NBA dress code: step in the right direction, timing off
James Mason
Issue date: 10/28/05 Section: Sports
Stephen Jackson has more in common with Kanye West than you would think. For starters, they both probably think that George Bush and David Stern don't care about black people. Both of them apparently feel it's in a black person's soul to rock that gold.
West wrote a song, "Gold Digger," about girls chasing ballplayer's money, among other things. Jackson followed his advice and told his fianceé that he wasn't a punk and wanted to "get that Geico for his money" (She declined signing a prenuptial agreement and therefore they weren't married). Where am I going with this? Honestly, I don't know, I just felt it would be a cool intro to an article about the dress code.
First of all, the timing of this event and the way it was handled was all wrong. With all the drama from Hurricane Katrina only a month and a half behind us, and the recent race riots in Toledo sparked by a white supremacist rally against alleged "black gangs," the National Basketball Association picked this time to roll out its dress code.
The dress code is aimed at giving the league's players a more professional look and the league's image a much needed boost. Where the NBA screwed up is the presentation. Instead of stressing what the players could wear this coming season, it seemed they stressed what they couldn't wear. Instead of stylish shirts and fresh slacks, all I heard was no do-rags and gold chains. The rhetoric seemed to focus on getting rid of the hip-hop "gangsta rap" look rather than focusing on the more professional look. At the very least, they could have said the new NBA dress code is business casual because we all know what that means.
The number one question about the new rule is simply why? Why did the league institute this? Was it because of the brawl? I mean, attendance was allegedly at an all time high last year, so the brawl couldn't have brought the league down that much. Is it because the league hates hip-hop? But rappers are always wearing jerseys.
West wrote a song, "Gold Digger," about girls chasing ballplayer's money, among other things. Jackson followed his advice and told his fianceé that he wasn't a punk and wanted to "get that Geico for his money" (She declined signing a prenuptial agreement and therefore they weren't married). Where am I going with this? Honestly, I don't know, I just felt it would be a cool intro to an article about the dress code.
First of all, the timing of this event and the way it was handled was all wrong. With all the drama from Hurricane Katrina only a month and a half behind us, and the recent race riots in Toledo sparked by a white supremacist rally against alleged "black gangs," the National Basketball Association picked this time to roll out its dress code.
The dress code is aimed at giving the league's players a more professional look and the league's image a much needed boost. Where the NBA screwed up is the presentation. Instead of stressing what the players could wear this coming season, it seemed they stressed what they couldn't wear. Instead of stylish shirts and fresh slacks, all I heard was no do-rags and gold chains. The rhetoric seemed to focus on getting rid of the hip-hop "gangsta rap" look rather than focusing on the more professional look. At the very least, they could have said the new NBA dress code is business casual because we all know what that means.
The number one question about the new rule is simply why? Why did the league institute this? Was it because of the brawl? I mean, attendance was allegedly at an all time high last year, so the brawl couldn't have brought the league down that much. Is it because the league hates hip-hop? But rappers are always wearing jerseys.
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