It takes a lot to get Steven Adams into a suit.
But Chris Paul gifting his Thunder teammates with custom-tailored Frere suits is a special occasion.
As part of a coordinated team plan to wear the new suits ahead of Oklahoma City’s game on Wednesday night, Adams donned the new threads, pairing his navy three-piece suit with a cobalt tie, crisp white button-down, and chestnut-colored loafers. He pulled the look together with a herringbone cap.
While his teammates’ game day fashion choices leave the player’s walk-in looking more like a catwalk, Adams is usually seen in sweats and sandals. His preferred choice of headwear, a fuzzy camo-print hunter’s hat with earflaps.
Adams looked dapper, there’s no doubt about it. But had it not been the entire team donning the new duds, Adams told Royce Young of ESPN he wouldn’t have worn the suit.
“He (Chris Paul) was like, ‘Wear it to the game, it’s a team thing,'” Adams said. “I was like, ‘Ah (expletive), I have to wear it.’ I was just gonna hang it up.”
But when Paul calls and says, “wear the suit”, you wear the suit.
The last time that Adams can remember wearing a suit was to Russell Westbrook’s Oklahoma Hall of Fame event… in 2016.
“I didn’t realize how much time it takes to put on all that (expletive),” he said. “It’s a lot longer than I take normally. I didn’t account for it. I was just like, ‘Eh, (expletive) this, mate.'”
“A lot of buttons, a lot of weird little things,” he said. “It’s a three-piece suit, which means more buttons. … But it’s all pre-made Italian stuff.”
In fact, he told Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman, that he needed help putting together the finished look.
“I didn’t even know what I looked like, mate,” Adams said. “I didn’t look in the mirror, had to get the valet dudes to kind of clean me up a bit. My collar was off and everything.”
Just because he showed out for “Suit Night”, don’t expect the look to become a staple in Adams’ wardrobe. When asked when the next time he’ll show up in a suit would be, in typical fashion, Adams answered, “my funeral, mate”.
