NBA Dress Code

In the NBA, Clothes Do Make the Man

The most remarkable element of the NBA’s Oct. 17th announcement implementing a dress code, was that it came in the wake of 28-year-old Atlanta Hawks forward Jason Collier’s death. Indeed, Commissioner David Stern’s garb-altering declaration may have been an attempt to – no pun intended – shroud Collier’s passing or, at the very least, deflect attention from it.

The details of Collier’s October 15th death remain murky, as does the timing of Stern’s announcement. What is strikingly clear is the criteria set forth in regard to what can and cannot be worn. As if descended from Mount Sinai itself, thou shall not wear: shorts, sleeveless shirts, t-shirts, chains, pendants, or medallions over clothing, sunglasses while indoors, headphones – unless on team bus or locker room – and headgear. Additionally, when engaged in league business, players are required to dress "business casual", meaning collared shirts, slacks and a sport coat. Who else is excited to see Allen Iverson pull that off?

Far be it from me to opine on the matter – when I was a paralegal I never recalled management appealing for my thoughts on having to wear a tie or not – although, I must say, dress down Fridays are an ensemble morass. No, better to have the players themselves discuss it, not just because it makes for high comedy, but because it begets strong feelings of cultural identity and has some players believing it teeters on racism.

Curiously, players’ feelings toward the announcement were mixed: some ambivalent, others acquiescent – many irked. Spurs forward Tim Duncan, arguably the NBA's most dominant big man of all time, fits into the disgruntled category. "I think it's a load of crap," Duncan was quoted as saying in the San Antonio Express-News. "I understand what they're trying to do with [forbidding] hats and 'do rags and [retro] jerseys and stuff. That's fine. But I don't understand why they would take it to this level. I think it's basically retarded." Duncan went so far as saying that he might even stay in the locker room on night's he doesn't play, rather than adhere to the policy on the bench.

Others welcomed the announcement: "The players have been dressing in prison garb the last five or six years. All the stuff that goes on, it's like gangster, thuggery stuff," Lakers coach Phil Jackson told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Not coincidentally, it is the NBA's elder statesman who ostensibly agree with the change. However, if Clyde Frazier is the barometer for which we measure how a player should adorn himself, than, perhaps, a revision is necessary.

At the root of the matter is something much more provocative than clothing alone. Rather, it is the sonorous sentiment of some who perceive the dress code as a direct intrusion on their way of life. "As far as chains, I definitely feel that's a racial statement," Pacers swingman Stephen Jackson told the Indianapolis Star. "Almost 100 percent of the guys in the league who are young and black wear big chains. So I definitely don't agree with that at all." Interestingly, Jackson doesn't mind the dress code, in fact, he embraces it; however, he believes that the NBA rule makers are infringing on the pervading league culture. "It's one thing to enforce a dress code," Jackson said, "and it's another thing if you're attacking cultures, and that's what I think they're doing."

The dress code will go into effect at the start of the regular season, Nov. 1, while no talk of penalties or fines for non-compliance have been issued by the NBA league office, yet. It appears, for now, to be up to the coaches and players to adhere to the dress code.

What is apparent is that players will be tossing out their Mitchell & Ness, in favor of Neiman & Marcus. Iverson in a three piece. The NBA – come see our toggery.