By Mark La Monica
Thanks to my extensive contacts in the fashion industry, i.e. someone in the fashion industry has my e-mail address, I scored an invite to last night's NBA Court-Ture '07, a fashion show at the NBA Store featuring the spring line of Jared M.
He makes clothes for tall people. Ballers are tall people. Seems like a good fit.
Walt "Clyde" Frazier, Channing Frye, Jared Jeffries and David Lee of the Knicks were scheduled to attend. Kenyon Martin of the Nuggets and Antoine Wright on the Nets were also on the list of dudes to walk down the mini-runway They did.
It was a fairly weird scene inside the NBA Store as the worlds of fashion and pro hoops collided. Think the party at Shark's house in "Any Given Sunday" combined with the pool room scene in "Hitch" and that just about sums it up.
NBA folks are considered fashionable, despite David Stern's attempts to change that fashion. Fashion people aren't necessarily considered sports folk. This was wonderfully illustrated when, on several occasions, fashion media asked former NBA star Jimmy Jackson what team he plays for now. Oopsies. Jackson isn't in the league anymore.
"I tell them, 'I'm in between jobs,'" Jackson said.
After a line like that, I had to keep asking him questions. He didn't disappoint.
What did he say to the guys when he saw them before the show?
“I told them 'Don’t trip.' As basketball players, we think we can do everything," Jackson said. " But this a whole different environment when you walk down a runway. I’ve done it before. I did it with Karl Kani, a long time ago when Karl Kani was real hot.”
What if they trip? Bump their heads? Stumble? Anything
“I’m gonna watch, and I’m gonna laugh, and I’m gonna tell ‘em about it,” Jackson said.
There were no trips, falls or stumbles. Watch my little video below and you'll see.
Note: This was shot from an elevated spot above the runway using a handheld camera while stretching over the heads of four girls in front of me. The footage is raw and strung together with a special little soundtrack for you old-school fans out there.