Lu Dort apparently wears James Harden shoes in the bubble but not during games

Lu Dort explained to Taylor Rooks why he wears James Harden shoes in the NBA bubble but not during the first-round playoff games.

There was a scene in Like Mike where Calvin saw his favorite player, Allen Iverson, during shootaround before the game. He went up and, to AI’s disbelief, asked for an autograph.

A veteran teammate brought Calvin back over to his side of the court. “Players don’t ask players for autographs,” the teammate said.

Now, that’s certainly not what happened in the NBA bubble, but it’s a funny image that comes to mind with reporter Taylor Rooks’ observation about the shoe choice of Oklahoma City Thunder’s Lu Dort.

Walking around the bubble, Dort wears shoes of fellow former Arizona State University player James Harden, Rooks tweeted.

In the games against Harden’s Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs, Dort does not.

Rooks asked why.

Apparently, he and Thunder point guard Chris Paul had a discussion about this.

It’s not the same as Like Mike: There’s no indication that Harden was Dort’s favorite players growing up. Wearing a pair of shoes of an opponent isn’t unheard of, and some athletes even asked stars like Kobe Bryant for shoes and autographs. Plus, as Dort said, it was his choice.

Yet it’s still funny to imagine the conversation he and Paul may have had.

Twitter also had some jokes about what may have gone down.

Like that final reaction alludes to, Dort has had more success guarding Harden than almost anyone else in the NBA this series, even if he’s not wearing his usual shoes.

He doesn’t have to be like Mike to do so. Only like Lu.