HOUSTON (AP) — P.J. Tucker wasn't a high draft pick and actually is undersized by NBA standards.
At 6-foot-6, the Houston Rockets forward's intensity and defensive grit helps him overachieve against taller opponents on a nightly basis.
Off the court, Tucker also defies the norm.
He has spent years curating a wardrobe that has helped his style ascend to the upper echelons of fashion.
Tucker was in the Balmain store in Paris during this year's NBA All-Star break when the manager told him there was a special one-of-a-kind piece that would be perfect for him.
When Tucker first laid eyes on the beaded haute couture jacket at the French luxury fashion house he loved it, but was certain it wouldn't fit his muscular 245-pound frame.
It did.
"Everybody in fashion knows of those must-have pieces where you're just like: 'I've got to have it,'" Tucker said. "And I had to have this."
Then he learned the price of the black and gold open front jacket: $25,000.
"I had no idea. I was like: 'Oh all right, that's cool," he said with a nervous laugh. "I was at the point of no return."
But before Tucker could wear his most expensive fashion investment, he learned there were actually two of his "one-of-a-kind jacket" when he saw NBA super fan and eccentric 78-year-old millionaire James Goldstein sporting the same piece while courtside at a game .
"He came up and told me he has the same jacket," Goldstein told The Associated Press on Wednesday while wearing a different Balmain jacket. "I couldn't believe it."
A stunned Goldstein didn't realize that Tucker was so into fashion.
"I've never seen him except on the basketball court so I don't know how he dresses otherwise," Goldstein said. "But when he told me he had that jacket, one that both of us thought we each had a unique jacket that nobody else had, I gained a new respect for him."
Tucker has also gained his share of respect on the court.
