‘Resurfaced’ LeBron James and David Stern ‘Coat’ Clip from 2003 Draft Hilariously Reminds Viewers of Shaquille O’Neal’s Incident with Jimmy Fallon

The hype around Victor Wembanyama has reminded NBA fans of the excitement that centered around the drafting of LeBron James in 2003. Coming straight out of high school, LeBron was set to embark on his NBA journey with Jordanesque expectations. On the day of the Draft, Bron’s bold outfit choice-a clean all-white suit–remains one of the more iconic draft fits of all time. Before the event commenced, the then-commissioner David Stern was seen trying on James’ suit in a memorable video from two decades ago. After the clip of the incident recently resurfaced on social media, fans were reminded of the hilarious moment when Jimmy Fallon put on Shaquille O’Neal’s jacket during an episode of The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon.

The 2003 Draft Class proved to be one of the most stacked ones in modern NBA history. Of course, the King is the biggest name to come out of the class of 2003. But there were other all-time greats whose names were also called out on that day, including the likes of Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. The Draft class also included several efficient role players who would go on to play crucial roles for many great teams in the future, including Kyle Korver, David West, Boris Diaw, Josh Howard, and Kendrick Perkins, to name a few.

David Stern wearing LeBron James’ suit reminded fans of Jimmy Fallon and Shaq

Moments before calling out his name in 2003, Stern and LeBron shared a wholesome interaction backstage. As seen in the clip tweeted by NBA History, while Carmelo was serving himself some food, James took off his jacket and allowed Stern to try it on. The eventual #1 pick also helped Stern put it on. After wearing the jacket, Stern joked about conducting the draft in the visibly oversized suit, which looked more like a lab-coat on him, “I’m gonna conduct the draft in this after I announce you, okay?”

The resurfacing of this video has led fans to look back at the memorable incident that occurred on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon in 2014. During the show, Shaq spoke about his size-58 jacket and how it would “fit everybody”. In all seriousness, Fallon asked to try it on. Immediately after, the two would exchange jackets. While the host would almost sink into the Big Aristotle’s blazer, the latter would struggle to put it on without tearing it apart.

As hilarious as Jimmy looked, he should be glad that Shaq didn’t rip apart his jacket while forcing to fit into it.

To begin Year 20, LeBron James put on a similar outfit as his Draft day

Ahead of the 2022-2023 season opener, the four-time Most Valuable Player was rocking an all-white suit similar to his outfit from the 2003 Draft.

Over the years, LeBron has showcased his style on numerous occasions. While we’ve seen him donning some of the freshest outfits, it was great to see him pay homage to his draft night suit. It’ll be interesting to see which prospect impresses the Internet most with their outfit at the 2023 Draft.