OG Anunoby made history this summer. In Game 4 of the NBA Finals, the seemingly unstoppable New York Knicks found themselves down by 29 points with less than half the game remaining. In the face of defeat, the hometown heroes persevered, chipping away at a seemingly insurmountable deficit. The impossible turned to the improbable. Then the improbable became probable. In the closing moments of what would become the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history, Jalen Brunson attempted a high-arcing three-point shot as millions of fans held their breath. When the shot ricocheted off the rim, Anunoby was already soaring through the air, seemingly unfettered by the laws of physics that govern the rest of us. With flawless timing, reminiscent of a perfectly choreographed ballet, he connected with the ball, tipping it in with under two seconds left on the clock.

It was, for any Knicks fan born after the last Knicks championship in 1973, the greatest basketball moment of their lives. In the postgame conference that night, the forward intoned simply: “It feels cool. I mean, everyone’s pretty excited. I’m excited too.” The room erupted with giddy laughs at his totally unshaken response, and he grinned. The Knicks went on to win their next game, bringing a championship to the city for the first time since 1973.

In a recent episode of Hot Ones Versus, outspoken OG Anunoby fan Anne Hathaway described the play as “poetry in motion.” The acrobatic feat, certainly the most sensational moment of Anunoby’s playoff run, overshadowed a broader narrative: he had one of the greatest shooting postseasons in history. For perspective, the average long-range shooting percentage for small forwards this past postseason was 36%. The best shooting postseason for Stephen Curry, the greatest shooter of all time, clocked in at 42%—albeit on very high volume. Throughout the Knicks’ now-legendary run, Anunoby shot 49% from three-point range. Anunoby’s coolheadedness coupled with his on-court knack for the magnificent has cultivated a unique kind of maniacal fandom. Teammate Jose Alvarado recently posted a video of his own daughters on Instagram, pleading with their father to name their new baby brother “OG.”

When I sit with Anunoby this past summer and dive into the finals, he mimics the same laissez-faire attitude that generated laughs after Game 4. “It was nice. It feels great to win. I was happy.” At my insistence that it was perhaps more than nice, maybe even extremely exciting, Anunoby replies with feigned dismay: “It was great! No one believes me, I know it. You don’t believe me. I promise I care,” he smiles. After a beat: “It was really fun too. It’s better than losing.”

Anunoby was born in London, but moved to Jefferson City, Missouri, at the age of four. From an early age, he was playing every sport, but focused on basketball because A) he loved Allen Iverson and B) “[he] was very good at it.” In 2019, his second NBA season, he was an instrumental part of the upstart Toronto Raptors’ rotation, before an emergency appendectomy sidelined him for their championship playoff run. The team’s subsequent win nonetheless made him the first British NBA player to win an NBA title. Anunoby made his Knicks debut in 2024 and quickly became a fan favorite. Poet and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib, perhaps best known for his book There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension, describes his affinity for Anunoby’s game: “I think OG is a massively stabilizing force on a Knicks team that thrives on riding highs and lows. He offsets some of that volatility because he can always find something that is working for him on the floor.”

This admiration is mirrored by everyone who speaks about Anunoby. Teammate Landry Shamet, who too played a pivotal role in the Knicks’ championship run, characterizes the duality of Anunoby’s personas in and out of games. “Off the court, he’s just always joking. He brings this really good lightheartedness to our locker room and never really takes anything too seriously in that sense. But in between the lines, he’s as serious as they come.” Another teammate, Tyler Kolek, describes Anunoby’s on-court disposition simply: “He’s never too high, never too low. As you can see in that famous tip.” The fated play this past summer is owed to Anunoby’s unique marriage of free-wheeling charisma coupled with in-game laser focus. “Jalen [Brunson] shot, missed it. [Anunoby] didn’t put his head down. He crashed the glass, tipped it in, and the rest is history,” says Kolek.

In basketball, like in all pro sports, adrenaline can easily rattle players. Teammate Josh Hart argues that Anunoby’s ability to stay “comfortable” is one of his many assets. “OG is such a dynamic player. He’s always comfortable in those big moments and finds a way to come through when we need him. He’s aggressive, physical, and locked in. He’s able to turn that switch on when he needs to,” says Hart, who adds: “Off the court, he might be even more comfortable. The guy you see in the media is the same guy we see in the locker room—just an all-around great guy.” This ability to weather the game’s volatility is a superpower for a professional athlete. It has made Anunoby one of the league’s most coveted players, an unflappable three-point shooter and incomparable slasher, the quintessential modern NBA player: tall with a broad wingspan, strong but hyper-mobile, an agile defender. He is, to put it plainly, a winner.

This same confidence courses through his sense of style, which he describes as “elegant” and “simple.” He recalls first wearing Burberry trench coats as a kid—and then cementing them in his wardrobe when he made the league. “When I first got to the NBA, in my rookie season, I always had [Burberry] trench coats,” he says. In a 2020 Uninterrupted video, he argues with his flabbergasted then-teammate Serge Ibaka, insisting, “I put you on how to dress.” Their tête-à-tête culminates in a repetitive (and viral) retort from Anunoby: “What about scarves?” When I ask him about claiming responsibility for Ibaka’s style, he quickly acquiesces: “I was just joking, but I did always wear scarves. It’s quite cold in Toronto. Neck warmth was important to me.” 

Anunoby keeps London close to his heart; he hosts camps in the UK every summer, and is creating a court in partnership with the city’s mayor, Sadiq Khan. “Basketball is not that big [in the UK]. It’s growing, but it’s not that big compared to France, where there are courts everywhere. And so [my goal is] just growing the game,” he says. “I think he brings his little London flair to all his outfits that he wears,” says Kolek, who has become a bit of a fashion darling himself.

Throughout our shoot, a gaggle of teenage boys gathers in an adjacent window, gawking at Anunoby and seemingly responsive, like marionettes, to every move he makes. After a few poses, Anunoby offers a wave, sending them into a maniacal frenzy of laughter and grins. At the conclusion of a laborious day, Anunoby stands outside for fifteen minutes, greeting the ravenous youngsters who have been anticipating his departure. Like a candle ignited by a flame, each kid flares up from the moment they make contact with the towering hooper. He patiently goes down the line, delivering high-fives, taking pictures, and dapping up teens in uniforms, wearing his patented soft smile.

As the season approaches, Anunoby’s unflappability makes the future feel like his past: manageable. “Everyone’s going to try their hardest against us, just naturally being the defending champions. Right now, everyone’s on 10, excited for the season. As the season comes, everything will calm down a little bit.” When I ask him if expectations have changed, he’s similarly cool: “I think every team expects to win. So [expectations] haven’t changed, even though we won.” Then, with a flash of the between-the-lines laser-focus, exalted by his teammates: “Just gonna try and do it again.”

Photography Blair Getz Mezibov

Fashion Raymond Gee

Creative Director / Editor-In-Chief Stephen Gan

Groomer Mirna Jose (See Management)

Digital Director Mathias Rosenzweig

Editor Kev Ponce

Fashion Market Editor Gabby Buchan

Interview / VMAN Editor-at-Large Charlie Kolbrener

Executive Producer Kevin Warner (Wak Creative)

Associate Producer Nick Lambrakis (Wak Creative)

Set Designer Isaiah Weiss

Dop / Lighting Director Corey Danieli

1st Ac Neilson Tam

Digital Tech James O’Brien

Steadicam Adam Kim

Production Assistants Brandon Tejada & Tim Uzor (Wak Creative)

Styling Assistant Hannah Cabrera

Set Designer Assistant Mikel Durlam

Location East Coast Sports & Fitness