basketball shorts?

This is about the strangest thing I ever bought at a yard sale. The gentleman was 90 years old if he was a day, and he told me he wore these shorts when he was in high school, when he was on his high school basketball team. To me, they look more military than anything. They lace up the sides, and frankly, I can't tell which is the front and which is the back. I don't remember what I paid for them, I just bought them because they were so old and because they were in great shape.