NBA players do Halloween right

The NBA knows how to Halloween. In a league where players literally wear their personalities on their sleeves (i.e., epic amounts of tats), the holiday that usually lines up with the beginning of the regular season continues to bring out the best of players’ creative sides.

(Let’s be honest, NBA players have the most clever, funny costume concepts during Halloween. The NFL’s Richard Sherman dressed up like Harry Potter for a press conference? Relevant, much? And where are the signature thick-rimmed glasses? Total phone-in.)

With the NBA season just underway, and players worrying about getting into game shape and starting strong, you’d think there wouldn’t be much time for things like Halloween parties. Right? Wrong. LeBron James threw his second annual Cavaliers team party over the weekend and the squad was in full effect. The mood appeared to be especially jovial (if Richard Jefferson’s Snapchat is any indication), which should come as no surprise from the happy-go-lucky reigning champs, who keep reminding the rest of the league that nobody is having more fun than them.

Here is the best from Bron’s party, as well as some other NBA player costumes from over the weekend and from social media’s short, but well chronicled history.

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You have to start things off with a squad shot. The representation is strong for the buddy-buddy Cavs and presents a nice contrast to last year’s party from a player personnel changes perspective.

RIP, Delly as a doctor 2015. Also a tad eerie to see the King dress as Prince six months before his passing.

Now time for some individual costume breakdowns from this weekend’s party. LeBron chose to go as Jerome, who, for anyone under the age of 25, was a character from the ’90s sitcom Martin. It is brilliantly obscure and seemed to go with an overall 90s theme at the party. Kudos to LeBron for staying in full character for what seemed like the whole party.

Kevin Love  and girlfriend Kate Bock went as Lloyd and Harry, respectively, from Dumb and Dumber and won best couple costume for the second year running. Forgive me, but this idea has become tired. It was cool a few years ago, but has been cheapened and overdone. Dumb and Dumber To doesn’t make it any more relevant.

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Two better candidates for best couple were Mike Dunleavy and wife Sarah who went as all-denim Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. Way more original, even though it has been done before.

The real winners for best couple were Jordan McRae and his date Kandace Jemison going as Steve Urkel and Laura Winslow. (See the ’90s theme now?) Bonus points for posting the split-screen reenactment pose on Instagram.

Of course, Iman Shumpert always gets props for the effort he puts into his costumes, even if the Joker is the most overused costume in social media history. (At least it’s a new Joker this year?) The attention to detail on the tattoos is clutch. He’s pictured with wife Teyana Taylor as Harley Quinn.

Kyrie Irving stayed on brand with the ’90s theme, going as the Red Power Ranger. Not the most creative costume, but he did bust out some interpretive dance in the parking garage. So there’s that.

Last and certainly not least, Mike Mancias (LeBron’s personal trainer) took best costume honors for going as legendary NBA courtside fixture Jimmy Goldstein. Everyday is Halloween for Jimmy Hollywood, and Mancias clearly knocked this one out of the park.

To give some non-LeBron Halloween party costumes some love, here is Russell Westbrook as Joe Dirt. Russ is already the god of NBA hipster fandom, so to go as the lead character from an early 2000’s underappreciated cult comedy only solidifies his deity.

Going more topical than his other NBA brethren, Nick Collison went as Pablo Escobar from Narcos, proving his Netflix game is in mid-season form.

Thunder sharpshooter Anthony Morrow also kept it relevant/nostalgic, as he and Ray Westbrook (brother to Russ) payed homage to West Coast hip hop as Eazy-E and Snoop Dogg.

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And then there’s “currently-out-of-the-NBA-but-planning-a-combeback” Larry Sanders, who appeared to organize his own photo shoot as Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Wishing you the best on your comeback, Larry.

And to pay homage to some great NBA Halloween costumes of yesteryear, here is Dirk Nowitzki as Lurch of the Addams Family. (From literally last year.) This costume illustrates the untapped potential for NBA players to dress as really tall people, since us normal height mortals can’t pull it off.

Sticking with last year’s Mavs’ party, props to Wesley Matthews for this Army figurine costume.

More from the Mavs — here is Deron Williams and wife Amy as Khal Drogo and Khaleesi from Game of Thrones. Very strong.

For a throwback that just makes everyone feel uncomfortable now, here are members of the 2015-16 Thunder during happier times at Nick Collison’s party last year. The effort put into Kevin Durant’s Miles Logan costume just feels riddled with betrayal one year after the fact.

And of course, we wrap things up with the greatest NBA Halloween costume of all time: Serge Ibaka as Akeem from Coming to America. When you think of garbage, think of Ibaka!