Halloween is the perfect time to dress up as your favorite star athlete, but what about the athletes themselves? They also like to get in the spirit by donning costumes.
Countless athletes and pro sports teams throw Halloween-themed functions every year. It's always entertaining to see what kind of costumes they choose, and how much effort and creativity they actually put into it. There are always some big winners, but there are also very often some pathetic efforts that are worth mocking for a while.
As such, we'll be keeping tabs on the Halloween efforts across the sports world so that we can highlight (and grade) some of the standouts, for better or for worse.
JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pittsburgh Steelers
JuJu didn't put the most effort into his Halloween costume, but it's rather hilarious that he just decided to go trick or treating in full game day uniform and I'm sure he made the night for plenty of people.
Grade: C+
Juju trick or treating in full uniform. pic.twitter.com/XdK1qq4wfW
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) November 1, 2018
Happy Halloween!!!! 🎃 I got best costume for sure!!! 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/gi605di2c3
— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) November 1, 2018
LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron takes Halloween pretty seriously. Last year he nailed his Pennywise look, and this year he went as another classic scary movie look. His Jason Voorhees look was well put-together, and the gory makeup is a serious touch. Grade: A-
Mr. Voorhees pic.twitter.com/0KTTaohxtU
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 31, 2018
Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors
Klay went as Jackie Moon from "Semi-Pro" and he did a pretty good job. He even hauled around a tri-colored basketball to complete the look. The only thing he's missing is a little bit of hair.
Grade: B
LET’S GET TROPICAL! pic.twitter.com/C0inBkqjw5
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) November 1, 2018
Victor Oladipo, Indiana Pacers
The Pacers star showed up to their Halloween game in a full Black Panther costume, but it's one of those low quality suits with a cheap plastic mask. Next year he has to make a more serious investment.
Grade: C
Dressed as the Black Panther, @VicOladipo has arrived at MSG for Halloween hoops action! @Pacers vs. @nyknicks at 8:00pm/et on ESPN. pic.twitter.com/PUv0sr91bO
— NBA (@NBA) October 31, 2018
Robin Lopez, Chicago Bulls
Just incredible execution on Lopez's costume as Elliot from "E.T." He nailed pretty much every part of this.
Grade: A+
Two very different outfits 😂 #HappyHalloween pic.twitter.com/i9ctr23tL1
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) October 31, 2018
Elliott from E.T. or @rolopez42?! One will never know 😂 #HappyHalloween pic.twitter.com/MouaiHv9lp
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) October 31, 2018
Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings wideout and his pregnant wife decided to get creative with homemade costumes, and they nailed it. Spaghetti and Prego would be a pretty awesome couples costume for anyone, but the fact that she's expecting makes it infinitely better. Grade: A
Adam Thielen's wife is pregnant and their Halloween costume is everything ❤️😂 @athielen19 pic.twitter.com/DCVCaQVCyN
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) October 30, 2018
DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans
I still don't totally understand the 'Avatar' obsession, but there's no denying that D-Hop went all-out with this costume. The attention to detail is insane, from the makeup to the eyes to the accessories and everything in between. Just an awe-inspiring look. Washing all that off in the shower has got to be a pain, though. Grade: A+
Moe Harkless, Portland Trail Blazers
This is undoubtedly one of the best of this year's crop. The Blazers all showed up to a home game wearing Halloween costumes and Harkless stole the show (or at least shared it with Damian Lillard, as you'll see) with this Tyrone Biggums costume. It's pretty much perfect, and credit to him for committing to the bit with the neck-scratching.
Grade: A+
.@moe_harkless wins Halloween. ☠️
— theScore (@theScore) October 23, 2018
(📸 @trailblazers) pic.twitter.com/H9rUwlkSo5
Side note: Emmanuel sanders also went with the Biggums costume at Von Miller's annual Halloween party. His execution was pretty solid, too, and he caught some flak because a few uncultured news outlets decided to label it as a "cocaine-themed" costume. He basically was forced to justify his costume.
Tyron biggums is who I chose to be for Halloween. A character off the Chappelle show. For those who don’t know, for halloween you can be spooky, a superhero, funny. Etc.. I chose to be funny and I don’t see problem with that. I had alot of good laughs throughout the night. 🤙🏾
— Emmanuel Sanders (@ESanders_10) October 23, 2018
C'mon, what are we even doing here?
Brandon Marshall, Denver Broncos
The Broncos linebacker, like Sanders, landed in a little bit of hot water for his "cocaine-themed" costume. His fate was a bit more warranted, if you ask me, considering he went as Bobby Brown and carried a bag of faux-coke (see: flour) around and smeared it on his face. Maybe not the most tasteful (or well-executed) costume, but still not worthy of the controversy that it sparked.
Grade: C
Brandon Marshall, Emmanuel Sanders wear controversial costumes at Broncos Halloween party https://t.co/btThBBg3wu
— 9NEWS Denver (@9NEWS) October 24, 2018
An earlier tweet on this story was deleted due to an update to the headline. pic.twitter.com/fx97aSRYAP
Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
Dame brought a strong Stone Cold Steve Austin getup that included a mask, a 3:16 shirt and even a championship belt for good measure. He tied it all together with a cocky wrestler's walk. The only thing left to be desired was the vicious beer-drinking.
Grade: A-
And that’s the bottom line, because @Dame_Lillard said so. pic.twitter.com/JvIMyoVkJQ
— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) October 23, 2018
Matt Duchene, Ottawa Senators
Duchene went as a skeleton along with his wife, and normally that wouldn't be much to write home about. The facepaint is very well-done, but overall it's a pretty basic costume. HOWEVER! Upon further inspection, you'll see that it includes a very adorable (and yet also very unsettling) pregnancy announcement. That's cute. Or creepy. Or somewhere in the middle.
Grade: B
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
After dressing up as Donald Trump last Halloween, the NHL's golden child went with a more universally-beloved choice this year: Homer Simpson. He gave a pretty good effort, but his girlfriend overshadowed him with an exceptional Marge.
Grade: B
Ben Bishop, Dallas Stars
When you're 6-foot-7 and the tallest goalie in NHL history, The Beast from "Beauty and the Beast" is a pretty good choice for Halloween. It also helps if your wife, who dresses as Belle, is tiny! It also helps when you commit as hard as Bishop did here. Great stuff.
Grade: A
Another great Halloween party in the books!! #BeautyAndTheBeast pic.twitter.com/94XwIxvy5S
— Ben Bishop (@Benbishop30) October 22, 2018
Elena Delle Donne, Washington Mystics
Okay, so technically this isn't Delle Donne's costume, but rather one belonging to her dog. But considering the pup has a torn ACL and I highly doubt it came up with this Halloween costume on its own, I think it's fair to allot some credit to Delle Donne here. I'm a huge fan of someone making the best of a less-than-ideal situation and turning it into a great Halloween idea, so this Taco Bell idea is excellent stuff.
Grade: B+
Blake Coleman, New Jersey Devils
The Devils forward and his fiancé -- former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and current CBS Sports sideline reporter Jordan Daigle -- went as each other. A lot of the times this is a lazy cop-out move for uncreative people who need a last-second costume, but that doesn't appear to be the case here. The commitment here is outstanding, as are Blake's legs in those shorts.
Grade: B
Shaun White, Olympic snowboarder
Shaun White is old enough and has been in the public spotlight long enough to know that going as "Simple Jack" from 'Tropic Thunder' probably isn't the best idea...or so you would think. Unfortunately, White became this year's first athlete to take a misstep with a controversial costume, and he caught quite a bit of flak for it. Ultimately, he had to apologize to the Special Olympics for the insensitive getup.
Grade: F
Shaun White is facing backlash for dressing up as Simple Jack, an intellectually disabled character from Tropic Thunder, for Halloween. https://t.co/zmFWa78RHy pic.twitter.com/pDuysba4vz
— E! News (@enews) October 29, 2018
Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
The Capitals goaltender and his wife went as the lead characters from this year's hit movie 'A Star Is Born,' and they did a very good job of executing this timely costume. (Extra credit for the bag of peas on the hand.) However, it feels a bit like cheating considering Holtby is essentially Jackson Maine the other 364 days a year as well. Grade: B+
⭐️ Tell me something boy, aren’t you tired tryin’ to fill that void 🎤🎸 pic.twitter.com/NuxZKdn0UH
— Brandi Holtby (@bbholtby) October 29, 2018
Aaron Gordon, Orlando Magic
I feel like a fool for never realizing how much Aaron Gordon and Aaron Judge look alike until now. Honestly, it's freaking me out a little bit now. Anyway, good costume choice but the uniform critic in me has to subtract points for the name on the back of the Yankees jersey.
Grade: B
Aaron Gordon dressed up as Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees. pic.twitter.com/1em03LfBSz
— Chris Walder (@WalderSports) October 30, 2018
We'll continue updating this list as more costumes roll in. If you spot any noteworthy costumes that you think we should include, feel free to email them to pete.blackburn@cbsinteractive.com.