NBA establishes dresscode

[MaxFly]

NEW YORK - David Stern wanted to come up with a dress code that wouldn’t restrict his players.

So he picked one that wouldn’t bother his owners, either.

“What we came up with is a dress code that even Mark Cuban could comply with — if he wanted to,” Stern said Tuesday.

But the new policy is taking some heat already, with Indiana Pacers guard Stephen Jackson telling ESPN that the league ban on chains worn over clothing is "a racist statement" from the league.

Jackson said he had no problem with requiring players to dress better. But he drew the line at players being told their chains and necklaces can’t be visible over their clothes.

“I just think that’s attacking young, black males,” said Jackson, who wore four chains to the Pacers exhibition game against San Antonio on Tuesday night. “The part about wearing suits, I think we should dress up. A lot of guys have gotten sloppy with the way they dress and I have no problem with that. But the chains, that’s going a little too far.”

Jackson told ESPN that the policy on jewelry was "a racist statement because a lot of the guys who are wearing chains are my age and are black. I wore all my jewelry today to let it be known that I'm upset with it.

"I'll wear a suit every day. I think we do need to look more professional because it is a business. A lot of guys have gotten sloppy with the way they dress. But it's one thing to [enforce a] dress code and it's another thing if you're attacking cultures, and that's what I think they're doing."

"I know a lot of guys on my team are upset and I have no problem speaking up on it," Jackson said to ESPN.

He did say, however, that he wouldn't openly defy the rule because he didn't want to pay fines.

On Monday, the NBA announced in a memo to teams that a dress code will go into effect at the start of the season. Saying players must dress in “business casual” attire, the league banned items such as sleeveless shirts, shorts, sunglasses while indoors, and headphones during team or league business.

The policy also requires players on the bench who are not in uniform to wear sport jackets, shoes and socks.

And while Stern knows some players will be critical of the policy, he said there was no reason to be, as even jeans are still allowed.

“As it’s properly understood, it will be embraced,” he said. “The union’s fine with it. It’s quite liberal and easygoing.”

Cleveland star LeBron James was among those who saw the reasoning behind the new rules.

“Sometimes you feel lazy on a flight and you don’t want to put (dress) clothes on,” James said. “But this is a job and we want to have fun, but it’s a job and we should look like we’re going to work.”

Stern pointed out that when the topic was brought up during collective bargaining, the teams “preferred that we do it as a group.”

Even so, many NBA players are more comfortable dressing like the fans they cater to. And Cuban, the maverick owner of the Dallas Mavericks, often dresses in T-shirts and jerseys.

“We don’t really sell to big business,” Phoenix guard Raja Bell said. “We sell to kids and people who are into the NBA hip-hop world. They may be marketing to the wrong people with this.”

But, as Stern pointed out, the reputation of the league’s players had fallen to a point that was “not as good as our players are.” That’s why he believes — and insists — the players will readily go along with his policy.

“We have a minimum standard that we’ve set that reflects on the professionals in our sport and you’re going to do it,” he said. “We’re certain that it will be complied with.”

[kbfprince]

It brings more class to the NBA.

[rcpbball30]

I agree with the new dress code for the most part. It is a business, and the players should handle themselves in a classy manner. Although when players who are out and are sitting on the bench are required slacks, collared shirt, and a dress coat. I really don't think a sport coat is necesary, but that's just me.

[bigted]

The fans that go to the game are allowed to wear doo-rags and chains if they want to so why can't the players do the same if they choose to? I don't think it was really distracting anybody, the focus is more on the players on the court than the ones sitting out on the sidelines anyway, the players should be able to wear what they choose to if they're not playing in the game, if they wanna wear a sportcourt that should be their option, they shouldn't be forced to. I don't think player behavior has to do with how they dress unless they start pulling each others chains off! :stickpoke: :rofl:

[MaxFly]

The fans that go to the game are allowed to wear doo-rags and chains if they want to so why can't the players do the same if they choose to? I don't think it was really distracting anybody, the focus is more on the players on the court than the ones sitting out on the sidelines anyway, the players should be able to wear what they choose to if they're not playing in the game, if they wanna wear a sportcourt that should be their option, they shouldn't be forced to. I don't think player behavior has to do with how they dress unless they start pulling each others chains off! :stickpoke: :rofl:

The NBA wants to get away from the "thug/hood rich" imagery that they deem has become prevalent throughout the league... It doesn't matter what the fans in the stands are wearing, they aren't the ones getting paid. Players represent their teams even though they may sit in the stands and not play. Stern is trying to open up the market base to more of suburbia, people who may be turned off by some of the image issues the NBA has had to deal with. It's more about ticket sales and image than anything else as Stern is trying to make these players more widely marketable.

Legally, players don't have the right to wear what they want if the league specifies otherwise. While they are on league business... their "image" belongs to the league. It's part of what they give up when they sign multi-million dollar deals.

These rules are pretty specific. It probably would have been better to just ban chains, doo rags, caps, baggy jeans and messy clothing in general as a first step and then see how things progressed.

[rcpbball30]

Yeah, David Stern came out saying how laid-back the policy was going to be. It seems to be quite specific to me. I just wonder how all of this started, just a few days ago I heard about it and all of a sudden, there's a dress code, it just kinda came out of nowhere.

[bigted]

Well basketball is entertainment, that'd be like forcing all rappers/singers to wear suits at their concerts, it's not like they're in a board meeting then I'd see that's when they'd have to wear suits, dressin' normal actually shows that you could relate to the people, as long as they ain't sloppy though I agree with that point, the commissioner should just make sure the players iron their shirts, lol. You have to go after the character more than after what the person wears 'cause like Allen Iverson said on ESPN today even murderers could wear suits but they're still murderers, the only way the NBA's image could improve is if the players don't fight with each other. Surburban people are into the 'hood lifestyle though 'cause hip-hop's the most popular music genre and that's music of 'hood lifestyle, when Run-Dmc dressed normal wearing Adidas everybody related to them 'cause that's how people dress in real life. Less people have been watching the NBA recently 'cause it hasn't been that competitive as it was when we had Jordan, Barkley, Ewing, etc in their primes but we do seem to be going in a new era with Lebron, Carmelo, Wade, etc. coming of age so I think this year could be the best in years.

[WesSyde]

i'm neutral on this situation. i feel both sides. NBA players should be able to wear jewelry, it looks good even when ur wearing a suit. players are rich so of course they're gonna own jewelry. of course i don't believe it's racist when about 90% (i'm guessing) of the league is composed of blacks.

[MaxFly]

Well basketball is entertainment, that'd be like forcing all rappers/singers to wear suits at their concerts, it's not like they're in a board meeting then I'd see that's when they'd have to wear suits, dressin' normal actually shows that you could relate to the people, as long as they ain't sloppy though I agree with that point, the commissioner should just make sure the players iron their shirts, lol. You have to go after the character more than after what the person wears 'cause like Allen Iverson said on ESPN today even murderers could wear suits but they're still murderers, the only way the NBA's image could improve is if the players don't fight with each other. Surburban people are into the 'hood lifestyle though 'cause hip-hop's the most popular music genre and that's music of 'hood lifestyle, when Run-Dmc dressed normal wearing Adidas everybody related to them 'cause that's how people dress in real life. Less people have been watching the NBA recently 'cause it hasn't been that competitive as it was when we had Jordan, Barkley, Ewing, etc in their primes but we do seem to be going in a new era with Lebron, Carmelo, Wade, etc. coming of age so I think this year could be the best in years.

Basketball is a form of entertainment, but basketball players aren't singers/rappers. They aren't individuals representing themselves; they represent their teams and the league when carrying out team or league business. As a result, both teams and the league as a whole have some say in how they are represented. This is where the whole concern about image comes in.

Iverson makes a good point in implying that clothes don't make the man. At the same time, clothes do play a role in how people portray themselves. Murderer or not, how you dress will affect how people regard you. This dress code is simple cosmetics. If the NBA was to truly go after the characters of players, many players would balk and complain about the NBA intruding in their personal lives.

Suburbia isn't really into the "hood lifestyle." Most are simply spectators. It's entertainment for them, it's not their reality, and the ones that do enjoy the hip hop culture are not the ones the NBA is attempting to pander to. Incidentally, if business casual is too out of touch for general NBA fans, the NBA is in more trouble than they realize.

A lot of these players should be ashamed that the NBA has to tell them to dress better in the first place.

[bigted]

I guess the NBA wants to pander to an older audience that doesn't like the hip-hop lifestyle then, but don't rappers/singers represent the record label they're signed to as well at the same time? That's an industry too, I see no difference, those who are in charge of record labels could have a say in what an artist does too 'cause they're the employers. I hope they don't make the game so boring that younger people'll get turned off from it though.

Edited October 20, 2005 by bigted

[MaxFly]

I guess the NBA wants to pander to an older audience that doesn't like the hip-hop lifestyle then, but don't rappers/singers represent the record label they're signed to as well at the same time? That's an industry too, I see no difference, those who are in charge of record labels could have a say in what an artist does too 'cause they're the employers. I hope they don't make the game so boring that younger people'll get turned off from it though.

Yes, rappers/singers do represent their labels, but not to the extent that NBA players are associated with and represent teams. Also, having a record contract and having an NBA contract are two different things. There are specific rules in the NBA that have to be followed, and an NBA player agrees to follow these rules when they sign a contract. There aren't as many rules and guidelines to follow in music.

Also, lets say a music artist were to sign a contract specifying a dresscode, they would have to dress in whatever manner they were asked to. The NBA is basically trying to control the image of the league.

Remember, many of you guys have argued that Sony forced Will to do party songs and to dumb things down. If you really believe that, it may not be a dress code, but it is control over the image an artist.

[bigted]

There's not really that much of an image problem in the NBA, they're going after the wrong industry, sex doesn't sell in the NBA, the quality of the games is what turns people on to go to the games. Shouldn't they crack down on liquor ads with half naked women in them too when they show the game too though? They won't though 'cause they get paid lots of money for that. I think that's worse than a player wearing a doo-rag and a t-shirt, that's hypocritical just like when they got on TO for that ad he did when they focus on cheerleaders wearing barely nothing during games, but they sell a lot of cheerleader calenders so that's ok for them too I guess, they don't care about image, they just wanna get paid, they probably wanna add more white players to the NBA too, they probably think that the NBA's too black and maybe if there was more white players it'd be even more popular even if they fight with each other they probably wouldn't care that much either 'cause white hockey players fight all the time and it's ok, that's a whole another discussion though. Back to my point about sex doesn't sell in the NBA though, for example if the Knicks won 50 games every game would sell out at Madison Square Garden but it's different with music where there's more of an image problem I think, they actually force artists to be negative and have half naked girls in their videos instead of showing the positive side of the 'hood, not every woman in the 'hood is a hoe, there's too many negative stereotypes out there. I don't think it really was Sony that wanted Will to do party songs, it was his decision probably 'cause JJFP's all about having fun anyway, they're from the ol' school where everyone was going "yes yes y'all" and "throw ya hands in the air", just clean fun, nothin' negative about that, you could say though that Will wanted to show more of his serious side but they didn't allow him to release "The Rain".

Edited October 20, 2005 by bigted

[MaxFly]

Players are what market teams, not the cheerleaders or sex. As I have said, this is a cosmetic and negligible change; small in the scheme of things... but there is nothing wrong in wanting your players to dress more professionally when they are on your time. Especially when you're paying them millions to be on your time and to represent you.

Incidentally, I really can't take anything Iverson says too seriously. He also though "practice" was too intrusive.

[bigted]

Players market teams by the way they play on the court, not what they wear on the sidelines so I consider that a pointless issue that didn't need to be addressed, if the Atlanta Hawks lose 70 games this year nobody'll go watch them no matter how "neat" they're dressed. If they're really concerned about image they'd drop liquor ads with half naked women in them and if they really hated hip-hop that much they wouldn't let rappers attend all-star weekend and have all those hip-hop events there. David Stern said a couple years ago that he wanted more hip-hop to be in the NBA to attract younger audiences now all of a sudden he says he doesn't want it, what the NBA needs mostly is players with skills on every team.

Edited October 20, 2005 by bigted