The Cleveland Cavaliers, with an assist from a New York-based designer, made their first big play on Friday night just by entering the arena. As they paraded into Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis before Game 3 of their playoff series with the Indiana Pacers, the Cavaliers wore coordinated ensembles: made-to-measure suits, ties, shoes, bags and eyewear by Thom Browne.

The scheme was hatched a while ago by Dwyane Wade and Browne, then kept alive by LeBron James after Wade was traded back to the Miami Heat in February.

“All of us suiting up together was just a new idea and something we all wanted to try,” James, a four-time winner of the league’s Most Valuable Player Award, wrote in an email.

For players at the top of the professional basketball food chain, just showing up has become an opportunity to preen. No matter that the corridors may be lined with trash cans. The walk from the team bus to the locker room is a runway, with attendant paparazzi.