It’s Gotta Be the Clothes: Linking James Harden’s Wild Tunnel Outfits to His Stellar Play

Basketball fans are familiar with Hoodie Melo. They’ve heard of Untucked Kyrie. But in recent weeks, it seems like a new unbeatable force has entered the NBA world, Wild Outfit James Harden. 

Whether you are a sports fan that has been tapped in with the NBA Playoffs or not, chances are you have seen one of Harden’s crazy ensembles while scrolling through your timeline over the past few days. There were his Cookie Monster pants by Marni on May 1. Ahead of Sunday’s game, he opted for something a little more tame (in comparison to the first outfit) and showed up to the Wells Fargo Center in some Rick Owens black capri shorts and a furry black bucket hat made by Aaron Babylon’s A Universe that’s inscribed with “WAR”.

Seeing some outlandish outfits in the NBA pregame tunnel isn’t a new phenomenon. Harden has been doing it for years. But (superstitious?) Sixers fans have picked up on something. When Harden shows up in one of these unconventional fits, he has an elite game. These two outfits resulted in 45 and 42-point performances, respectively, that each led to a Sixers victory. 

As a Sixers fan myself, I wanted to explore the possibility that Harden's questionable tunnel fits may actually be giving him some type of NBA Street Gamebreaker-like boost on the basketball court. Check out some craziest outfits from this past season, and what results they led to for the Sixers, below.

Opponent: Boston Celtics

Result: Win

Stats: 45 points, 6 assists, 1 rebound

Wild Fit Rating: 4.5 out of 5 beards

The tunnel fit that started this discourse. Harden showed up to the TD Garden for game 1 of the Sixers’ second round playoff series with the Boston Celtics in a custom jacket and pants by Marni. The paneled zip-up featured leather paneling like a black circle on the chest and yellow and blue stripes on the right sleeve. The remainder was made of blue fur to compliment the ultra baggy pants that some compared to JNCOs, the trendy denim from the late ‘90s and early 2000s. The fuzzy blue material also reminded people of Cookie Monster from Sesame Street. Quite frankly, the outfit is ridiculous, but it definitely makes you pay attention. According to Harden’s Twitter, he decided to rock the ensemble because he was too busy to make it to the Met Gala. But the most important thing here is that it resulted in a statement win for the Sixers who were forced to play game 1 without the help of injured MVP Joel Embiid. Harden exploded for 45 points, tying his playoff career high, in the 119-115 victory. Maybe all that fur was perfect for keeping his shooting arm warm?

Opponent: Boston Celtics

Result: Win

Stats: 42 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds

Wild Fit Rating: 3.5 out of 5 beards

After two embarrassing losses, coincidentally coupled with two much more pedestrian pregame outfits from Harden (a Louis Vuitton bomber jacket and jeans for game 2 and olive green leather set from Rick Owens for game 3), the Sixers needed to bounce back in game 4. Thankfully, Harden pulled up to the arena in some questionable threads. He paired a pair of black capri-length pants (please don’t try to pull of capris this summer) with the internet-favorite Ramones sneakers, and a white leather Fogpocket shirt, all courtesy of Rick Owens. He decided to send a message to the Celtics with his headwear, a black faux fur bucket hat from Aaron Babylon’s A Universe that featured a chenille patch spelling out “WAR” in purple letters across the front. Was this one as unconventional as his game 1 choice? No. But it’s still not exactly something you’d see put together on the street everyday. Harden finished the game with 42 points, including a game-winning three pointer in overtime to secure the 116-115 victory, to add to the lore of “Wild Outfit James Harden.”

Opponent: New York Knicks

Result: Win

Stats: 29 points, 13 assists, 4 rebounds

Wild Fit Rating: 5 out of 5 beards

We decided to take a look back at some of Harden’s ensembles before this Celtics series to really test this theory. If you thought that the furry blue fit was Harden’s craziest, you must have forgotten about the fit he wore on Christmas to Madison Square Garden earlier this season. Surprise, this one was also courtesy of Marni. He pulled up looking like a Starburst candy cane (or a citizen of Whoville depending on what holiday reference you prefer) in a multicolored shearling jacket and matching mules. He finished the look with leather Marni pants, a pink ski mask from the Italian designer, and $42,500 Louis Vuitton Keepall covered in a bouquet of leather flowers from the Virgil Abloh’s Fall/Winter 2022 collection. Harden completed the quick road trip up I-95 with a 29 point, 13 assist double double that gave Sixers fans an extra gift to celebrate on Christmas.

Opponent: Brooklyn Nets

Result: Win

Stats: 21 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds

Wild Fit Rating: 4 out of 5 beards

Harden showed up to this first round playoff matchup with his former team, the Brooklyn Nets, looking like an extra out of the Matrix series. He styled a purple trench coat with a blue satin lining from Acne Studios with a pair of purple fringed leather Mokoo pants that the late pro wrestling legend “Macho Man” Randy Savage would be proud of. Keeping with the tonal theme, he laced up some purple Louis Vuitton Trainers. For as crazy as this outfit was, Harden’s game was relatively calm by his standards. But the Sixers did secure a win, which is most important. 

Opponent: Washington Wizards

Result: Win

Stats: 23 points, 17 assists, 7 rebounds

Wild Fit Rating: 3 out of 5 beards

This isn’t the average Nike Tech set you will see players around the NBA wear to games when they want to just keep things comfortable. For this road trip to Washington DC, Harden decided to stay cozy with a matching cashmere set from The Elder Statesman. The colorful striped set was paired with some yellow Bottega Veneta Puddle Boots. Yes, the Sixers won. Harden’s scoring was on par with his season average of 21, but he added on a monstrous 17 assists to help propel his squad to another victory.

Opponent: Washington Wizards

Result: Loss

Stats: 24 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds

Wild Fit Rating: 4 out of 5 beards

Ok, so Harden wearing some garish pieces in the pregame tunnel isn’t a foolproof way to predict a Sixers win after all. This Nov. 2 matchup with the Washington Wizards was one such instance. This outfit feels like Harden didn’t look at the weather forecast before leaving his house. Up top, he’s rocking a bubble vest over top of a black turtleneck from Bottega Veneta. Seems appropriate for a November night, right? Well, he paired it with some cream Bottega shorts. It was in the high 50s in Philadelphia on this particular night, so maybe we’ll give him a pass. But then for the footwear he goes right back to winter gear with some Rick Owens Gethsemane Lunar Boots. 

We’re going to call this one an outlier in the data. Two 40+ games and five wins in a six-outfit sample is too much to ignore. Our conclusion, the wilder Harden’s pregame look is, the more confident you can be in a stellar performance and a Sixers win.