View Full Version : the nba dress code.
i'm not entirely sure about all of the rules involved in it. do any of you guys know when it's to be enforced? i know it is enforced when a player on the injured list is present on the bench at a game, but is it in effect when a player steps off the team bus?
i'd just like to get a little more info before i fully commit to saying it is one of the most ridiculous rules i have ever heard of.
elgigante
10-19-2005, 12:39 AM
all i know is that iverson and stephen a smith are pissed. and that is all that counts
my sex is artsy
10-19-2005, 12:41 AM
I can't wait to hear Screamin' A. Smith talk about how David Stern is crippling contemporary urban culture and cannot to relate to the young, rich black man and therefore must step down as the NBA Commissioner. Smith will then nominate Jay-Z to run the NBA.
ok, i've found out a little more. apparently the dress code is enforced when a player is at an autograph session. that's just fucking retarded.
my sex is artsy
10-19-2005, 01:28 AM
ok, i've found out a little more. apparently the dress code is enforced when a player is at an autograph session. that's just fucking retarded.
At least Stern is letting them dress biz cash.
I just can't wait until guys start playing the rules.
vBookie on the first guy to show up in a suede patchwork Rocawear sports jacket, or something equally ridiculous.
elgigante
10-19-2005, 01:49 AM
No fair cause it will be Mr Penthouse Ron Artest.
elgigante
10-19-2005, 01:49 AM
50k on Artest being first
stephen jackson sure as shit isn't happy about this.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2197001
Indiana Pacers guard Stephen Jackson, contending that a league ban on chains worn over clothing is "a racist statement" from the league, wore every long, diamond-studded chain in his collection Tuesday night as a protest.
Jackson voiced no opposition to the bulk of the "business casual" demands in the NBA's new dress code, but he described the jewelry ban as "attacking young black males."
mpt0069
10-19-2005, 02:37 AM
Everything is racisms.
I don't think a dress code is really that big of deal. They aren't being told how to dress at home or anything like that. We have a dress code at work as I am sure many of you others do. One thing I did find hilarious though is Marcus Camby thought that all players deserve a "uniform allowance" so they can purchase new clothes....
Heres a link that goes over the memo from Stern
http://www.insidehoops.com/dress-code.shtml
Lots of pop ups on that site, but if you go to the boards, there is a big long thread of people arguing this whole issue as well.
my sex is artsy
10-19-2005, 02:55 AM
I really don't think its that ridiculous either. I'd give the dudes a little leeway, and let them rock a medallion. But the biz-cash get up isn't that bad.
cottonzway
10-19-2005, 05:47 PM
Even though Steven Jackson is more of a goon then anyone in the NHL I do think he has a point. The NBA wants to sell the game to white people. They don't want the "image" of the black, inner city culture to be showed to the masses. The thing is that he where a good % of their players come from. You are asking someone to be something they are not.
I can see why some of the players are upset......
HOWEVER....this shouldn't be recent news to them. It was in the CBA a few months ago. If players felt it was an issue then that had the option of speaking up on it then. If you are in a union and don't follow what the hell your union is doing then shame on you. It goes back to the "you can't complain about the government unless you vote" theory. They knew it then (or should have) and said NOTHING at the time. Too bad.
I don't think a dress code is really that big of deal. They aren't being told how to dress at home or anything like that. We have a dress code at work as I am sure many of you others do. One thing I did find hilarious though is Marcus Camby thought that all players deserve a "uniform allowance" so they can purchase new clothes....
Heres a link that goes over the memo from Stern
http://www.insidehoops.com/dress-code.shtml
Lots of pop ups on that site, but if you go to the boards, there is a big long thread of people arguing this whole issue as well.
i can understand a dress code during a game, but i think it's silly to have enforced during things like autograph sessions or the walk to the locker room.
i guess i just don't really understand the motives behind it, i don't think what the players wear is the problem with the nba. does stern really think that having the players wear suits is going to make the league more respectable? no matter how nicely they are dressed, players like artest, sprewell, alston, bryant, et al. are still going to tarnish the league's rep.
and i don't think it's really fair for all the people that argue "well, you have to wear a suit for your job, so why doesn't it make sense that they wear one for theirs?" professional sports obviously aren't comparable to a blue collar job. a more apt comparision to the nba is other professional sports, and as far as i know (don't hold me to this, i could be wrong) no other sports have a dress code for it's athletes, be it the nfl, nhl, mlb, pro boxing, or mma.
i just think it's silly that david stern is telling grown men what they can and cannot wear, and if they don't like it, they get suspended.
Even though Steven Jackson is more of a goon then anyone in the NHL I do think he has a point. The NBA wants to sell the game to white people. They don't want the "image" of the black, inner city culture to be showed to the masses. The thing is that he where a good % of their players come from. You are asking someone to be something they are not.
I can see why some of the players are upset......
Stop pulling the race card when this is about professionalism in your job and not race. Are you saying black people can't dress professionally? Here are some quotes and an article by eddie jordan(former player)
From the celtics responses to the press:
"No biggie, say the Celts. ``I mean, it's cool,'' Ricky Davis said. ``It's not real harsh. It just changes the image a little. Guys just got to grow up I guess. They're just trying to exclude some things. It's simple to me. Guys need to go out and buy some clothes and start something new.'' Added Paul Pierce, ``You knew it was coming in. I've got a couple of suits in the closet I've got to dust off.
Eddie Jordans article(sorry, got if from another site and don't have a direct link. I apologize for the long post)
Why is a dress code being enforced this season in the NBA? It's obviously all about image. The higher-ups are tired of the inmates running the asylum and they are trying to curtail the stampede with a variety of new rules. And I agree with this one in particular.
I remember when I came into the league and the dress code included a sport coat and nice slacks. It was a continuance of the discipline I encountered at the University of Illinois while playing under Lou Henson. I felt this gave me a sort of professionalism that was needed to validate my ascension to becoming a wealthy individual. I never once looked at it as a negative because I always equated dress with wealth.
Michael Jordan got the headlines in the 1980s with his variety of custom-made suits and impressive ties that he wore before every game. But at that time there were a number of players that set the fashion statement in the NBA. Hakeem Olajuwon, Kevin Willis, Scottie Pippen, Reggie Theus, Magic Johnson and even Charles Oakley with his bright suits set a standard among NBA players.
Looking good in suits was so popular that it became just as competitive as the games. I remember when I played with Reggie Theus in Kansas City and Sacramento. We would chastise him about the leather outfits he wore, but after a short while the whole team was shopping at North Beach Leather and dressing like him.
The most fun I had being competitive with dressing before games was when I played for the Charlotte Hornets during the 1993-94 season. That was by far
the most comical team I have ever played on in my life.
This club featured Larry Johnson, Alonzo Mourning and Muggsy Bogues. The fashion show before the game got so bad that you would have guys waiting in the parking lot before games so that they would be last in the locker room and everyone could see them when they walked in. Larry, Alonzo and Muggsy stood out because they wore a different outfit for all 82 games. It was not unusual for one of these players to have boxes of suits delivered into the locker room on a weekly basis. If you were their size, you reaped the benefits because they would only wear them once.
All the players had to stop in the middle of the dressing room and be critiqued when they arrived for a game. And, believe me, players would judge you all the way down to the underwear you were wearing. We had the most hilarious scenes in that locker room that I have ever witnessed on a basketball team.
The funny part about the whole thing was the fact that Muggsy Bogues, at 5-foot-2 inches, got his suits tailored-made. To this day, I still can't figure that one out ? especially when he was the only player in the league that could shop for his suits at Wal-Mart and find his size.
My point is this... Regardless of how it came to be, dressing for success was the theme of most NBA players for a number of years up until the mid 90s.
Then came hip-hop.
But don't blame it all on hip-hop. Let's point the finger at the high school and college coaches that have relaxed dress codes and allowed players to come to games in sweats, warmups and uniforms. This has carried over to the NBA in a big way.
I think David Stern has no major problems with players wearing retro jerseys and high-priced blue jeans, but now some players travel and come to games with warmups, t-shirts and bandanas on their heads. The dressing in the NBA has gotten severely out of hand and I, for one, am glad that it is coming to an end.
The one thing I realized about wearing a suit is that you act like a businessman and when you dress too casual you carry yourself that way.
I have seen this game go through a lot of changes and the one constant that should never change is discipline. But, unfortunately, it has and now it will be interesting to see David Stern get it back on track.
Here is my opinion about what a dress code should be, because, believe me, some players will take advantage and look disgustingly bad trying it. I have seen it before.
Home games
Suit and tie (no exceptions). Why? Because being at home you're not inconveniencing the player. Also the hometown fans deserve to see their heroes in nothing but the best.
Away games
Suit and tie or sport coat and dress pants. Why? It shows unity on the road among hostile fans and when the game is over, you can go out to eat and enter a nice nightclub without breaking the dress code because you think you can.
Airplanes
Hip-hop it all flight long with retro jerseys, stylish jeans, bandanas, backward hats and fine jewelry. Why? Players need some breathing room and the charter planes do not expose the players to any fans or media. Players normally go from plane to bus, from bus to hotel. Let them be comfortable sometimes.
What's very important in all of this is the league should let the players police themselves after the first month with internal fines that will go to the charity of their choice and not into the hands of the league. Players know when someone is trying to skirt the rules. I played with guys like Mark Olberding, Rich Kelley and Kenny Dennard that would wear the same sport coat three times in one week. Kelley was seven feet tall and would wear a jacket for a six-foot person.
If the league allows that to happen, then players will argue that a custom jean outfit with nice shirt looks better than a cheap teammate who wears a wrinkled jacket and dress pants that are so short that if his shoes caught on fire his pants wouldn't know it.
From the celtics responses to the press:
"No biggie, say the Celts. ``I mean, it's cool,'' Ricky Davis said. ``It's not real harsh. It just changes the image a little. Guys just got to grow up I guess. They're just trying to exclude some things. It's simple to me. Guys need to go out and buy some clothes and start something new.'' Added Paul Pierce, ``You knew it was coming in. I've got a couple of suits in the closet I've got to dust off.
i'm not sure if it was davis or pierce that said the thing about growing up, but either way it's fucking hilarious.
cottonzway
10-20-2005, 06:21 PM
[QUOTE=Crax]Stop pulling the race card when this is about professionalism in your job and not race. Are you saying black people can't dress professionally? QUOTE]
Ha, you tell me to stop playing the race card and ask me if my question is racist? Seems kind of like "double talk" to me. Yeah, black folks can't dress right. :rolleyes: Come on, you can READ into what I was saying. It's not a matter of "can't" it's a matter of what some guys grew up in in terms of culture. They aren't accountants, they are basketball players who are marketed with the "street" image by the same NBA that wants them to wear dress clothes now. As I said, a lot of the guys who are complaining about it have no right as this was in the new CBA. They didn't pay attention to their union so they fucked up. The principal though isn't right though. There is a difference between the two.
Oliver Klosov
10-20-2005, 06:24 PM
It's not like White people are allowed to wear the big chains, either. Bryant Reeves isn't allowed to rock his country boy ass overalls, either. (is he still in the league?)
cottonzway
10-20-2005, 07:02 PM
It's not like White people are allowed to wear the big chains, either. Bryant Reeves isn't allowed to rock his country boy ass overalls, either. (is he still in the league?)
Nope, Big Country retired a few years ago.
J. Walter Weatherman
10-20-2005, 07:04 PM
I can't wait to hear Screamin' A. Smith talk about how David Stern is crippling contemporary urban culture and cannot to relate to the young, rich black man and therefore must step down as the NBA Commissioner. Smith will then nominate Jay-Z to run the NBA.
I can't wait until someone tells him that the only young rich black men in the US are playing pro basketball.
I understand where Stern is coming from in regards to the NBA's image problem, but I think he's missing the big picture. I watch the NBA religiously, but I can honestly say I don't get hyped over 76-68 basketball games. Watching the NBA finals this year was torture. Maybe if they focused on having the referees actually call fouls, clear up the rough stuff and hand-checking, and had a viewable product, more people would watch. Just a hunch.
my sex is artsy
10-21-2005, 11:17 AM
I understand where Stern is coming from in regards to the NBA's image problem, but I think he's missing the big picture. I watch the NBA religiously, but I can honestly say I don't get hyped over 76-68 basketball games. Watching the NBA finals this year was torture. Maybe if they focused on having the referees actually call fouls, clear up the rough stuff and hand-checking, and had a viewable product, more people would watch. Just a hunch.
Other than parity and the overspreading of talent, the real problem is the fact that offenses suck because they aren't challenged enough. Because of lane rules that are supposed to help offenses, it makes teams over reliant on the pick and roll. In international ball, you just clog the lane and stop that shit. But last year, no team could stop Nash and Amare when they did it. Then suddenly they play the Spurs, the only team who could, and they look terrible. In the present NBA, a really really really good offense team will always get slowed by the really really really good defensive team, because the rules are tailored basically to make offenses operate in one easy, predictable mold which works all season long. Then playoff comes, there are teams like Detroit, and San Antonio who are good enough to work around these offense-friendly rules, and the offenses NEVER have a Plan B. Its the same reason the US couldn't score at the Olympics and World Championships. They all tried to run the same pick and roll bullshit, and got frustrated when the lanes got clogged and they got tied up and couldn't do anything.
If the NBA would just let the game open up inside, teams would be forced to play harder on offense and use a wider variety of tactics. In the long run, this breeds better offensive coaching strategy and better offensive players, who can score without running the exact same play 50 times a night.
Not as long as the focus is on athletes instead of smart, skilled players. The Olympics were comedy just for the sight of watching Richard Jefferson attempt a jump shot. When the WNBA came out, I just laughed and laughed at the idea of a layup league where they don't make layups, but the NBA is slowing playing down to that level. No wonder only hardcore fans watch.
Offensive coaching doesn't change the fact that a lot of these guys simply can't play. When CHARLES OAKLEY had the best 12-foot jumper in the game I just gave up.
my sex is artsy
10-21-2005, 11:28 AM
Offensive coaching doesn't change the fact that a lot of these guys simply can't play. When CHARLES OAKLEY had the best 12-foot jumper in the game I just gave up.
Oh, well. I won't disagree that this has a ton to do with it. The calibre of the NBA player is way way way way way down.
Thank god for Laker girls.
http://www.csupomona.edu/~panorama/winter_04/images/Andersonmasked.jpg
http://www.nba.com/media/lakers/charleneweb0405.jpg
http://www.nba.com/media/lakers/angelaweb0405.jpg
http://www.nba.com/media/lakers/alexieweb0405.jpg
elbowsmash
10-21-2005, 09:14 PM
i dont know much about this but
if its for press conferences, then i agree its part of the job, and you're still on the clock, though they should allow some sorta jewelry being that now has become a part of the NBA culture and image (bling bling nukkah)
but getting off the bus to goto the lockers? thats crap
only at press conferences should they have a dress code
btw i always wondered, how come baseball coaches dress like the players, but basketball coached dont?
Sean S
10-21-2005, 09:55 PM
The thing of it is, if you are being paid by someone to do a job, you have to play by their rules. It sucks, but that's the bottom line. If its not something you like, then you find somewhere else to work. It doesn't matter if you make $5 an hour or $10000. Now this applies only from the time you step into the workplace and is over when you leave it. Anything beyond that, it's hazy. Especially when you talk about autograph sessions. But as far as inside of an arena, you're on someone's pay roll, you dress how they say.
In a way, I wonder if this is more of an attempt to create a less individualized sport. Stern basically made this game a game of individuals to save it and it's gotten to the point where it's the team concept is far removed. This might be an attempt by him to bring back the team concept. Instead of trying look as different from your teammates as possible, now you are being forced to look more like them. Not sure if I am making sense here though.
J. Walter Weatherman
10-21-2005, 10:13 PM
I fucking hate David Stern. I bet he doesn't know a damn thing about basketball. You can tell by the look he always has on his face. It's a look of, "I don't know what these guys are doing, but I sure do make a lot of money off the people watching this thing."
I hope he chokes on the next terd he tries to eat.
Oliver Klosov
10-21-2005, 10:15 PM
Charles Barkley said on Leno that he loved this move and thought the dress code was "fantastic".
I fucking hate David Stern. I bet he doesn't know a damn thing about basketball. You can tell by the look he always has on his face. It's a look of, "I don't know what these guys are doing, but I sure do make a lot of money off the people watching this thing."
I hope he chokes on the next terd he tries to eat.
David Stern is the man. Seriously. Billy Hunter is his bitch. Every player in the fucking league knows the score. What was the vote on Artest's suspension? "One to nothing." Beefing up the steroid policy? Done without a peep. Raising the age minimum? Done and done. The guy rules the league with an iron fist, and does a pretty good job at it.
i dont know much about this but
if its for press conferences, then i agree its part of the job, and you're still on the clock, though they should allow some sorta jewelry being that now has become a part of the NBA culture and image (bling bling nukkah)
but getting off the bus to goto the lockers? thats crap
only at press conferences should they have a dress code
btw i always wondered, how come baseball coaches dress like the players, but basketball coached dont?
yeah, the part about how they are no longer allowed to have headphones on while going from the team bus to the lockers is the part that really pushed me over the edge and made me make this thread.
J. Walter Weatherman
10-21-2005, 10:24 PM
David Stern is the man. Seriously. Billy Hunter is his bitch. Every player in the fucking league knows the score. What was the vote on Artest's suspension? "One to nothing." Beefing up the steroid policy? Done without a peep. Raising the age minimum? Done and done. The guy rules the league with an iron fist, and does a pretty good job at it.
Bah
The thing of it is, if you are being paid by someone to do a job, you have to play by their rules. It sucks, but that's the bottom line. If its not something you like, then you find somewhere else to work. It doesn't matter if you make $5 an hour or $10000. Now this applies only from the time you step into the workplace and is over when you leave it. Anything beyond that, it's hazy. Especially when you talk about autograph sessions. But as far as inside of an arena, you're on someone's pay roll, you dress how they say.
In a way, I wonder if this is more of an attempt to create a less individualized sport. Stern basically made this game a game of individuals to save it and it's gotten to the point where it's the team concept is far removed. This might be an attempt by him to bring back the team concept. Instead of trying look as different from your teammates as possible, now you are being forced to look more like them. Not sure if I am making sense here though.
yeah, i would have no problem with it if it was just during the game and maybe the press conference, but with the autograph sessions, the ban on headphones, and stuff like that i think stern is taking it too far.
and i have heard other places say that the whole "team concept" is a big reason behind it, but i personally don't think it's going to make much difference. putting a suit on kobe or ai isn't going to magically get them to start passing the ball.
Sean S
10-22-2005, 03:24 AM
yeah, i would have no problem with it if it was just during the game and maybe the press conference, but with the autograph sessions, the ban on headphones, and stuff like that i think stern is taking it too far.
and i have heard other places say that the whole "team concept" is a big reason behind it, but i personally don't think it's going to make much difference. putting a suit on kobe or ai isn't going to magically get them to start passing the ball.
But you do hear a lot of the complaints being that it takes away from the the individual. Well maybe that's a good thing. This league could use a little conformity in the form of a team.
Necron Eloheim
10-29-2005, 01:01 PM
I can't wait to hear Screamin' A. Smith talk about how David Stern is crippling contemporary urban culture and cannot to relate to the young, rich black man and therefore must step down as the NBA Commissioner. Smith will then nominate Jay-Z to run the NBA. Jigga wouldn't do too bad a job if that happened.
pants
10-29-2005, 01:39 PM
i'd say something about the players not having freedom to wear what they want, but then if i was getting paid that much I'd dress up as a faery if they asked me to.
i'd say something about the players not having freedom to wear what they want, but then if i was getting paid that much I'd dress up as a faery if they asked me to.
Not much different than your regular attire, I'm guessing :mad:
pants
10-29-2005, 02:35 PM
Not much different than your regular attire, I'm guessing :mad:
NO! i only dress up as a faery on special occasions such chinese new year and stuff.
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