Tyler Kolek is a sturdy 25-year-old backup who tends to get playing time when the Knicks are either up by a lot or down by even more. Kolek is also an unlikely contender for the most stylish man in the NBA. βHe has a floppy finance-guy haircut and is perhaps best known by the casual fan for entering barbecue chicken into the basketball-slang lexicon. And yet the former Marquette star has outdressed just about everyone else in the NBA during his squadβs playoffs run,β writes Samuel Hine.
Basketball players have embraced the fashion world ever since the NBA relaxed its pregame business-casual wardrobe in 2020, but itβs a relatively new development for Kolek. Where last year he tended to wear standard-issue Kith and AimΓ© Leon Dore, now he looks like an off-duty Patrick Bateman with a house account at Lara Koleji, the Lower East Side vintage designer boutique. And he really does shop there. βRight before the Finals, we went to Lara Kolejiβs showroom and picked out a bunch of runway pieces from back in the day,β says Olivier Rogers, a designer and stylist who has been working with Kolek to rebuild his wardrobe. βI was like, βThis is your moment.β The NBA Finals is like the NBA playersβ Met Gala.β
Kolek and Rogers have planned out seven outfits in case the series goes the distance. Kolek declined to share which one he would wear to the trophy matchup, but he feels ready. βObviously, if itβs a closeout game, you got to come with something that will close them out,β he says.
Read more about the Knicks fan-favoriteβs Finals fashion:
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