NBA Summer League is a never-ending fashion show of weird jerseys

There are many unique quirks at the Las Vegas NBA Summer League, a paradise for intimacy, job hunting, fringe pro talent, mingling and, of course, the jerseys. It’s an event for basketball junkies who are eager to flash their bona fide credentials with original uniforms from days gone by. You can’t take two steps in the concourse between Cox Pavilion and Thomas and Mack Center without spotting an attendee in a jersey you previously forgot existed.

We asked a number of fans to share the stories behind the eclectic uniforms they donned to take in the Summer League action. Here are just a few:

Milo Berger is a 76ers fan, but when he saw this jersey on a website that specializes in throwbacks, he had to have it. It reminded him of his first basketball experience. “I’m 43, so that was my golden era of basketball, just seeing him in the early years of ESPN, seeing him in the Monday or Tuesday games, going to the Dean Dome,” he said. Later, he added: “When it comes to stuff like this, you see the jerseys and can recognize which ones are my age.”

Chris Jones is a glutton for punishment that regularly re-watches his favorite teams’ biggest failures. So when he was checking out a tape of the Blazers’ 2000 playoff collapse to the Lakers, he was inspired to honor that team. One trip to eBay and he had a uniform of who he called one of the most underrated Blazers ever. “I take pride in watching the pain over and over again,” he said. “You have to remember those bad memories before you do win the championship.”

You can find prized possessions in the strangest of places. Adam Scroggins noticed this classic Jeff Hornacek uniform at a garage sale and had to have it. “I like him because he’s the Knicks coach now, and I remember he once played on my Utah Jazz,” he said.

Mark Burns sported a 1992 Dream Team Jordan jersey on the second day of Summer League, but he could have done even better. “I got the original also,” he said. “This is a replica.”

Jason Prased was too young appreciate the Grizzlies while growing up in Vancouver, but once the league re-issued the classic powder blue uniforms a couple years ago, he had to take advantage, even if he’s now a Lakers fan. “Bibby and [Bryant] Reeves are the only ones you can find right now since they reissued them, and Reeves left a bad taste in our mouth,” Prased said. “You do feel like a large part of the reason they left was because of him.”

Joe Bauer is a big Suns fan that’s worn this jersey since 1999, but had a specific purpose in donning it at Summer League. “I think he’s actually here,” Bauer said of the former Nuggets executive. “I haven’t met him yet, but it’d be awesome to actually meet him.” No word if he did.

Thom Powell has a dastardly objective in wearing a Rodney Stuckey uniform to Summer League. “If anyone saw it from the front, they’d think, ‘Oh, it’s a Ben Wallace jersey. Or, even like it’s a rookie Stanley Johnson jersey or something,” he said. “And then you turn around and it’s just me wearing a Rodney Stuckey jersey.”

It could have been weirder: Powell’s other two finalists when choosing a jersey to purchase in 2010 were Jonas Jerebko and Austin Daye.

Eric Broderick sported this classic Eddie Jones family hand-me-down to pay homage to a lost era of Lakers basketball. “He played during that time when they had that drought, so I think that was the guy they turned to,” he said. “Once Kobe came into the league, that’s when he sort of fell.”

Jon Scheyer is a Duke assistant coach and very much not at Summer League, but lifelong Duke fan Mark Leone had to wear his jersey as a stand-in to support the other Blue Devils. “It’s the only Duke jersey I have, and there’s Quinn Cook here, Tyus Jones, Brandon Ingram. I’m a fan of all of them. Anybody Duke.”

Armando Vargas needed to do something to separate himself from the millions of Lakers fans wearing Kobe Bryant jerseys. First, he tried the blue Kobe No. 8, but it wasn’t unique enough. So, he went online and found his high school jersey in home and away. “They had like the last couple left,” he said. “I went out to LA a couple times to have Kobe sign it at a Laker game, but didn’t find him.”

Travis Tanaka wore this Christmas present proudly to make sure everyone knows he’s a bona fide fan. “I do have a [Stephen] Curry one, but once Curry started being a big name, I didn’t really want to share his jersey with the rest of the world,” he said. “I wanted to pay homage to the old school, and in a way, it kind of tells the fans that I’m not just a one-superstar fan. I’m a team fan. I’m not a bandwagoner.”

Daniel Erwin is a jersey collector that roots for the Celtics, but loves vintage Clippers looks for some reason. “I have like 25 jerseys, and they’re all older, like the 2000s. I’ve got Elton Brand. I’ve got lots of Clippers.” Though he usually supports his adopted team when coming to Summer League, he chose to wear Lamar Odom’s jersey for the third time.

How’s this for serendipity: Chris Wagner found this long-lost 76ers uniform design in the airport in Philadelphia on his way to Vegas, and had to have it. “I told my cousin I was coming out here for work, and he said it’d be cool if you got a Moses Malone jersey. I wanted an Iverson one, but I saw this one and I can’t go back now. I have enough Iverson stuff, though.”

For Colin McGaughri, who isn’t a Raptors fan, the decision to impulse buy one of the old classics was simple: “It’s got the Raptor, man,” he laughed. “That big-ass Raptor!”