Fresh off a stellar NBA Summer League, we had the opportunity to speak with Charlotte Hornets’ wing Dwayne Bacon.
Bacon, who stands at 6’7″, is entering his second NBA season. The remainder of his summer will be dedicated to the gym, where he’s getting better every day, and ready to compete for a major role with the Hornets this upcoming season.
Although Dwayne has been pretty tied up, He had a few minutes to spare and talk to us about his interests outside of basketball: his love for fashion, sneaker game, upcoming NBA season, and more.
Check out our conversation below:
MTS: First off, Congrats on a successful Summer League. That’ll help you get a bigger role in the Hornets’ rotation this upcoming season. Other than solid playing time, what are some of your other goals for the year?
Bacon: Just doing the best I can to help our team win. I feel like last year was my first year, so I learned a lot. So definitely going into this summer league was big for me and I learned a lot.
MTS: I’m sure most of your time is spent making adjustments and preparing yourself to perform at the highest level. But once you get your priorities in order, any plans for you off the court?
Bacon: Once I get better on the court with a lot more playing time and become a starter, then off the court, whatever I can get into I’m going to try and get into. I want to make the most of every opportunity. I like a lot of different things off the court, so once the basketball aspect is well taken care of then I want to branch out and do a lot of things off the court.
MTS: That’s cool. I was a professional athlete as well and understand how hard it is for people to separate an athlete from their sport. As you may know, the focus of our platform is to give a spotlight to athletes like yourself and their interests not only in sports but in their personal lives as well. I know you said you’re interested in a lot of things, to be specific what things might that be?
Bacon: I love bowling, i’m big into bowling. That’s just something I like to do outside of basketball. I love charity events, going to the Boys & Girls club and interacting with the kids. Those are some of the things I like to do as far as giving back. I love fashion too. The way people dress, I’m fascinated by it.
MTS: Have you been to any fashion shows or events? or are you just starting to dip into it?
Bacon: Sooner or later I want to attend fashion week when the time is right for me, but this year I couldn’t because I had to focus on summer league, [with it being] my second year in the NBA. So I’m trying to do what I can, but it’s all about timing.
MTS: Totally understandable, you want to make sure basketball is a priority then branch out from there. Scrolling through your Instagram, we noticed that you have your own line of merchandise: t-shirts & sweatshirts. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Bacon: Yea. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do since I started playing. I wasn’t going to start it this soon, but everybody was asking and saying I should sell stuff so I just went ahead and did it. It turned out well so far, people are buying stuff. Sooner or later I’ll expand, but right now I’ve been so busy doing so many things that I’m trying to keep it how it is right now.
MTS: How involved were you in the design of your apparel? There’s an “8 GOD” phrase that I’ve been seeing on your pieces. Can you talk about that?
Bacon: Well “8 GOD” is definitely something I got from Drake. Drake is my favorite artist, and Lakeland [Florida] is a very small city so we call it an “8.” I kind of started saying it, so I just put it on a shirt and a lot of people liked it. So I ended up changing my Twitter name to it like three or four weeks ago (haha). And I have just been that ever since.
MTS: Okay. Has fashion always been an interest of yours?
Bacon: It has been since I was young actually, with my mother. She always made sure she had enough money to keep us good even if she couldn’t dress herself. She always made sure my siblings and I always had nice clothes and dress very very well. So I learned how to dress from my mom. As I grew up, I started to get into different looks and different type of clothes. And I just went with it myself.
MTS:
You’re pretty tall, 6′ 7″, was it hard for you to find clothes? Do you shop at specific places?
Bacon: It’s not hard for me to find jeans. I can go to the mall and get jeans. But there’s so many different looks. Like sometimes I like to wear high water pants. It just depends on how I’m feeling that day, what’s the setting like and what’s the mood. And that’s what I’ll go with.
MTS: Who are some of your style influences?
Bacon: I definitely like how Fabolous dress. I feel like he’s crazy when it comes to the way he dresses, I like his style. I like the way Odell [Beckham] dresses. I like the way Nick Young dresses too. It’s more heavily those three but Russell Westbrook also. There are so many things that you can recreate in your mind from the way another person dresses, and that’s what I like to do.
MTS: From the names you’ve mentioned, I feel like you’re more into making a statement with your look, you wear whatever you want, whether it matches perfectly or not. But regardless, you stand out.
Bacon: Yup, that’s me.
MTS: From your Instagram account, I can see you’re really into sneakers. What are some brands or specific kicks that we would see you rocking off the court?
Bacon: Well I’m signed to Jordan Brand and it is kind of amazing to me because going into the NBA, that’s all I wanted to do. I wanted to sign with Jordan. My closet is filled with Jordan kicks pretty much. I’ve been wearing Jordans pretty much all my life. They send me every pair of Jordan sneakers, even the exclusive pairs like the Off-White collab. But as far as shoes outside of Jordan, I like the Balenciaga ‘Triple S,’ and Alexander McQueen.
I am a shoe addict. I feel like I buy a bunch of shoes and mix-and-match the clothes that I already have. It’s just a feeling I get when I get a new pair of shoes like I’m a kid again. It’s like I’m excited and I can’t wait to wear them. I don’t know. I like to switch it up every single day, especially on my feet. I don’t like to really wear the same shoe twice, especially not within a two-month span because I have so many now. I’m just looking to keep going. I like to collect shoes as well.
MTS: I’m sure you must have a special space in your closet for shoes (haha).
Bacon: I’m actually about to move but once I do, I’ve gotten so many (sneakers) just this year alone, that I’ll have to dedicate a whole room for. So once I do that, maybe you guys can come and we can just take a little tour of my closet because it’s gotten a lot bigger since my first year.
MTS: That would be great, we would love to see that. Because from what you’re saying, I’m imagining a whole store in your closet alone (haha).
Bacon: Oh of course, of course.
MTS: Speaking of stores, are there any cool clothing stores that you like to go to, shops in Charlotte, or online that’s your go-to for some exclusives?
Bacon: Well my go-to is probably Urban Outfitters. I really like their shirts. I’m big into their graphic tees and the way they switch it up. They always got a different vibe in there. They have a lot of different, dope [pieces] that you get out of Urban Outfitters.
Most athletes, especially the big athletes, probably don’t shop there [Urban Outfitters.] I saw that Westbrook wore something from Urban [Outfitters] for a game before, which is nice. I like Urban Outfitters a lot.
MTS: Can you name a few other brands that you’re really into, that fit you well?
Bacon: I’m really into Gucci. I don’t really buy their clothes, because I feel like there isn’t a lot of choices to choose from and everybody has the choices that are out. So I’m more into the [Gucci] sneakers, their belts, bags and stuff like that.
As far as clothes, I shop at ASOS, Urban [Outfitters], just different stuff. I learn about new websites and clothing lines each day. People send me free shirts and I just mix & match. I kind of go with the flow when it comes to clothes. If I like it I’ll get it, and if I don’t then I’ll just pass it on.
MTS: Other than yourself of course, who would you say is the freshest guy on the squad besides you?
Bacon: Oh definitely Kemba [Walker]. Kemba is a great guy who can really, really, really, dress. Even I learned some stuff from him. This year alone, he has worn a different [out]fit every game and he just knows how to dress you can tell. You can tell when guys know how to dress, and he’s definitely one of them.
MTS: What would you say is your favorite piece of clothing or shoe in your closet right now?
Bacon: I really like the Off-White Air Jordan 1’s but I haven’t worn them yet. Those are really the ones I can’t wait to wear. I got a great outfit to wear them with, I just haven’t gone anywhere yet.
photos via @Dbacon
