Dwyane Wade reviews the infamous suits from his legendary 2003 draft night: 'We got enough fabric on these suits to clothe the entire country'
- The 2003 NBA Draft is legendary for the talent it produced and their bad suits on draft night.
- Dwyane Wade, who was part of the 2003 draft, joked to Business Insider, "We got enough fabric on these suits to clothe the entire country."
- Wade said that 2003 was a "baggy era" and that many players were wearing what was fashionable, including himself.
- Wade said that the current look of tight, cropped suits will one day be laughed at and that baggy will come back around, because fashion is cyclical.
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The 2003 NBA Draft is legendary for both the players taken, and for their sartorial choices.
Considered one of the best draft classes in NBA history, the 2003 draft welcomed LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, and many more into the league. In the years since, the class has become just as known for the baggy, boxy suits that many of the prospects wore on draft night.
While speaking to Business Insider ahead of the release of his new documentary with ESPN, "Life Unexpected," Wade said that on draft night in 2003, he and his fellow draftmates "did not represent fashion and style."
"We got enough fabric on these suits to clothe the entire country," Wade said while looking at a photo of 14 of the draft prospects on stage.
Wade wore a dark blue suit, with a blue shirt and blue tie - a simple, albeit baggy, look he thought would age well.
"It's funny when I look back at it and I thought I was, like, doing the right thing. I was like, 'I'm not going to go loud.' I went with a dark blue, navy blue suit. I'm like, 'In 20 years they're not going to, they can't talk about me because I ain't did nothing crazy.' And they still found a way to talk about me because I did look like a deacon."
Wade was hardly alone. James wore an all-white suit that was nearly as baggy as Wade's. Anthony wore a grey suit with at least six buttons on the jacket, with only the top one buttoned. Nearly every players' pants touched the floor.
"This is just the era that we was in," Wade said. "We was in a baggy era. I'm talking about pants-on-the-ground era, you know, where they're dragging."
Fashion has certainly changed since 2003. The suits seen on draft nights today are much tighter and much shorter. Many draft prospects go on stage with a sock-less look. In 2018, Trae Young wore something closer to capris.
To Wade, these looks will age poorly, too.
"Definitely. That's what we do. We look back and we laugh at ourselves ... The crop, the capris, and all that is going to be laughed about. But then it'll come right back and be a thing again."
Wade even suggested that in the not-too-distant future, the 2003 draft class could be stylish."
"In fashion, it all comes back, you know," Wade said. "So that fashion that we had is coming back now. They bringing baggy back."
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