Paul Pierce attends Clippers game dressed as Rick James

Los Angeles Clippers reserve Paul Pierce stepped up to win the 2016 NBA Halloween MVP by dressing up as Rick James.

NBA players often get to express their personalities more than players in other leagues get to. There are less of them, their faces aren’t covered on TV, and individual players are marketed more  than they are in other leagues.

Whereas the NFL discourages individuality, the NBA embraces it as a part of their brand. Though the NBA’s dress code is usually strict, there is room for players to still have fun.

Come Halloween, the 19-39-year-old millionaires of the NBA often get creative with their costumes. While LeBron James emerged as the likely Halloween MVP over the weekend, Paul Pierce appears to have made a late push for the honors.

Paul Pierce dressed up as a pirate with his son Friday night. The Hook themed costume was well done, and Pierce definitely get points for having fun with his son. Based on his performance from Friday alone, Paul Pierce would be an NBA Halloween All-Star.

While most would expect the 39-year-old Paul Pierce to be done after dressing up with his son, he was not.

Paul Pierce is approaching his last NBA season and appears to want to have fun with it. The Clippers played the Suns today on Halloween, and the injured Pierce showed up to the game dressed as Rick James.

This Rick James costume has only been topped by Dave Chappelle and Rick James himself. Kudos to the league for allowing players to break dress code policies to have fun on days like Halloween.

As long as he didn’t agitate his ankle injury wearing Rick James’ boots, Paul Pierce scores a 10/10 this Halloween. He also likely edges LeBron James in MVP voting this Halloween, and questions about LeBron’s legacy will surely ensue.

Next: NBA: 2000s All-Decade First Team

Paul Pierce: 10-time All-Star, 2008 Finals MVP, future NBA Hall of Famer, and 2016 Halloween MVP.