By now, the Supreme clothing brand is practically synonymous with streetwear culture, and famous athletes haven’t been exempt to the hype. When Supreme partnered with Nike and the NBA for a line of performance gear, NBA players such as Cleveland’s J.R. Smith and Washington’s Kelly Oubre took to the court repping branded shooting sleeves.
This summer, Smith took his love for Supreme to a new level, getting the brand’s iconic font logo tattooed to his calf. And now, as he shares, he risks punishment from the NBA.
Citing a league rule that prohibits commercial logos from being displayed on a player’s body, the NBA will fine Smith by the game if he doesn’t cover the Supreme tattoo.
While certainly this is something defined in the league’s rulebook, the decision to punish for 1) a tattoo of 2) a highly popular streetwear brand, particularly among the NBA’s core demographic, and 3) one that is also a past business partner of the NBA itself, seems to be at least a little out of touch, so maybe Smith will advocate for Supreme.
After the NBA banned its Supreme shooting sleeves from actually being worn in game last season, Oubre voiced similar displeasure against the decision.
Should the NBA lean into popular streetwear culture and officially open the floodgates for crossover? At BarDown, we’ve also come up with concepts for a Supreme-branded hockey jersey. Would you want to see your favorite team hit the ice in these?
