President Trump on Sunday night directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to expand deportation efforts in cities run by Democrats following protests in Los Angeles over his immigration policies.
The president called on ICE “to do all in their power” to help reach the administration’s mass deportation goals while singling out Los Angeles, Chicago and New York for ramped-up enforcement efforts.
White House aide Stephen Miller said last month that the administration’s goals were a minimum of 3,000 ICE arrests a day.
“Our Nation’s ICE Officers have shown incredible strength, determination, and courage as they facilitate a very important mission, the largest Mass Deportation Operation of Illegal Aliens in History. Every day, the Brave Men and Women of ICE are subjected to violence, harassment, and even threats from Radical Democrat Politicians, but nothing will stop us from executing our mission, and fulfilling our Mandate to the American People,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“ICE Officers are herewith ordered, by notice of this TRUTH, to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History,” the president added.
Trump called on federal agents to “expand efforts” to detain and deport undocumented immigrants in the country’s most populous cities, “where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside.”
“These, and other such Cities, are the core of the Democrat Power Center, where they use Illegal Aliens to expand their Voter Base, cheat in Elections, and grow the Welfare State, robbing good paying Jobs and Benefits from Hardworking American Citizens,” the president charged. “These Radical Left Democrats are sick of mind, hate our Country, and actually want to destroy our Inner Cities — And they are doing a good job of it!”
Trump asserted that Democrats believe in “open borders” and that ICE efforts should be focused on blue cities.
“There is something wrong with them. That is why they believe in Open Borders, Transgender for Everybody, and Men playing in Women’s Sports — And that is why I want ICE, Border Patrol, and our Great and Patriotic Law Enforcement Officers, to FOCUS on our crime ridden and deadly Inner Cities, and those places where Sanctuary Cities play such a big role. You don’t hear about Sanctuary Cities in our Heartland!” Trump said.
The president said he has directed his “entire Administration to put every resource possible behind this effort, and reverse the tide of Mass Destruction Migration that has turned once Idyllic Towns into scenes of Third World Dystopia.”
The 407-word statement was signed “DJT.”
Trump’s post marks a broad escalation in his administration’s push to ramp up ICE arrests, moves that have sparked wide pushback from Democrats.
Last week the president deployed military troops to Los Angeles to mitigate protests in the city against ICE raids, leading to ongoing clashes and pushback from California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), Mayor Karen Bass (D) and other Democrats.
And, late Thursday, a federal appeals court panel temporarily lifted a judge’s order ruling Trump’s deployment of the National Guard was illegal, allowing troops to continue helping with immigration raids in Los Angeles.
Limbach Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LMB) is one of the 16 stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed. A caller asked if they should consider buying LMB shares on any dips, and Cramer replied:
“This one is so high, it’s got such a high price-to-earnings multiple. I cannot recommend it. I don’t care how, it’s like Ferguson, I guess, and people just say, you know what, I’m just going to be in there, I don’t care, and I don’t know why. I don’t want you to be in there. Too high versus, say, Home Depot, which is just really inexpensive.”
Jim Cramer on Limbach: “I Cannot Recommend It”
An engineer studying the blueprints of a large mechanical construction near a busy city skyline.
Limbach Holdings (NASDAQ:LMB) provides specialized solutions for complex building systems, working directly with owners and facility managers to maintain and improve essential mechanical, electrical, and plumbing infrastructure. Greystone Capital Management stated the following regarding Limbach Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LMB) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Limbach Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LMB) was the largest contributor to performance during 2024, for good reason. Their journey from here to there has been executed flawlessly (which, as an investor, I have the luxury of proclaiming), with earnings power increasing at a tremendous rate during the past 24 months. On the back of low single digit revenue growth aided by their ODR segment growing 20%, gross margins have expanded nearly 1000bps, EBITDA margins have expanded 500bps, and adjusted EBITDA has more than doubled. This has translated nicely into free cash flow, which Limbach has used to acquire additional service businesses for 4-5x EBITDA.
While we acknowledge the potential of LMB as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
remittance and banking solutions for Indian diaspora
India has been one of the top recipients of remittances in the world for more than a decade. Inward remittances jumped from $55.6 billion in 2010-11 to $118.7 billion in 2023-24, according to data from the country’s central bank. The bank projects that figure will reach $160 billion in 2029.
This means there is an increasing market for digitalized banking experiences for non-resident Indians(NRIs), ranging from remittances to investing in different assets back home.
Aspora (formerly Vance) is trying to build a verticalized financial experience for the Indian diaspora by keeping convenience at the center. While a lot of financial products are in its future roadmap, the company currently focuses largely on remittances.
“While multiple financial products for non-resident Indians exist, they don’t know about them because there is no digital journey for them. They possibly use the same banking app as residents, which makes it harder for them to discover products catered towards them,” Garg said.
In the last year, the company has grown the volume of remittances by 6x — from $400 million to $2 billion in yearly volume processed.
With this growth, the company has attracted a lot of investor interest. It raised $35 million in Series A funding last December — which was previously unreported — led by Sequoia with participation from Greylock, Y Combinator, Hummingbird Ventures, and Global Founders Capital. The round pegged the company’s valuation at $150 million. In the four months following, the company tripled its transaction volume, prompting investors to put in more money.
The company announced today it has raised $50 million in Series B funding, co-led by Sequoia and Greylock, with Hummingbird, Quantum Light Ventures, and Y Combinator also contributing to the round. The startup said this round values the company at $500 million. The startup has raised over $99 million in funding to date.
After pivoting from being Pipe.com for India, the company started by offering remittance for NRIs in the U.K. in 2023 and has expanded its presence in other markets, including Europe and the United Arab Emirates. It charges a flat fee for money transfer and offers a competitive rate. Now it also allows customers to invest in mutual funds in India. The startup markets its exchange rates as “Google rate” as customers often search for currency conversion rates, even though they may not reflect live rates.
The startup is also set to launch in the U.S., one of the biggest remittance corridors to India, next month. Plus, it plans to open up shop in Canada, Singapore, and Australia by the fourth quarter of this year.
Garg, who grew up in the UAE, said that remittances are just the start, and the company wants to build out more financial tools for NRIs.
“We want to use remittances as a wedge and build all the financial solutions that the diaspora needs, including banking, investing, insurance, lending in the home country, and products that help them take care of their parents,” he told TechCrunch.
He added that a large chunk of money that NRIs send home is for wealth creation rather than family sustenance. The startup said that 80% of its users are sending money to their own accounts back home.
In the next few months, the company is launching a few products to offer more services. This month, it plans to launch a bill payment platform to let users pay for services like rent and utilities. Next month, it plans to launch fixed deposit accounts for non-resident Indians that allow them to park money in foreign currency. By the end of the year, it plans to launch a full-stack banking account for NRIs that typically takes days for users to open. While these accounts can help the diaspora maintain their tax status in India, a lot of people use a family member’s account because of the cumbersome process, and Aspora wants to simplify this.
Apart from banking, the company also plans to launch a product that would help NRIs take care of their parents back home by offering regular medical checkups, emergency care coverage, and concierge services for other assistance.
Sequoia’s Luciana Lixandru is confident that Aspora’s execution speed and verticalized solution will give it an edge.
“Speed of execution, for me, is one of the main indicators in the early days of the future success of a company,” she told TechCrunch over a call. “Aspora moves fast, but it is also very deliberate in building corridor by corridor, which is very important in financial services.”
It’s rare we get an out-of-the-blue trade featuring one of the game’s best hitters, and it’s even more rare when it happens in the middle of June involving teams in playoff contention. Given everything Devers and the Red Sox have battled throughout this season — his initial anger at being moved off third base when the team signed Alex Bregman and later his refusal to move to first base when Triston Casas went down because of an injury — maybe it’s not as surprising as it first appears.
The Red Sox aren’t immune to controversial moves, having traded Mookie Betts in 2020, but this one certainly will be a fun one to argue about on social media, with enough hot takes to burn off the late summer fog in San Francisco.
Let’s grade it.
San Francisco Giants: For the Giants and new top executive Buster Posey, the impact of this trade is obvious: They get their best hitter since Posey himself was at his peak and certainly their best power hitter since Barry Bonds, the last Giants player to hit 30 home runs (2004), a figure Devers has reached three times. After beginning the season with five hitless games, Devers is now hitting .272/.401/.504 after hitting his 15th home run in Boston’s 2-0 win on Sunday over the New York Yankees. He has seen a huge spike in his walk rate, boosting his OBP well above his career mark of .349. If that walk rate holds (he’s second to Juan Soto in walks drawn), it raises Devers’ offensive game to a new level.
Of course, Devers has his issues. The Red Sox moved him off third base for good reason. The Giants have Gold Glover Matt Chapman there, so a return to third remains out of the equation for Devers. Giants first basemen have been among the worst in the majors, ranking 26th in OPS, with Dominic Smith getting most of the action lately after LaMonte Wade Jr. was traded to the Angels. But the most likely scenario is Devers remaining at DH with Wilmer Flores shifting over to share first.
The other issue is Devers’ contract: He’s 28 years old and signed through 2033, making this the second year of a 10-year deal that will run through his age-36 season. That puts some degree of risk on his long-term value, but Devers has been a consistent hitter throughout his career — his top 10 similarity scores on Baseball-Reference include three Hall of Famers in Scott Rolen, Adrian Beltre and Ron Santo, plus a couple of likely future Hall of Famers in Nolan Arenado and Manny Machado. Granted, those guys were or are much superior defenders, but Devers compares to them as a hitter.
He does move from Fenway to Oracle Park — and San Francisco’s ballpark is part of the reason no Giants player has hit 30 home runs since Bonds. Devers’ career splits are interesting: He has hit for a higher average at home (.292 versus .267) but with more home runs on the road (120 to 95). He’s going to lose some of those cheap doubles he hit off the Green Monster, so maybe his average dips a little, but I think his power will translate just fine.
Bottom line: The Giants have been looking for that big middle-of-the-order hitter for years, from Bryce Harper to Aaron Judge to Shohei Ohtani. Now they have one and didn’t surrender any of the pitchers on a staff that ranks third in the majors in ERA. The National League West race — and the Giants were just a game back of the Dodgers at trade time — just got a lot more interesting.
Grade: A-
Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox have been hard to understand for years now, since the Betts trade, operating more like a mid-major market than the team that had the highest payroll in the majors in 2018 and 2019. Under that lens, this trade is not only the dealing of a disgruntled star with a ruptured relationship with the organization, but coincidentally enough, moving on from a player with a huge salary.
The timing will also create minor shockwaves: The Red Sox just swept the Yankees and have won seven of their past eight games, getting back into the playoff picture after a disappointing first two months. The spin from Boston will be interesting, focusing on Devers not stepping up and putting the team first. And that’s not an inaccurate spin, even if the Red Sox have clearly mishandled this situation from the start.
They also have all of their top prospects playing for the big league team now, from recent call-up Roman Anthony to Marcelo Mayer to Kristian Campbell. Manager Alex Cora has been platooning Anthony and Mayer, which is silly; they need to be playing every day, even if they get exposed a bit against left-handers. Trading Devers opens up at-bats for everyone and helps clear the outfield logjam of Anthony, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Rob Refsnyder — but they’re not going to be able to replace Devers’ production just yet.
Harrison is a talented left-hander, once a top pitching prospect in the minors who hasn’t quite put it all together in the majors — but he’s also still only 23 years old. He had a 4.56 ERA in 24 starts as a rookie last season and has a 4.56 ERA in 23⅔ innings so far in 2025. Boston has optioned Harrison to Triple-A Worcester, but with Tanner Houck injured and Walker Buehler and Lucas Giolito both fighting ERAs on the wrong side of 5.00, Harrison could be a potential rotation option later in the season. As for Hicks, the Giants tried the hard-throwing right-hander as a starter, but it never really worked, so he’ll be in the bullpen.
Tibbs was the Giants’ first-round pick last June out of Florida State, an outfielder hitting .245/.377/.480 in High-A. He might be something, although let’s see what happens when he’s bumped up to Double-A.
Given Harrison’s potential upside, it’s not fair to completely slam the Red Sox. Devers has a big contract, but it doesn’t feel out of line with some other recent deals — such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s $500 million contract. Maybe the Red Sox will take those savings and go after some more pitching help, either at the trade deadline or in the offseason.
Still, when you’re looking to trade a player because of a broken relationship, it’s hard to get fair value in return — and it feels as if the Red Sox came up short here. Maybe this will prove to be the best move for the organization in the long run, but their playoff hopes for 2025 take a hit.
Janelle Brown Questioned How Kody Brown Handled the Family Money
Griping about the family’s inability to pay off Coyote Pass, Janelle said Kody claimed to have “all these other debts.” And, yet, she’s watched him snap up other assets like trailers and home décor. “I see all the art on their walls,” she said of Robyn and Kody’s home. “I see all these things. And that’s fine, I have money and I’ve spent it on things, too.” (For his part Kody said much of his cash went to buying cars—”Basically had a fleet”—and insurance for the kids.)
And while Janelle acknowledged she wasn’t sure how Kody and Robyn handled their finances, “I used to always be surprised at how nice her backyard was. It was completely finished. And there was always, like, stuff at her house. And I was like, ‘Wow. Huh.'”
Bottom line, she said, “He doesn’t prioritize what I need or what I want.” And that issue eventually wore her down. “I think after a while, I began to see it, and my kids were getting very angry about it, like my adult children. Like, ‘What the hell, Mom?'”
Robyn’s take, however, was that she was very careful with her budget after her first marriage fell apart.
“I used to be not so great with money,” she shared during the Sept. 22 episode. “When I was young, I had hard knocks, and then I learned during my divorce really how to budget myself very, very well.” As for her fellow sister wives, she said, “You just must have had a different priority of where your money was going to go than I did, that’s all.”
Jabez Petherick says hospice care made a big difference to him
As a nurse who supports terminally ill patients to die in their own homes, Angelina Blair sees first hand the last few hours of people’s lives.
“There are times where you put on a brave face, you smile, you give the care that’s right and when you leave the patient’s home you go and talk to your colleagues or maybe shed a few tears,” she says.
“Even if I’ve dealt with four deaths in a day, I’ve been able to have a family say that it was great, that mum, dad, sister was at home where they wanted to be.”
She works for Rowcroft Hospice in Torquay, Devon, which supports 2,500 patients and their loved ones each year, most of whom choose to die in their own homes.
It is one of more than 200 hospices represented by the charity Hospice UK. These are at the centre of palliative (end-of-life) care in the country – and as a result, at the centre of the current debate over the assisted dying bill, too.
The bill would allow terminally ill adults with six months or less to live the right to medically end their lives in England and Wales. A key Commons vote is expected to take place this Friday which would determine whether the bill progresses to its next parliamentary stage.
Many in support of assisted dying say it would give terminal patients autonomy about how they die. But many of those opposed to it argue that policymakers should instead focus on improving palliative care, and some worry that patients undergoing end-of-life care would feel pressured to have an assisted death.
BBC News visited Rowcroft hospice to understand what staff think about that debate. We found uncertainty over how legalising assisted dying would affect their services, and concern about funding shortages.
“I feel very passionately about people having a choice about their life and what quality of life somebody lives with,” Angelina says. “But being involved in actually administering medication that would end somebody’s life knowingly, I don’t know.”
Angelina Blair is unsure about the proposals being debated
Hospices are not fully paid for by the government. Three quarters of Rowcroft’s income comes from charity, such as fundraising events, legacies and donations from local people.
Rowcroft has only 12 inpatient beds as most of its patients opt to die at home, but other hospices have had to keep beds empty and lay off staff because of cost pressures.
Recent increases in employer national insurance contributions could hardly have come at a worse time, according to sector leaders.
And according to Hospice UK, the death rate in the UK is expected to increase over the next two decades, such that by 2040, about 130,000 more people in the UK are expected die each year than in 2023.
“I have no doubt, personally, if the [assisted dying] bill became law, that would be fully funded,” says Rowcroft’s chief executive Mark Hawkins.
“Shouldn’t the government be funding palliative and end-of-life care now, to a greater extent, to ensure that we all have access to the best possible end-of-life and palliative care?”
The Department of Health says £100 million extra was provided to adult hospices in England this year for buildings and equipment and that the government is committed to ensuring every person has access to high quality and compassionate end-of-life care.
Jabez Petherick has incurable kidney cancer. He was transferred to Rowcroft after several weeks in hospital, during which he says he had dark and desperate times because of the pain. But he says hospice care has made a big difference.
“I used to go to bed, dread waking up, didn’t want to wake up, I didn’t want to wake up, because I knew the pain would start as soon as I woke up,” he says. “And gradually it stopped. And I don’t know how they did it but thank goodness they did.”
The shifting views of patients in some cases is something which Jo Jacobs, a staff nurse, has noticed.
“I feel that it’s very easy when patients first come in that they feel like they want to end their life, but they change their minds.
“And it’s allowing patients to have that choice, but then also it could be quite scary that they’ve opted to end their life, but in a few weeks’ time they’re saying something completely, very different.”
Respecting a patient’s right to choose is all important, says Vicky Bartlett, the director of patient care at Rowcroft. “For my patients that I’m caring for, I want them to be able to make an informed choice,” she says.
“And I want that choice to be around assisted dying, if that becomes law, but I also want that choice to be around palliative care.”
Vicky Bartlett says an informed choice is key
Hospices have a lot to think about as the debate on the bill progresses.
Hospice UK has welcomed a new clause in the bill which requires the government to consult with palliative and end-of-life providers.
But its chief executive Toby Porter argues there is still a lot to consider. “It is inevitable that a change in the law would create many complex and often competing challenges,” he says.
“But the precise nature of those challenges will not be apparent until there is clarity on where assisted dying would sit in the health and social care system, and the role hospices might be expected to play.”
He says the bill has given no details on this and there has been no formal consultation with hospices.
Pain is a key symptom for many terminally ill patients and having the choice to free oneself from the extremes of it and have a dignified death is what drives many of those in support of assisted dying.
The message from Rowcroft is that if it is made legal they will have to weigh up a number of factors, including the views of the local community and staff, before deciding whether to provide that option to patients.
Since recording our interview Jabez has sadly died. He and his family granted the BBC permission to use his words after his death, to pay tribute to the staff at Rowcroft.
The man suspected of shooting two Minnesota state lawmakers over the weekend, killing one of the lawmakers, has been taken into custody after a massive manhunt.
Law enforcement apprehended Vance Boelter on Sunday night after a two-day search, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) announced at a press conference shortly before midnight.
Drew Evans, superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in Minnesota, said Boelter was was taken into custody under a state criminal warrant charging him with murder. He was arrrested near his home, according to multiplereports.
“One man’s unthinkable actions have altered the state of Minnesota,” Walz said Sunday night, vowing justice for the alleged gunman.
“This cannot be the norm, it cannot be the way we deal with our political differences,” the governor added, urging members of the public to “find common ground” with each other.
The arrest ends a sprawling manhunt following the fatal shooting of former Minnesota Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, who were killed at their home early Saturday.
State Sen. John Hoffman (D) and his wife Yvette were also injured in a shooting at their home about 8 miles away the same morning and have since received surgery for their gunshot wounds. Authorities have accused Boelter of being involved in both shootings.
The governor described the two-day manhunt as “complex and dangerous.”
Minnesota officials at a press conference earlier Sunday evening had described a multifacted hunt for the suspect, with scores of law enforcement officials involved in the search.
Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said 20 different SWAT teams were utilized during the manhunt.
The suspect was armed when he was taken into custody, Evans said, though he declined to share more information about a weapon. He was taken into custody without incident, officials said.
The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday night shared a photo of the suspect wearing a jacket with his hands behind his back, apparently standing in a field while encircled by agents.
“The face of evil. After relentless and determined police work, the killer is now in custody,” the sheriff’s office wrote.
“I’m grateful that this nightmare has come to an end with the suspect captured so he can be charged, prosecuted, & punished for the horror he has wrought on MN,” Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth (R) posted on X.
Authorities had issued state and federal warrants for Boelter accusing him of murder and attempted murder as well as seeking to avoid prosecution.
More than 400 tips had poured in over the course of two days as authorities suggested the gunman was using “various modes of transportation” to evade authorities.
Walz has described the shootings as “politically motivated” but officials have so far shared limited information on the material recovered by investigators.
“We often want easy answers for complex problems,” Evans said earlier Sunday.
— This breaking news story was last updated at 11:59 p.m.
As with previous versions, Anker is making its new Soundcore Sleep A30 available for preorder through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign that’s launching today, while full availability of the earbuds is expected sometime in August 2025 through Amazon and Soundcore’s online store. At $229.99, the Sleep A30 are quite a bit more expensive than last year’s $149.99 Sleep A20, but the earliest Kickstarter backers can get the A30 discounted to $139.
The Sleep A30 earbuds are now 7 percent slimmer and feature a smaller design that ensures they don’t protrude from your ears so there’s reduced pressure while wearing them and laying on a pillow if you’re a side sleeper. To help you find a snug fit, Anker includes four sizes of silicone ear tips, three sizes of memory foam tips, and three sizes of ear wings.
Anker claims the new Sleep A30 block up to 30dB of external noise, but the added ANC, which uses two mics positioned inside and outside your ears, does result in reduced battery life. The A20 could run for up to 14 hours on a single charge, but the A30 max out at up to nine hours on their own, or up to 45 hours with their charging case. However, that’s only when listening to white noise or other sounds designed to help you fall asleep that are stored on the buds themselves. When streaming music or podcasts from a phone, battery life is further reduced to up to 6.5 hours or 35 hours with the case.
The Sleep A30’s charging case has been upgraded with what Anker is calling “Adaptive Snore Masking technology.” If it detects the sounds of snoring from another person nearby, it analyzes the volume and frequency of the sounds and generates “noise masking audio” that’s sent to the buds to help block it out.
The new earbuds also feature sleep monitoring and sleep position tracking, allowing you to see how restful or eventful your night was through the Soundcore mobile app; a private repeatable alarm with snooze functionality; and a Find My Earbud feature should they fall out in the night and get lost in the sheets.
Ohm Youngmisuk has covered the Giants, Jets and the NFL since 2006. Prior to that, he covered the Nets, Knicks and the NBA for nearly a decade. He joined ESPNNewYork.com after working at the New York Daily News for almost 12 years and is a graduate of Michigan State University.
CAMERAS LINED THE player’s entrance to Paycom Arena, bursting with flashes as Indiana’s star guard made his anticipated arrival to Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Tyrese Haliburton wore an off-white Carhartt button-down jacket, white pants, black shoes and sunglasses. Haliburton’s accessory of choice for the biggest game of his life? His debut signature sneakers, the Puma Hali 1, designed by Salehe Bembury in a hibiscus colorway.
Nearly an hour later, the hallway lit up again as the league MVP made his minute-long stride to the locker room. Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander walked in with light blue-tinted sunglasses, wearing a comfortable gray shirt jacket and his “Masi Blue” SHAI 001 Converses in honor of his younger brother, Thomasi.
The MVP’s statement piece? A Chanel cross-body bag, enhanced by a pearl-detailed strap and complemented by another, smaller cross-body mini bag.
“Shai’s been doing it since he came to the league,” Haliburton told ESPN about his Thunder counterpart. “He is kind of like the undisputed king of [NBA fashion].”
Gilgeous-Alexander and Haliburton aren’t just two star point guards who have driven the Thunder and Pacers to a 2-2 tie in the NBA Finals, they are also two of the league’s most fashionable players, known for their unique styles and designer outfits that are just as versatile as their games.
While both point guards are laser-focused on winning their first championship, for themselves and their teams, Gilgeous-Alexander and Haliburton are among the players who have brought a haute couture feel to this small-market NBA Finals showdown.
In the city where Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka used to strut their finest fits, Gilgeous-Alexander — along with teammates such as Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren — has Oklahoma City back as the NBA’s fashion capital. And for Haliburton, acutely aware of this moment, he is using this Finals to prove doubters wrong and turn heads with his clutch game and his fashion style.
“OKC is a legendary tunnel with Russ and what Shai’s doing,” Haliburton told ESPN last week on the eve of Game 1.
“OKC is definitely one of everybody’s favorite tunnels.”
It seemed as though he would go to any length for fashion — even if it meant ripping holes into jeans and sewing pieces, often purchased off the rack.
“My mom used to sew, so I used to watch,” Westbrook told ESPN during the 2023-24 season. “So if I rip something, if I cut it like I cut my jeans, I cut it up myself in the room.
“I can sew it by hand [with a needle]. I ain’t done it in a while, but I can also [sew] it by machine as well, too.”
Gilgeous-Alexander — the first Thunder point guard to lead Oklahoma City to the Finals since Westbrook’s 2012 team — carries the current NBA’s unofficial fashion crown.
“Shai is acknowledged pretty widely as the reigning king of NBA style,” said Wall Street Journal reporter Sam Schube, formerly GQ’s sports director. “He’s the guy who’s really picked up the mantle from LeBron [James], Allen Iverson, Dwyane Wade and Russ. He’s the next dude. … Shai’s sort of his own world. It doesn’t really feel like he’s playing the same game as everybody else.
“I don’t know how much Chanel you’re seeing in the NBA tunnel. That just tells you that that guy knows exactly what he wants to wear and feels great about doing it … to take a really classic fancy French lady women’s wear brand and twist it as an NBA player is like, ‘Ooh yeah.’ You’re feeling good about yourself.”
Gilgeous-Alexander is in the midst of a legendary season. He’s won the regular-season scoring title, MVP, the Western Conference Finals MVP and is working toward a possible Finals MVP.
Westbrook, who won league MVP with the Thunder in the 2016-2017 season, is known to help outfit his teammates by taking them shopping, buying suits or clothes for them and passing on style tips. Now with the Denver Nuggets, Westbrook has kept some of his more memorable outfits, from past Met Galas to his wedding and draft night suits.
These days, he wears mostly his own fashion brand, Honor The Gift. The 17-year veteran dons a different outfit to every game and then gives his clothes to either friends, students at his Westbrook Academy or charity.
“I teach them fashion, but being affordable,” Westbrook said of his shopping excursions with teammates. “I’m not big on having young guys go to [Louis] Vuitton and [Christian] Dior and spending $2,000 on stuff. I’m big on thrift shopping. That’s how I was brought up. My mom was the one that taught and helped me understand about being able to have what you have but also looking good with what you have. And that’s why I was able to create my own brand.”
“The European Fashion Week trip has become kind of a box to check if you’re a pro athlete,” Schube said. “But it’s hard to remember guys walking in a Thom Browne show outside of Shai. He appears to have real relationships with some of these designers and sort of studies the craft as it were in a way that some of his peers don’t.”
It’s no wonder it took him about 40 minutes to assemble “eight to nine outfits” before the Finals in case the championship series goes the distance with alternative options.
“Before every series, I plan out my outfits for sure,” Gilgeous-Alexander told ESPN. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but every round I’ve debuted a new colorway of my [Converse] shoe. Round 1, all the outfits were centered around the gray shoes. And then Round 2, they were centered around the black shoes. Round 3, the clay shoes. And this round would be the blue shoes.”
LIKE WHEN WESTBROOK, Harden and Ibaka turned Oklahoma City’s pregames into a modeling runway, Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t the only fashion-conscious Thunder player. Williams, Holmgren and Lu Dort, all key performers on the second-youngest team to reach the NBA Finals, have also expressed themselves through their pregame fashion.
Williams is especially not shy to cause a commotion, once wearing an all-black headpiece that covered his entire head with three cushioned rows across his face.
He was fined $25,000 by the NBA for wearing clothing with profane language on it in his second-round Game 7 postgame media session.
“I say my style right now, it’s baggy,” Williams told ESPN. “But it’s also just me, whatever I’m feeling. So if I’m feeling lazy, I’m not afraid to wear pajamas. I’m not afraid to be comfortable.”
For Game 1 of the Finals, Williams, 24, went with a vintage relaxed look with a 90’s feel, sporting a black and pink zip-up hoodie jacket with a hat, a graphic T-shirt featuring Michael Jackson off the “Dangerous” album cover, baggy jeans and a “Pinky and the Brain” soft-sided lunch bag.
“This is like a classic Gen Z cool kid outfit,” Schube said. “Big sneakers, giant jeans, little shirt and then a trucker hat that looks like maybe you could have gotten it at a gas station, but I’m sure it costs a thousand dollars. And is he carrying a lunch box? This could not be more of a Gen Z outfit.”
Holmgren, 23, also values comfort, calling his style “casual but classy” while also wearing whatever he feels confident in. For Game 1, he wore a black hoodie, sunglasses and pants. He admits he and the MVP are in different fashion leagues.
“It’s not a competition because the budget isn’t the same,” Holmgren told ESPN of Gilgeous-Alexander, who signed a five-year, $172-million extension in 2021. “That’s a dangerous game to try to play. So I don’t even try to play it.
“I look at them as fashion professionals,” Holmgren said of Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams. “And I’m more of a fashion hobbyist.”
Williams admits he’s not on the MVP’s level, either. Gilgeous-Alexander took Williams shopping in New York during the forward’s rookie season in 2022-23. Williams saw firsthand the fashion connections Gilgeous-Alexander had as the two teammates shopped at designer stores that Williams couldn’t afford back then. Williams mostly watched Gilgeous-Alexander shop that day.
“The first time, it wasn’t that fun,” Williams said of that shopping experience with Gilgeous-Alexander.
“I just have more money now so I can kind of keep up.”
Williams said it never gets competitive between Thunder teammates when it comes to who has the best outfits. The way the MVP sees it, he’s dishing out fashion assists to his teammates.
“It doesn’t really get competitive,” Gilgeous-Alexander told ESPN as politely as he could when asked if there are any fashion battles. “I don’t want to sound like … they’re like, those are my kids in terms of fashion. I showed them what to do and what not to do.”
It’s why Oklahoma City is once again the fashion epicenter of the NBA.
“You do not think of Oklahoma City as the most fashionable place on Earth,” Schube said. “And yet there’s something in the water there. They’re a small market. [GM] Sam Presti, who built both of those teams, is obviously a guy who knows how to be creative and flexible when it comes to building a roster. And that means finding young players and empowering them.
“And so you get these young dudes who are just absolutely dripping and it happens to be in Oklahoma City.”
BEFORE GAME 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, Haliburton walked into Gainbridge Fieldhouse looking like he was dressed for a funeral. As the Pacers were poised to close out the New York Knicks, Haliburton arrived in a sharp all-black outfit with sunglasses while carrying a black duffle bag.
Ben Stiller, actor and die-hard Knicks fan, reposted a video of Haliburton’s walk with some trash talk.
“Good thing he brought his duffel for the flight to NY,” Stiller wrote on X, hoping the Knicks would force a Game 7.
Haliburton eliminated the Knicks with 21 points and 13 assists in the 125-108 Pacers’ win, and the point guard gave Stiller — who spoofed male supermodels in his comedy “Zoolander” — a perfect response.
The Pacers point guard is a massive wrestling fan and lives to come off the top rope with his fashion ensembles. He’s cognizant of how some arena tunnels are more high-profile than others, like Madison Square Garden’s ramp. As Schube points out, Haliburton seems to be “aware of how this is all going to play on social media” and “of the narrative and theatrics of it all.”
“Good style,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of Haliburton. “Above all, he wears it. He embraces his style and doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. He just wears it. And that’s all you can really do is, ‘I’m going to go in my closet and have my eight outfits that I think are fire’… all you can do is trust your feel and wear it with confidence.”
Haliburton, 25, is used to hearing the good and the bad on social media about his style choices. Whether it’s going for a “Peaky Blinders” look or wearing a Prada trench coat that drew comparisons to Inspector Gadget online, Haliburton will stir it up.
“He doesn’t have one lane he just sticks to,” said Pacers teammate Myles Turner, who also is into fashion with a self-described “preppy Western” look. “Whatever he feels, he’s going to throw it on and it’s a conversation starter piece for sure.
“He’s bold, but so is his personality.”
At the 2024 All-Star Game, Haliburton wore a long double-breasted Prada runway jacket that had shaggy blue fur around both of his biceps and his knees. Some online likened the blue fur to the Cookie Monster.
“I think people just always fight things that they haven’t seen before or everybody just wants to fit in,” Haliburton told ESPN. “This is a world where if you try something different, everybody’s going to say something about it. I don’t dress like anybody else and I’m OK with that.
“I think there’s a lot of people that are truly in the fashion world that would tell you that I dress very well and I believe I do. But for some people who really don’t know anything about fashion, it would be like he dresses terrible. I just do what I want to do at the end of the day. I’m not here to please anybody.”
Haliburton chooses a practical approach with his outfits. While he likes to stand out in Comme des Garcons, Prada and The Row, Haliburton keeps a lot of pieces in rotation. He said he can wear 10 to 15 of the same pairs of shoes and rewear pants or a black button-up several times as layering pieces.
“I mean, we got money, but clothes are expensive, bro,” said Haliburton, who tries to stay grounded even after signing a five-year extension worth up to $260 million in 2023. “That’s why I try not to get too many super loud pieces that you could see I wore again.”
When it comes to those flashy pieces, Haliburton will sometimes sell them on Grailed, an online resale marketplace, with an anonymous account or give them to Olivier Rogers, his fashion stylist, to sell on sites like The RealReal.
“I have secret accounts on sites where you can resell clothes,” Haliburton said. “Even if I don’t get all the money back … say if I bought a jacket for five grand and I get three grand back, that’s better than getting nothing and it’s sitting in my closet.
“When I first came to [the NBA], it bothered me so much. I would spend all this money on a colorful pair of jeans and a vintage T-shirt. And once I wear it once and post it on my Instagram, I can’t wear it again.”
As Haliburton looks to stun the Thunder again in Monday’s Game 5 like he did in Game 1 with his game-winning shot, the Indiana star returns to the Paycom Center hoping to recreate the magic of that night, which started with honoring the standards of bringing heat to the OKC hallway.
One thing likely not for sale are the Hali 1’s he wore in Game 1. After he hit one of the most clutch shots in Finals history to complete the Pacers’ comeback win, Haliburton placed his signature Pumas next to the microphone for his postgame news conference.
“The secret sauce today was these,” Haliburton said as he pointed to his shoes after helping erase a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit.
Later, he would post on X the perfect mic drop — repeating one of the most iconic lines in NBA fashion history and an homage to Spike Lee’s Mars Blackmon.
