Making her way onto the court inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday for her first-round match, the Japanese star wore a short-sleeved hoodie, red and black arm sleeves, and a full-length skirt.After eventually taking off her hood, she revealed she was wearing a black headband and had her hair done in cornrows.It turns out that she was cosplaying as NBA legend and Hall of Famer Allen Iverson.Naomi Osaka of Japan walks onto the court against Anastasia Zakharova during their Women's Singles First Round match on Day Two of the 2026 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 31, 2026, in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.
(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) (Julian Finney/Getty Images)FROM COLIN KAEPERNICK TO DYLAN MULVANEY, NIKE'S DECADE OF LEFT-WING ACTIVISM HAS FINALLY CAUGHT UP TO IT"It’s my, I guess, my tribute to Iverson.I really like him a lot," Osaka said after her first-round victory.
"I mean, Nike said basketball, so I said: ‘Okay, you want basketball, I’ll give you basketball.’"Nike going with a basketball theme for some of its athletes at this year's US Open in New York makes at least a bit of sense with the Knicks winning their first NBA title since 1973 back in June.World No.
1 Aryna Sabalenka wore an orange dress at the tournament, clearly paying homage to one of the Knicks' colors.Osaka tipping her cap to Iverson, however, makes absolutely zero sense for a plethora of different reasons.Naomi Osaka's dress lies on her bench while she's warming up for the first round on Day 2 of the US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 31, 2026, in New York City (Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images) (Robert Prange/Getty Images)OUTKICK IS NOW ON THE FOX APP: CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOADFor starters, Iverson never played for a New York franchise during his NBA career.He played collegiately at Georgetown in Washington, D.C., and originally hails from the state of Virginia.
Iverson spent t...