2008 Woodie Awards
Has the NBA Dress Code Gone Too Far?
A new NBA dress code for all league business draws criticism from players.
Juan Bernal
Issue date: 10/28/05 Section: Sports
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This includes when players are leaving the arena, doing promotional business that is related to the team. It also bans items that are popular among players such as hats, throwback jerseys, chains, headphones, shorts and sunglasses.
To a certain degree I'm in obvious disagreement towards this dress code business. I think it's somewhat appropriate for the games, but other than that Commissioner Stern is taking this issue a lot farther than it has to go.
The games are official league business, whether you are playing or not. I can see why Stern would implement a dress code for that. The NBA is a $3 billion a year business. A significant sum of that profit comes from items such as throwback jerseys.
Some players that are in "street clothes" who aren't playing for whatever reason sit on the bench wear throwback jerseys. I think that the players are trying to show some appreciation by wearing an article of clothing that respects players such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. After all, you can't possibly talk about the history of the game without mentioning those three legends.
The NBA does not have an image problem. It did a few years ago when stars such as Allen Iverson and Latrell Sprewell were making headlines for the wrong reason.
It's true that the NBA markets the hip-hop culture, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I don't see why the NBA doesn't allow players to express themselves. I mean baseball has an image problem with all the steroids and stuff, and you don't see them instituting a dress code.
NFL and baseball guys dress more or less the same as NBA guys, and the NFL does not have a dress code. The thing that I think Commissioner Stern has gotten twisted is that the NBA is an entertainment business, not an office.
Entertainers don't possess the responsibility of representing themselves with the most professional clothing. Doing that would also affect their fan base. Many fans love to see guys like Allen Iverson sport du rags and $90,000 platinum chains.