Jaren Jackson Jr. is used to being the center of attention. Not only is he usually the tallest guy in the room, even if the room we are talking about is an NBA locker room, but his attitude and clothes make him even more visible than a guy over 210 centimeters might be. The Memphis Grizzlies forward, however, has learned not to listen to the judgments of others and to listen only to his passions and insights. "I mean I never cared about what they think, I never cared about anything like that so this is why I think I’ve got as far as I got cause I wear the weirdest, craziest stuff. But I like actually to look good and fly sometimes, put something you actually like, put stuff on it that makes sense and that's what we’re doing here." Arriving in Italy, Florence to be precise, for Pitti Uomo where he will launch his first collaboration with the Mauna Kea brand, we couldn't pass up the opportunity not to make Jaren Jackson Jr. the third star of More Than.

Mauna Kea is a 100% Made In Italy brand that right from its name reveals its fascination with exotic and tropical places, now interpreted through the taste and style of the US basketball player. It is an unexpected collaboration, combining the materials and quality of Italian tradition with the hype of the world's most fashion-conscious and style-conscious league, but one that according to Jaren Jackson Jr. was extremely natural. "Obviously I won't collaborate with anybody if I didn’t think it would be a healthy relationship or I don’t think that the clothes were something I didn’t wanna see or something I didn’t wanna wear. But I also wanna have my own collection, my own staple in the industry. I mean I have had this great relationship with the brand over the years and I’m blessed that we’re being able to do something I always want to do. Having my name on the shirt, something I know from the fabric, the quality of the materials is a dream come true."

Jackson Jr, or Triple J as he calls himself in his projects and on his social channels, is one of the young NBA talents who is most attentive to his personal image, which he takes care of down to the smallest detail. However, not to respond to already written codes but to create new ones, experimenting and innovating without regard to judgments. "You're gonna not care about whatever, anybody says at any point at any time because it is a waste of time. Cause at the end of the day people are only going to like what you do if you like it, so this is the only way the things works. if you even care about it, if you like your stuff that’s the key. But if you want a major key, it doesn’t even matter if they like it, It’s just matter if you like it and if you can have a good night sleep".

Even though his Memphis Grizzlies this season have established themselves as one of the most up-and-coming teams in the wake of Ja Morant's leaps beyond the stratosphere and they were stopped in the playoffs only by the Golden State Warriors, Jackson Jr. doesn't compare himself too much to his young locker room mates when he has to choose an outfit. "I haven’t listened to feedback on what I’m wearing since 2017, cause it doesn’t even matter. You can wear whatever you want and they’re gonna say whatever they want. I wore everything under the sun, I wore leopard, I wore zebra, I wore shorts, I wore tight jeans, I wore big pants, I wore striped stuff, I wore a bunch of chains, I wore a dog chain. I can’t think of anything else that I need to prove that I can wear, everyone knows how I am so that's even more fun."

In addition, the longtime Memphis Grizzlies player has always been a fan of anime, listing Naruto, Death Note and One Piece among his favorites, and he tells us that he "would love to collaborate with a lot of anime studios, I would like to have my own action figure and comic book dedicated to my character," but at the same time he knows how time-consuming it all is. And for athletes forced to juggle a thousand commitments, sporting and personal, it can seem really complicated to carve out space to create and follow interests outside the work sphere. Jackson, on the other hand, finds no difficulty in managing his passions and projects while his career on the field is maturing.

"I don't have trouble balancing all my interests, I have a stylist who helps me with clothes, buying it so I just have to worry about putting them on and see what I like and what I don’t like how to put it together sometimes, but for the most part she does a great job. If I have trouble balancing it I’d cut on something but I don't do everything at the same time. Sometimes I might record a lot for a week and then go months without recording anything. So it depends on the periods," he admits. What he never interrupts is his curiosity about his surroundings, "I find inspiration in everything, I haven't gone around much yet because I've only just arrived but I will definitely try to take an interest in everything around me. Then honestly I am here for my collection and my full concentration is on that." Because, as he explained before, if you put your whole self into the things you love, you don't have to worry about anything anymore.