago and he said that, like that was the first time that he went for a fitting, Like that was the first time that he needed a suit, right, And you know, I'm sure we'll talk about this with your experience with chat as well, but I almost feel like when when you mentioned trace, like these guys being nineteen and twenty, you know, maybe it's more advanced now, I feel like, because these guys are probably getting fits off or thinking about that stuff already in college. But that's such a great point to make about Draft Knight fashion because like t J four was like, yeah, my agent just set me up with this tailor in like l A, And that was the first ever time that I went there, and I didn't know like what kind of size suit I was supposed to wear. Whereas I feel like now, like c J, if you think about it, like I think about, um, you know, Paolo Bankiro wearing um, you know, the the purple blazer with with the diamonds attached. Jeremy so Chan was like wearing like a lavender color suit. How did you come up with this outfit? I just gotta yeah. I mean it's done by Inducino. But I went in there and started looking at their colors, and I feel like I just wanted to do something that I really you know, you know, like and it's one of my favorite colors and I like to you know, stand out and feel comfortable with myself. So I feel like this was the perfect color. I love that. So you're like, this is all great, but I wanted in Lavenum, right, yeah, exactly do you work with the stylist or anything? Are you just not really just doing my own thing? You know, I I take things from people. Um, I feel like that's the way you learn. So maybe maybe there would be a stylist one day, but we'll see. The thing that stood out to me, aside from like the fit of the suits is um, just you know, the creativity and thinking outside the box and even just like experimenting with colors, you know what I mean, I totally agree, and it's um, it's like I said, it's it's interesting because these guys are at an age where I think they're getting more comfortable experimenting with you know, colors like you know, as you said that purple or lavender that might not be traditionally say, I don't think anybody would have worn those, you know, twenty years ago with draft night. Um. And but but you know, hanging out with with Chat at his fitting, there were a couple of suggestions that some of the style was through his way that felt you could tell he wasn't quite ready for One that I always think about since it happened is someone suggested like a double breasted suit and he was like, I'm probably I'm not gonna do that. Um. And I remember being nineteen or twenty and thinking double breasted suits were lame, And now I'm thirty and they rule like they're really And when he gets to a point where he's comfortable in a double in a double breasted suitis know what great? Now it's I think you also you got these kids, were like they're about to make like their real first impression. There are obviously, you know, people who follow you know, their college careers, but like this is kind of their debut, and it's always really interesting to see like how they go about making that first impression. Were were there any looks where you know, you hire a stylist because you you really you want their guidance, but you also, like you said, as a kid, you have an idea of what you want a little bit. Were there any sort of conflicts that were happening in that whole process. I don't think there were conflicts, Um what what? I'm more so saw um was so checked him in and got fitted for a couple of fits. Actually, um he I can't remember the exact events, but there's like the commissioner's lunch that all the draftees go to his actual signing suit, UM, his draft Knights suit, which is, you know, the one that I actually wrote about in the in the story, I want to say there was one more there. There were some looks thrown at him that like there were probably you know, eight or nine people involved with this between like Neeme and Marcus, Sana, g Q, some other media outlets that were covering and his agents, and there were a couple like more I would say, like mature looks thrown his way that he very clearly it's this, it's um. One of them was this really big sort of like overshirt jacket thing that tied like a kimono. Uh. It looked so good good, and everybody over the age of like five in the room was like, that's the coolest thing I've seen. And he clearly wasn't quite as into it. So it wasn't so much that he was, you know, maybe trying to make like bigger swings, but he was just less interested in UM some of the more, like I said, like the more adult looks. The thing that got him really stoked. I remember too, was that like that personal shopper pull a bunch of like casual pieces that he could just buy for not draft purposes, and he was really into like you know, like the d or it looks and stuff like that in a lot of like off white, and I'm pretty sure he left with like a pair of um, like palm angels, sweats and stuff. So that was that felt like more his speed right now. But again he's twenty years old, so that that's kind of to be expected. Yeah, I just had an inspiration, you know, just from watching past drafts, had inspiration to you know, do this, and uh, you know, when I paired up with Name and Marcus Inzania to help me, you know, make my vision a reality. This is what I came out with, what do you think the all time best draft? Extremely confident in in my suit when I put together Uh you know, I wouldn't. I wouldn't say anybody's but mine. Yeah, it's nice. It's nice to hear him spending as a rookie contract already, you know, but before drafting. But it's I think it's cool to this. I'm like cool details in your story where you know, I think there was one point where he was looking at puffer jackets and he was like raving about it because he's like from Minnesota, and he's like, I've got a bunch of puffers, but like not dr puffers. So you can already see kind of like the wheels turning in his head in terms of like he's turning pro now. And you know, obviously he's he's gonna get an upgrade on his wardrobe. And it's interesting to be hearing you talk about like the double breasted suit look versus like other things. I think at one point, um he tried on like a turtleneck under a suit and things like that, and it's like it's cool that even with like the personal stylists and like shoppers and stuff, you can see, like just from this story like Chad Holmes as an example, that these guys already are thinking about like what suits him and what doesn't instead of just like being told what to wear and just doing it right. So, like you said, it's really interesting to see him, I think, realize in real time like that he is about to have access to all of this and sort of what image he wants to project based on everything he now has access to. And yeah, the puffers were such an interesting like like he really gravitated towards those, uh, and you know it's funny. It's I was thinking in my head, you know, when we started the story, it seemed like he might go first, and in my head, I was like, I don't know if you're gonna need that in Orlando, dude, but like you know, um uh, and I mean I think now very much, we'll probably need one, okay. See it's interesting to see kids like with really unlimited resources in terms of like uh, in terms of their wardrobe realize in real time, like oh, I can really like I can put myself together however I want. I can present myself however I want. Um. I thought that was really interesting and kind of special to watch unfold. I'm backtracking a little here, but I also just remember, you know you mentioned about t J Ford like having never had a suit fitted before I asked him. I was like, have you ever had a made to measure suit? And he didn't name the brand. I think he was like, I got one maid in college. I'm sure it was probably like Indo Chino or Suit Supply or something. But the gap between that and what brand like Sanda does is like it's Titanic, like it's a It's a huge gap in quality. So this is effectively like his first like real like NBA player's suit. Yeah, well you talked about you were quote as saying like he wanted to wear his clothes rather than letting his clothes wear him. What the heck do you mean by that? Like? What what does that really mean? So? I I think that there are looks that like I'm gonna point to someone who took a really big risk last year and probably left the best fit of the draft for it. But like you look at Jalen Green's suit, like that was really bold and not everybody's going to be a to pull that off. And I think that, you know, Chet seemed to know what his comfort zone was and not really want to not want to disrupt that in any real, like you know, significant way. Um, which is just say, I think he didn't want to wear something so ostentatious that it just sort of took over, and that he didn't feel confident wearing. UM. I think he definitely had like flexing a little in mind. I talked a lot about like the jewelry he wanted to wear. UM. I think one of like the big you know, very understandably the big trends right now is sort of a showing a tie for like you know, a chain or something. For him, it was it was about you know, balancing his comfort zone with with you know, showing out the dependent that chat. I saw him sort of shout that out on a few different interviews. Was that before the suit thing was that like he wanted to find something that would sort of accommodate that or or go with that. It's tough to say he didn't have that at the thing. He definitely there were there were certain things that I think he was kind of planet coy about. Um. It's funny. I went to two suit fittings, UM, and the first one there were there were you know, some other media members there, and that was just to sort of pick out, um, the fabric and stuff and you know, figure out that the cut of the suit. And I asked him for a couple of details and there was a point where where he was like, you know, we're saving that for the big night and kind of planet coy And at one point I had to be like I'm coming back, like I'm gonna see it later, so like you can't tell me um. And Yeah, which is to say that the chain was not there, he had it in mind. I believe from the first fitting though, because I specifically remember I think it might be in the story, but he was wearing like a pretty like thin like silver chain and I remember one of the you know, one of the shoppers or something asking like like is that what you're gonna go? And he was like, no, no, no, it's gonna be a lot bigger, Like he clearly had that unlock. Yeah, that was such a trend. I think I think we're seeing too, not just on Draft day, but I think a lot of these guys are influenced but what they see um long SNBA players as well. And I know c J and I've been talking so much about eventually just diving into kind of this subculture of just like accessories, right, like jewelry watches have become such a big thing. Now, what about the necklaces? Yeah, I got these and I love pals and you know, doing something different, So I really liking you know, it's a little bit delicate, but it's also you know, stands out as well as Yeah, I love it all right. What about the necklace? Oh yeah, this is a custom little Tari piece. Remember the game system back in the days, a Torii. So I just put the little piece over in and put tar on it, trying to be creative. I love that it is creative. It's definitely creative. Thank you. Favorite part of outfits between the watch and the pin um. Yeah, the watch just more from the expensive pies the first time I want to watch ever, so kind of going through that. I think that's pretty cool. And then Santa Clair pin I gotta call out chat though, because this pending what is it? He's got some dice on it, and he explained that this is him betting on himself. I'm like, you know, you know, everybody knows here, especially me being a Raptors fan. You know, Fred Vanfleet like made the whole bet on yourself thing, like, you know, generational for everybody. But like chat Man, you you've been a top prospect for how many years? I feel like there's got to be a cut off on when you can say you're betting on yourself, like like you are like number one on all these lists, like you're almost gonna go number one overall, you you know, Like that's a good question. Are these stories being fed to them? Are these lines being fed to these these kids at all? When explaining their fits and inspirations I I don't want to speak out of here, and I have to imagine I don't even know if it's like lines being fed to them, but I think that at this point, um, this aspect of the NBA Draft has been around long enough that someone like chat has been you know, following this annual media cycle, probably since it's like thirteen years old or something, and I think he just knows what he's supposed to say. Um. I know a lot of these kids get like, you know, pretty well media trained, even you know, fernand Or the lead. But um, Alex, I didn't think the same thing. It was like, you know, this is me betting on myself. And I was like, I'm like, you don't need to put put all your chips in the middle man. I think I think you're good. I think you're good to cash you know. If anything, I do think a lot of people are betting on you tonight, Like yes, no, but listen, I just it's just a good chuckle about it. But I do respect. I do respect these guys like like putting in in the effort and understanding like how important that moment is. And then like I don't know why when it comes to draft night, I love to think about like cut offs. It's like if I know I'm not going top ten, though, I'm not trying to go that hard with my fit like personally, like like I'm not trying to be like the seventeenth pick, like the last guy in the green room with like a wild like lavender, purple, whatever outfit, and like they're just panning the cameras to me. So unless I've got to guarantee to go in the top ten me personally as a draft pick, like like I will go to suit supply and I'll just show up, I'll chill. I'm totally up a sit because if I'm going I at least want people. I at least want people to remember my seat, all right, And you guys might not even be the right people to ask this, but are there guidelines could Like I'm so surprised, Like we talked about Jalen Green earlier where he didn't wear a shirt underneath his suit, which was, like you said, extremely bold, but man, he pulled that off. Are we gonna get someone who just wears like a graphic tea with a suit over it, Like, is are there restrictions to that? Like I really want to see people push it more. Yeah, so you're saying like more maybe more of a casual vibe too, right, like taking in like a different corect. But with the suit, I have to imagine there's some sort of dress code. Um. I actually I know that there are like formal like white side black time stuff. I don't actually know them that well, which is embarrassing because I do sometimes refer g Q and I should um, But yeah, I have to. I have to imagine that something like what Jalen Green pulled off. I don't know. I would imagine that like rent it by somebody first, just to be sure. And I'm sure that was not like a Haynes cotton tea he had on, um, underneath the suit. But it's a really good question. I would be curious to know more about that for sure. Well that's great. I want to hear more about literally what's going on in that room during the fittings and one on who else is weighing in. But let's take a break and we'll hear more from Tracy and after the break. All right, we're back on running the break, We're joined by Tracey Dean, who got to follow Chet home Grin on his uh sort of suit fitting, draft, draft night, what would you call the events that you had followed him on? It was definitely a suit fitting suit fitting. Yeah, so I want to know more about literally what that whole what the room looks like, who's all waiting, because we know not just the stylist wing and are there other people like friends and family that are coming along on? What else did you see there? There's no friends and family there there were This particular one was arranged through both Zanna and Nim and Marcus UM and so there were reps from both of those brands UM and then chet had his agents with him. UM. There were no family members or anything. UM. And in terms of like what the voices in the room are doing, UM, you know Nieman, Marcus and Zanna had stylists the like you know the Zenno like made to measure manager. Was there a couple like there was a personal shopper from Neiman Marcus. They were the ones who did more of the talking in terms of guidance UM and then Chets agents were there I think to sort of if anybody ever needed to put up a guardrail or perhaps they like remember this has to you know you're gonna be awareness in front of the permissioner or something that would be there for that. I'm just curious to, like, are these players reading social media and like, you know, this is the biggest set of the life the about to enter the NBA, learn who they're playing for. But they gotta be checking their feedback on social media about their their outfits in particular. How much of that is a thought going into uh, like from the fitting to actually during the draft. That's a good question. I didn't ask Check a ton about that. I think they know, because I don't think they would be putting this much effort into it if they didn't know. Um, I know, like one of the things I mentioned the stories that Checked came in with like some really specific ideas, namely the Paisley suit that was kind of that was in the mix from the jump, um, and for him to have that in mind, I think he knows. He knows that, like Draft Knight fashions. I think there was a point and I this got cut from the story, but I asked him because last year's draft class was so was so well dressed at Draft Knight. Uh, he's you know, really close with Jalen Suggs, And I asked if he had reached out to Jalen for any like draft Knight advice. This was the first fitting and you kind of laughed at is like, I haven't I reached out to him for a lot of other advice. I haven't talked to him about that. I probably should And I was like, yeah, that would be the time to do that. Um. So yeah, I don't. I don't know how much they're tracking, you know, like the you know, best dressed you know, draft prospects articles or anything, or even the social media response, but they definitely know that people will be talking about it regardless. Yeah. And the other interesting thing in the article too is and I think maybe sometimes you know us just regular people don't think about it, is like these these NBA guys or these guys cut coming in from the draft, like they're just not normal sized people, right Like like you look at chat Homegron too, like he's seven foot tall and he's got this such like such a like skinny frame. Um. And I know you touched on it a little bit in your story traits, Like what was that like in terms of just making sure they found the right fit in terms of something that really flowed with with his with his body frame for the suit. There weren't really any issues. I think. I think everybody knew that would be a a thing that needed to be addressed in designing the suit so very well beforehand that it was sort of covered in advance. UM. I do think what it did mean is that fashion at large is sort of and it's like, you know, big pants, like drapier like you know, more flowy fits these days. And Chet has a frame where a look like that is actually gonna be really difficult to you know, style because he is his study's so skinny and he's so tall. So I think they went with They knew from the jump they were gonna have to go with it with a slimmer fit. And I guess if there was a um, if there was a line to toe, it was it was if it goes to slim, he's gonna look like a Tim Burton drawing, and uh, certainly it is like not what they wanted. I remember like the the palpable when he came out at the second fitting wearing the suit to get the adjustments made, but palpable sigh of relief where everyone was like, Okay, it looks good, Okay, Okay, thank God, not that I think there were any doubts, but like it is, it's a difficult frame to style around. And there's also like when you let a nineteen year old or twenty year old designer suit like they can describe it and it sounds great, but like you know, it might not turn out great and actuality and like it was, it was good. I remember I said to somebody I can't remember who, but I was like, Okay, cool, I'm not gonna have to like lie like it looks it looks good. C J and I have talked about this and wanted to kind of get your sense on this two trades, because I know you follow this stuff closely. It's like, you know, we talked about like these more formal looks that are being pulled off on Draft night. I think we're starting to see, um, kind of a shift from like U there is a group of NBA players who are shifting from like the casual look, you know, the vintage stuff the street where to to kind of moving not just to more you know, high fashion, but like more of a men's where and like formal look, which I find to be really interesting too. Um, just from following like fashion trends you know, in the n b a of this year and kind of looking ahead, like do you see any shifts coming, like are there trends that stand out to you that that are interesting to you? Yeah, It's it's funny you mentioned that, because I mean, there are obviously some some guys in the lead right now who I think are very much like the cutting edge of fashion, and like obviously like Russ comes to mind. Um, I know she just took like, you know, the GP best dressed NBA player and he's I'm always really really really impressed with with with his looks. Um, But it's funny. I won't I won't say who who it was because I don't know. I don't want to speak out of term. But I was talking to one of the managers at the Even Marcus, which is in Beverly Hills, so of course they get like, you know, a bunch of people of note from you know, varying fields. They mentioned that an NBA player had been in pretty recently and had started out looking at like, uh, you know, off white and you know, rude and stuff like that, and by the end they just took home a bunch of like Bruno Cucinelli because the whole like big pants Mediterranean like Lennen vibe is such a big thing, and I think he's on the younger side, um, so I think it's not really an NBA specific trend, but like that whole like talented Mr Ripley, like Lennon, Johnny Twer Polos look is like very very very in right now. I think there's a timelessness to it that means that you can structure wardrobe around it this summer and it's not necessarily going to be out of style next year. But that seems to be something that players even on the younger side, are more like gravitating towards at this point. I think older players older like they're probably like our age but also maybe interested in meaning into that. But that's also like that's a bit more like dressing your age for them, whereas someone like you know in in the twi year old age Ranger so is you know, maybe going a bit out of their comfort zone with it. Yeah, you talk about being impressed by Shay who else? And again in past episodes, Alex and I always are a who a our favorite players who are doing fashion really well. Who are some other players that you really enjoy and in their take on it all, I mean I'm like Alex super biased. Uh, but like Gary Trent Jr. Like that dude can dress. Um, I don't think I don't think it's you know, in approbates also say that he it doesn't hurt that he's just like incredibly attractive and so he just sort of looks like a you know, like cartoon of a well dressed NBA player at times. This is this is what I always say, Trace, is that these these guys have like, you know, like they work out there like some of the best athletes in the world. They've got like the best bodies in the world. This is why I always tell people, like, you know, don't try to dress like NBA players, because because they can pull off stuff that like we can't. Yeah, like Gary can you know, wear like Babe cameo shorts and like a Gucci top and look good and like and not me now like that happening for me. I mean I'd be happy to try if anybody wants to, you know, call me in for a fitting, you know, if they yeah, if they want to send it over all, get a shot like um and uh, I mean it's a really it's an easy answer, but like I actually, especially when you consider his frame, like, it's actually wild how well dressed Katie is, like both casually and when he sort of dressed up more. Uh, it's it's so like there are a lot of dudes who I think probably where really similar looks to him, like you know, hoodies and shorts, but he just he looks really good in those in a way where I I think we we if anything, don't give him enough credit for pulling those looks off as well as he does. I think it suits I think one of the things about when you think about who are best dressed, it's got to suit your personality and suit your vibe too, right, Like, I think it'd be really weird if Katie was wearing say like outfits that like say like Jordan Clarkson is is pulling off or you know when j R. Smith like it. You know that that kind of understated look not only looks good based on his body frame, but it just really it just really suits him. Absolutely. It's very much his five Yeah, all right, and real quick, we're gonna go to break. When we come back, we're gonna hear traces thoughts on other off in fashion going on around the league, not just draft stuff. I'm really intrigued to hear what he thinks is uh what we're looking at in the future. All right, and we're back on running the brake with Alex and c J still joined here with Tray s Dean as we talk about what's going on in general in the league in fashion, Are there any larger fashion no nos or trends. You're just like you want to die in the NBA that you feel like that you couldn't even handle any that you want to call. You don't even have to name names. I think we can maybe put that math together in our head if you just name some nothing immediately. Okay, you know what, I'm over ripped jeans, Like I think that's because I, like I was seventeen when those were a thing and I wore them about and it's like it's weird. People are a dressing like I dressed in high school when I was playing in like you know, pop punk bands. But but it's cool now, Yeah, it's cool. And I'm like, you can afford to dress better than this, and also like you're paying like my ripped jeans were actually just from hot topic and they got ripped because I was like jumping around on stages and stuff, and what you get seven hundred dollars for those like I still have some. I could have just sent them to you, Like moneys, weren't something better, guys, I think I think George's are are are gonna become a thing if it's not already a thing. I feel like someone in the NBA is, especially the younger guys, are usual suspects. I think one of these guys is gonna make George to think it's already happening. Yeah. See, that's what I'm saying. It's gonna infiltrate the NBA. I'm telling you it's happening. I'm not gonna enjoy it when it does, but I will. I'll take any break I can get from from the ripped skinny jeans. Look. Yeah, I feel like George happening would be an exact example of what you guys are saying, where these are just incredibly attractive men who can pull off anything because no exact Georgs come on, that's insane. But yeah, like you said, you put them on Gary Trent and you're like, George are back. Yeah, Like it's like no, Like I've seen photos of like Sergey Baka, I think he was a fashion Week recently, and like he's pulling off different different looks, right, He's wearing quilts and like things like that. And it's like I'm just like thinking about these guys like if they if they want to wear George, all the power to them, man, But I think one of the things too, And like, I know, c J. You're big on sneakers, um trace you as well me. And it's like, I feel like we used to put a lot of attention on sneakers when it came to like tunnel fits, and it became kind of this like really singular thing in terms of like sneaker culture, Whereas I feel like we're moving away from that now. Like sneakers will always be a thing when these guys are debuting like signature shoes or obviously when guys like p J. Tucker even like you mentioned trades, like Kyrie's got a great dunk collection, um Like, but I feel like now we're paying attention to other things now, like accessories, you know, jewelry, watches or even like vintage stuff We've talked about. That's another trend that I kind of see in terms of just like we're moving away from that like model culture of just like focusing on these guys and they're sneakers. Yeah, I think that is part of a larger sort of like zac guy shift where fashion as a whole is being prioritized more than necessarily sneakers in an NBA specific sense. And maybe this is just like me being like a little bit bitter, like a little bit bitter about all the l's I've taken on the sneakers app but like there's an extent to which like why should I be impressed that Lebron has like the d or Jordans ones, Like, of course Lebron has the d or Jordan once. So much of the fun of sneaker culture is like the whole like where'd you get those? Moment? And I'm like, well, like I know where Kyrie got those? Um, that's that's not correct again, Kyrie's question is actually like really impressive. I think that's why, like p J. Tucker is one of the only ones who can still impress because one he actually plays in them, which is cool. Uh, And to like there was that story in g Q awhile back where he got like a pair of pe Jordan's sevens or something that Mellow did for one of his basketball camps, and Mellow played against him, he was like, how did you get those? Like and one of the kids sell them to like he had no idea, and so yeah, in a more specific sense, it's that like it's not impressive that an NBA player has an expensive pair of shoes, like, of course they do. But and I will say also just like as a you know, side note, like it is very interesting when you look at how many athletes are restricted by sneaker contracts and stuff. I don't know for for the longest time, like you know, I think Nike wasn't really still pretty much is like you know, at the the front of the line in terms of hype shoes. But New Balance is having like such a moment right now, and the shoes that I think impress a lot of people who are like hit the sneakers, like you know, the joke resh goods, New Balances and stuff. A lot of players can't wear those in the tunnel because they are not signed a New Balance like Adidas and Nike still so much have like the monopoly on on the league. Maybe that plays into it a little bit, but that's also just me sort of like broadly speculating, Well, have you guys noticed this? I always talked about this with my sneaker head friends of like, you know, you get these young kids who, um, you have to be like a huge, huge star. I feel like, just to straight out, the Gate signed with Nike, right, and so you see these kids are playing in high school and college and they were obviously wearing Nikes and Jordan's and then they signed with Adidas and so all of all of a sudden, they're wearing these like other brand version of dunks where it's like Babes does or it's like the Adidas whatever the dunk. And I'm just like, it so obvious, and I'm like, have you guys noticed that or have any thoughts on that? Yeah? No, I think I think overall too, I think Trays made a good point in terms of just like the overall shift. I think there's probably just some kind of fatigue too of you know, the sneaker culture. And I think Trey's talking about how like a lot of us, you know, when we go for sneakers, it's really hard to get some of these who's are covetedt now like plays a huge part in that. And yeah, no, I think like I think about someone like Steph who's obviously got the under armour deal, and I think during the finals, like he was coming in and like designers shoes because like you're not gonna come in in a pair of under armours, um, and also like you're you're obviously because of he's binded by the contract like you mentioned, like I'm sure he would die to pull off like a pair of Nikes or one of these new balances, but obviously he can't. Like Andrew Wiggins is a sneaker deal I think with one of the Chinese shoe guys manufacturers, and he had to he wore Kobe's I think during the finals, and he had to take the right Yeah, they had that giant black tape over the sewish So like, yeah, no, I am noticing those things c J and and and it's really interesting. And that's why, like we talked about like guys shifting towards men's whear like loafers and like more dressing styles coming back. I think that goes hand in hand, and I think we are going to see more of that next season. I think the sneaker fatigue. Element of it too, is like that culture hits such a peak during the pandemic, or during the first year of the pandemic, I should say um uh, which is not over uh. And it was that sort of like perfect like nextus point of of like the last dance, and the culture had already been growing so much and becoming so much more accessible and not a lot of people did not, but a lot of other people just you know, had excess income all of a sudden, and it allowed that market to grow. And on one hand, or not in that moment anymore, and on the other hand, like, I think it's the same, uh, it's the same mentality behind why I lay one of the first things I did when the world started to open back up more in terms of you know, shopping, I actually I bought a suit for the first time in a really long time because I was like, I'm gonna be going out my best friends getting married. I like, you know, I need a suit. I think it's the idea of like I'm tired of you know, wearing fear of God's sweats and sneakers all the time. I'm kind of ready to start dressing a little bit, you know more formal and stuff. So I have like a gift card to even just first, I have a gift hard to uh matches right now. And I you know, two years ago would have just been looking at like like Adida's collapse on there, and now I'm looking at like about loafers and stuff. Maybe we're also just getting older. I don't know. I think it's I think, but I do think like the trend of like you know, a lot of us being stuck like wearing just like very casual clothes like for the last couple of years, like you know, getting a suit, getting a nice pair of loafers, getting dressed up like honestly, like, I think it's as simple as just like you want to just feel like normal again, or you just want to like have something to look forward to that's very different from from like the last couple of years. Um Man, we could we could go on about this forever, man, c J. You got anything else for for Trace before you let them go? No? I mean yeah, I We'll see what happens with um. You know, I feel like the old generation and of like the Lebrons and whatnot are sort of phasing out and and these new guys with their fashion. So I'm really excited again, Like I'm a Jalen Green super fan, and I think it's mostly because of his fashion and not his play right now, Um, so I love that he came up a bunch and and yeah, I'm excited to see what some of these guys continue to pull off. I would I would just be remiss and I can correct myself on a podcast that Alex sost Surge is absolutely one of the best dress players in the league, and I regret not saying that more immediately. No, No, definitely so Surge. I think it just goes without saying. But Trace, let let the people know where they can find you on social and where they can find your work and everything. You can find my work on g Q s by dot com, a bunch of other websites if you like movies that right about movies for Vulture a lot, uh, and then you can find I don't know, like my pictures of stuff I wear and my thoughts on The Raptors or whatever movie I just watched at at Trace at t r e s and then writes stuff all one word any social media platform. Awesome. Thanks Trace, No, thank you guys for having me this fun so go and follow and re trace. Thanks again for listening to Running The Break with Alex and c J. Shout out as always to our producers Peter, Grace and Kurt for all of their help behind the scenes. Please, guys go and subscribe and rate and review the podcast. It really helps. We'll talk to you guys soon.