All posts tagged: gq sports

The San Antonio Spurs Kicked Off Their Playoff Run in Matching Black Suits

The San Antonio Spurs Kicked Off Their Playoff Run in Matching Black Suits

Published by Jenni Sidey

While the suit-with-sneakers look doesn’t always work—we here at GQ are particularly against the combo at weddings—if there was ever a place to try it, I suppose it’d be before a basketball game. In any event, the threatening pregame uniforms did their job: The Spurs dusted the Blazers in a relatively painless 111-98 win, with Wemby supplying 35 points in his first taste of the playoffs. We’re choosing to believe sharpshooter Julian Champagnie’s shimmering chain, sensible handbag, and stylish loafers were more responsible for the victory than his teammates’ casual footwear. Michael Gonzales/Getty Images Rookie guard Dylan Harper, all of 20 years old, was one of the players who laced up his sneakers with the AMIN threads. In an entrance video captured by the NBA, a smirking Harper revealed that he had not put on a suit since getting drafted in June. Here’s to hoping it won’t be his last time either, as a well-tailored rig is a sight for sore eyes in the modern NBA. The only questions left are whether Olynyk, who’s made …

An Exclusive Look at Tyrese Maxey’s Signature New Balance Sneaker

An Exclusive Look at Tyrese Maxey’s Signature New Balance Sneaker

Published by Jenni Sidey

Every signature shoe has to cater to the specific needs of the signature athlete who’ll be wearing it. Aesthetics aside, what were you prioritizing in terms of performance? I’m somebody who plays extremely fast on the court. I do a lot of cuts and I move around a lot. I basically told them, “Listen, as long as I have really good grip and ankle support, I’ll be good.” I move differently than a lot of athletes, so we really honed in on making sure the shoe would support that. I’ve felt pretty good playing in the New Balance shoes they’ve had me wear in the past and I know they were monitoring how those affected my play and developed my signature shoe from there. So I really appreciated that attention to detail. It definitely helped us nail the one big performance thing I wanted to get right. If you went back ten years and told young Tyrese that New Balance would be one of the most exciting brands in sneakers and that he’d be thrilled …

It’s Time to Kill the MLB City Connect Jerseys

It’s Time to Kill the MLB City Connect Jerseys

Published by Jenni Sidey

The business of sports is bigger than ever, which means there’s plenty of room for some cuts. We can scale back on all things gambling, for starters. It’d be great for sports broadcasters to scale back the provocative hot takes and keep their focus on the gameplay. And then there’s the aesthetic issue: Pretty much every sports team has way too many jerseys now, and an overwhelming number of them are hideous. The NBA keeps pumping out City Editions every single year, spawning the obvious and inevitable problem of running out of ideas. The NFL, meanwhile, conjured up their Rivalries uniforms last season, with some stunning entries and a few brutal flops. Now, it’s MLB’s turn, as the 2026 City Connect harvest has bloomed. According to MLB, the purpose of the City Connect uniforms—aside from giving fans one more thing to blow cash on—is to reflect “the energy and pride of each club’s community, offering bold and expressive interpretations that celebrate both team history and what’s ahead for the game.” Since their launch in 2021, …

The Highs and Lows of Rory McIlroy’s Thrilling Masters Win

The Highs and Lows of Rory McIlroy’s Thrilling Masters Win

Published by Jenni Sidey

Last year, Rory McIlroy—the now just shy of 37-year-old golfer from Northern Ireland—won his first Masters championship. And last night, he did it again. Back-to-back Masters wins are rare; only three other men have defended their titles (Jack Nicklaus in 1965 and 1966, Nick Faldo in 1989 and 1990 and Tiger Woods in 2001 and 2002). The summit, held annually at the August National Golf Club in Georgia, is 90 years old; these repeats are unusual. During an interview afterwards, McIlroy told the media: “I can’t believe I waited 17 years to get one green jacket, and now I get two in a row. I can’t believe I did it again.” There were moments, though, when it looked like his second green jacket—the fairway grass-hued blazer that’s the symbolic trophy of the Masters, though victors do also get some hardware—might need to be tailored for someone else. On Thursday and Friday, McIlroy put together an impressive six-stroke lead over the field. The sweeping romanticization that tends to build in golf discourse, especially during major tournaments, …

What Do We Do About Jaden Ivey?

What Do We Do About Jaden Ivey?

Published by Jenni Sidey

Ivey after suffering the career-altering injury on January 1, 2025 Gregory Shamus/Getty Images Today, it’s easy to pinpoint that as the last uncomplicated day of Ivey’s basketball life. He missed the rest of the 2024–25 season, then suffered a knee injury as he was gearing up for his return during the preseason. His injuries kept him out of the game for nearly a year, and, understandably, he’s never looked the same on the court. In the two months before breaking his leg, he scored 20 points in a game seven times, including the one in which he was injured. In 37 games played since, he’s dropped 20 points exactly zero times. “I’m not the J.I. I used to be,” Ivey acknowledged earlier this year. “But the old J.I. is dead. I’m alive in Christ no matter what the basketball setting is.” It was a surprising, and telling, admission from an active NBA player, particularly one as young as he is. Athletes will stretch the bounds of the English language, performing stunning mental gymnastics along the …

How Koa Peat and Brayden Burries Became the Breakout Freshmen Duo of the NCAA Tournament

How Koa Peat and Brayden Burries Became the Breakout Freshmen Duo of the NCAA Tournament

Published by Jenni Sidey

The Arizona duo will join a bunch of other electric one-and-doners to make up the most exciting set of prospects in over 20 years. Headlined by BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Kansas’s Darryn Peterson, and Duke’s Cameron Boozer, many basketball observers are comparing the 2026 draft class—which could see as many as 20 freshmen selected—to the iconic classes of 1984 (Hakeem, MJ, Barkley, Stockton), 1996 (Iverson, Ray Allen, Kobe, Nash), and 2003 (LeBron, Melo, Bosh, D-Wade). Those drafts were loaded with transformational talents, but never has the NBA seen so many polished 18, 19, and 20-year-olds projected to enter the league in the same year. Most mock drafts predict Burries to be a late lottery selection while Peat is likely to be chosen in the top 20. But before they peace-out of school and devote their attention to the pros, the fabulous freshmen are looking to ace college basketball’s final exam. The duo were a big reason why (aside from their first half against Purdue) Arizona has cruised through the NCAA Tournament. The Cats have won their …

Dan Hurley Might Be the NCAA’s Most Inspiring Coach

Dan Hurley Might Be the NCAA’s Most Inspiring Coach

Published by Jenni Sidey

The Dan Hurley era at the University of Connecticut was first announced in March 2018, but it officially started with a win over Syracuse in October of that year. The underdog Huskies won a close game against their rival at Madison Square Garden and Hurley, previously at tiny Wagner College and a prep school in Newark, was aggressively pumped. The resulting video is the first time Hurley went viral for his intensity. As the buzzer sounded, one of his players gave him a chest bump so aggressive ribs could have been bruised. Hurley let out a primal scream. Then, instantly relaxed, he calmly shook the Syracuse coach’s hand in the postgame line. It was an announcement of character as much as it was the trumpeting of a big win. Connecticut, meet Dan Hurley. This is your new coach, and he’s a different kind of dude. Now in his eighth year as head coach of UConn, Dan Hurley is the same overeager maniac that he was after his first big win as Huskies coach. Immediately after …

The Best 2026 FIFA World Cup Uniforms, Ranked

The Best 2026 FIFA World Cup Uniforms, Ranked

Published by Jenni Sidey

One of my most boomer takes is that pretty much every modern sports uniform is awful. Gradient coloring, nutty patterns, neon hues galore—none of it pleases my eyes more than their traditional, classic-looking predecessors. The best uniforms in sports are the ones you never have to change, like the Celtics’ kelly greens, the Yankees’ pinstripes, or North Carolina’s white basketball jerseys. A team constantly changing its look just means it keeps coming up with bad looks. That being said, the 2026 FIFA World Cup offers a wide array of every style of uniform: the untouched classics, the new-age stunners, and the kooky but ultimately garish flops. Here, we have a definitive ranking of every country that has officially released their home and away kits via Nike, Adidas, and Puma, the main outfitters of the 2026 World Cup. Of the nations that have already qualified for the tournament, the following have yet to release their kits and/or official product shots: Cape Verde Curaçao Haiti Iran Jordan Panama South Africa Tunisia Uzbekistan However, 32 countries have already …

Honestly, Dodger Stadium’s Uniqlo Name Sponsorship Isn’t That Bad

Honestly, Dodger Stadium’s Uniqlo Name Sponsorship Isn’t That Bad

Published by Jenni Sidey

Well, it finally happened (kinda). Purity as we know it has (sorta) been sullied forever. Everything we know to be true and righteous in the world has fallen (okay, not really). On MLB Opening Day, the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers made a major announcement: After 68 pristine seasons in the sun, Dodger Stadium just received its first-ever official name change. When the Dodgers took the diamond on Thursday night for their season opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks, they did so at Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium. That’s…going to take a while to get used to. The historic move marks the first time that a brand has been part of the iconic stadium’s name. Dodger Stadium, which opened in 1962, is the third-oldest stadium in Major League Baseball, trailing only the 100-year-old cathedrals Fenway Park and Wrigley Field. The Beatles, Elton John, and Michael Jackson have all played memorable shows on the venue’s infield—a space that now partially belongs to a Japanese retailer known for its comfy, reliable basics. “Like the Dodgers, Uniqlo aims …

Why Watching March Madness Just Isn’t That Fun Anymore

Why Watching March Madness Just Isn’t That Fun Anymore

Published by Jenni Sidey

I used to regularly skip school on the first two days of March Madness. Those beguiling opening-round days, where it feels like absolutely anything can happen from the first tipoff on Thursday morning to the final buzzer on Friday night, ranked among my favorite forms of hooky. Sure, being anywhere other than chemistry class was a huge part of the appeal, but so too was the chance to watch hours upon hours of uninterrupted basketball. And as a West Coast kid, the first game of the day starting around 9 a.m. also meant the dopamine started flowing early. Maybe it’s because I’m no longer an indulgent teenager, but lately, the NCAA Tournament hasn’t seemed nearly as enticing. I still look forward to filling out a bracket every March—the more uniformed the better. It’s still fun tuning into the final minutes of a game where a university with roughly the same enrollment as my high school tries to slay a giant. But as for waddling up to the college basketball buffet and remaining there all day, …