I’ve finally recovered from the genuine shock of seeing Dylan Frazier hit the court wearing a SpongeBob outfit from Volair at the Veolia Bristol Open.

I swear I went through the five stages of grief watching him play in this gear. 

Now that I’ve had some time to gather my thoughts on this intriguing clothing choice, it’s time we talk about it. 

If the goal was to draw attention to himself, Frazier definitely achieved that. 

Now, I’ve been a long-time critic of men’s pickleball fashion, especially with respect to trendsetters of the game (I’m looking at you, Ben Johns). If Johns can wear a wild mixture of 17 different colors on Championship Sunday when he’s winning another Triple Crown, so can everyone else. And that is truly horrifying. 

I’m not saying the guys have to go as far as Andre Agassi and his denim jorts, but we need some kind of intentionality regarding how men dress for professional tournament play.

But is this SpongeBob fit too much?

This is the second fit from Volair’s recent collaborations with various artists and iconic brands that Frazier sported on the 20x44. The first was the Keith Haring fit that I genuinely adored. Haring is a fine artist specializing in bold pop art graphics that are recognizable and charming. 

But a beloved kids cartoon about a yellow sponge with questionable adult humor? Not exactly the same level of sophistication. 

Look, I love SpongeBob. I watched the show growing up. I can still quote the majority of the old episodes I watched on repeat after school. 

But for fashion inspo, SpongeBob is not a polished muse. If anything, it's the opposite.

I could easily argue that Frazier’s SpongeBob fit is so childish that it makes a mockery of pickleball. After all, the popular Instagram account @memesofpickleball called it “the most diabolical fit to ever grace a pickleball court.”

And overwhelmingly, the comments agreed. A SpongeBob jersey isn’t helping the pickleball haters who believe it’s not a real sport when one of the best in the world is wearing this to compete. 

Honestly, the styling could have elevated this look. Styling is everything. And I’m imagining a slightly better reception if Frazier wore navy shorts, shoes, and socks to match the navy in the jersey. But wearing white and black shorts, plus red, white, and light blue court shoes is way too many colors for this look to be clean.   

Is there any other pro sport where the athletes get to wear things like this? Other than maybe baseball's Savannah Bananas, probably not. So do we celebrate that or grimace?

At the end of the day, this fit doesn’t make my personal best dressed list. But I applaud the ambition from Volair and Frazier to try new things and get the pickleball community talking about fashion. Not every fit is a hit. And while this is definitely a miss, it still made me laugh. 

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