The NBA's pre-game tunnel walks have become a tradition across the league, with players eager to put on a show in their best fits.
One brand which has been ever-present in these daily fashion shows has been Ryoko Rain, a label based out of Orange County in California.
Since being founded in 2021, the brand has quickly become a hot commodity, worn by names like A'ja Wilson, Jayson Tatum, and Saquon Barkley, to name a few.
MORE: Giddey and Daniels set to launch Melbourne basketball precinct
But Ryoko Rain now has their sights set on world domination, opening their first store in Australia as part of the new CourtSide Melbourne basketball shopping precinct.
(CourtSide)
According to founder Garrett James, this expedition is a long time coming, given the amount of Aussie NBA stars that rock his brand, but the beginning of the new store goes all the way back to a former legend in the NBL.
"One of my former teammates, his name was Cam Gliddon, he was my former college basketball teammate at Concordia in Orange County, California, way back when," James told Sporting News Australia.
"He had the same agent, I believe, as Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels. So I got connected with those guys, gosh, maybe three years ago, and I've seeded a lot of his players over the last couple of years.
"Then they brought their agency and their players to Jordan Lawley, the NBA basketball trainer. He's located in Irvine, California, but he's a part of the whole CourtSide thing as well. He's actually out here right now doing some camps and he's a big part of CourtSide.
"All of that led to the introduction to Chris Moore, who's been the head of this whole CourtSide facility. So it was just kind of like relationships that we've created over the last three years. Jordan Lawley wears nothing but my stuff, so it's just like they wanted my brand out there amongst the rest of them."
Opening this July in Port Melbourne, CourtSide represents a one-of-a-kind facility for Australian basketball fans as the sport rapidly climbs in popularity across the country.
James' Ryoko Rain is one of many brands that will have a store inside the complex, but he admits that while Australians have always made up a large chunk of his clientele, the idea of a store Down Under wasn't one he had considered before this opportunity arose.
"[An Australian store had] never really crossed my mind," James said.
"I'd never really kind of taken the time just to realise or just even go back to how many Aussies have kind of supported and worn my brand over the last couple of years - and there's a lot.
"I didn't realise how much it made sense until we actually pulled the trigger and we're actually here.
"Early on when I first started, Australia was one of my biggest international markets, and I know with shipping difficulties overseas and all that, wait time on packages, it just made sense to be here locally and just make it a lot easier for the Australian community to be a part of our brand."
The brand has found a sweet spot in the sports and fashion intersection, producing unique jackets and other apparel frequently seen in NBA tunnel fits, while also creating on-court training gear used by the world's top players, including LeBron James.
"I would say [Ryoko Rain is a] very unique combo of streetwear and sportswear," James said.
"I know we're going and leaning more towards being luxury streetwear, but I always will have that basketball and athletic influence and inspiration in a lot of our pieces that we create, and that's definitely my love for sport, my love for basketball.
"When I first introduced our brand the tunnel fit was already a thing, but that's really what helped push Ryoko Rain was we were in the tunnel instantly."
However, James also pointed out that the range of athletes wearing his product was not limited to one sport.
"It's not just basketball, Sam Kerr was a big supporter as soon as I started my brand, she was wearing our shorts like three or four years ago," he said.
"If [an athlete] likes it, they'll wear it, I think that's what some people don't really realise. Like, they're getting clothes thrown at them all the time, they're going to wear what they like. That's kind of like what was working for us, they genuinely liked Ryoko Rain, and they wanted to wear it, and that's how we just kept seeing tunnel photo after tunnel photo."
(CourtSide)
Now physically established in Australia, James and Ryoko Rain are excited to build alongside his fellow store owners in the CourtSide facility, including one of the country's rising NBA stars - Dyson Daniels.
"I don't know if you've seen the Courtside facility, but his new brand, Vouseti, sits right next to mine," James said.
"So our spaces are right next to each other. It's just awesome because he's kicking off his new brand, but he's just always been a big supporter of mine."
But Daniels isn't the only Australian NBA player to support Ryoko Rain, with James collecting an impressive list of Boomers to don his threads.
"Being a basketball junkie all my life, finally seeing Patty Mills in my Clippers collab last season, seeing him support the hat [is cool]," James said.
"I've been a big Matthew Dellavedova fan, so seeing him when he was with the Sacramento Kings wear my shorts I did, the beam shorts, just seeing that was pretty cool, and of course Josh Giddey, he's been a big supporter for the last couple of years."
James made the flight from California to Melbourne to attend the opening of his new store, as basketball fans across the country eagerly await having their very own amusement park.
But for the owner of the prestigious brand, he says that there is nothing that beats the feeling of seeing somebody wearing Ryoko Rain, from an NBA MVP to a regular joe on the street.
"It's really addicting, and obviously motivating, you know? It just keeps the fire alight. Like, as soon as you see that, we know what we're doing is working."