On Tuesday night, the Houston Rockets played the Oklahoma City Thunder in an NBA preseason game. The matchup would have been as irrelevant as every other exhibition except that it was our first time seeing Chris Paul in a Houston uniform and Carmelo Anthony and Paul George in OKC digs.
All around, it just did not look right.
We deal with this every time a star player (in any sport) switches teams. After years of seeing a guy wearing the same colors, with the same logo and the same color headband, it just feels weird when he pops up elsewhere in a different uniform. Carmelo in Thunder get-up genuinely looked like what you get when you trade players in 2K to teams they don’t belong on.
.@carmeloanthony in his preseason Thunder debut.
-20 mins
-7/13 for 19pts
-3/5 from 3 pic.twitter.com/tVhhFwD3vf— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 4, 2017
Here’s Chris Paul making plays in a different shade of red than we’re used to seeing him in.
11 PTS. 7 AST…W.
Chris Paul shines in @HoustonRockets #NBAPreseason debut! pic.twitter.com/9aFIB9Zna7
— NBA (@NBA) October 4, 2017
And Paul George, playing his first NBA game not wearing Indiana Pacers colors.
Paul George all the way to the rim for his first @okcthunder points!#NBAPreseason on @NBATV! pic.twitter.com/GdypOX9lgF
— NBA (@NBA) October 4, 2017
Anyway, it turns out all three of them can still ball, even if their uniforms look out of place while they’re doing it. With Russell Westbrook out, Carmelo led OKC with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, while George added 15 points, five rebounds and two assists. On the other side, Paul put up 11 points on only five shots while dishing seven assists.
Anyway, the new uniforms might be disorienting for a while, but if we could get used to Karl Malone in a Lakers jersey and Tracy McGrady playing for the Spurs, this should be no problem.