He’s one of my all time favorites and I love finding out random facts like this. When Patrick Ewing was at Georgetown, he made wearing a t-shirt under his game uniform popular. Ever wonder why he did that?! Was it to make a fashion statement?! Hit the jump for the answer…
Via RealGM:
“I wasn’t the originator, I was just the one who made it popular,” Ewing said with a smile. “There’s a lot of people who have done it before me but the difference is in my era, that’s when TV really got big. We were always on TV. The reason why I wore it was we started playing in these big arenas and it was always cold, especially when you have the ice down [for hockey games]. I was always complaining I was cold. I started wearing one and it became a fashion statement.”
Ewing asked the NBA to allow him to wear a t-shirt under his uniform with the New York Knicks, but the request was denied.
Chris Paul and Brandan Wright are among NBA players that now wear undergarments under their jerseys.
“The funny thing is when I got to the league they told me I couldn’t do it and now they let everybody do it,” Ewing said. “It’s crazy and times have changed. And the women [T-shirt] jerseys that guys wear now, it’s changed.”
