Posted on 10/21/2005 2:03:17 PM PDT by Crackingham
American basketball players have attacked as racist a new dress code imposed by national league officials that bans "bling" jewellery and baggy clothes. The National Basketball Association requires players to wear "business-casual" attire when involved in all activities relating to their team or the league. The chunky chains, pendants and medallions beloved by many are banned, as are sunglasses worn indoors, headphones, flip flops and "headgear of any kind". Players can wear "neat" warm-up wear on flights to games, but T-shirts, vintage team jerseys, shorts and trainers are out.
Stephen Jackson, a young black player for the Indiana Pacers, staged a visible protest by arriving for an exhibition game against San Antonio, Texas, dripping with four hefty chains. Jackson, who was suspended for 30 games for his role in a brawl with Detroit Pistons fans last November, said the jewellery rule targeted young black men because chains were associated with hip-hop culture. He said the league was afraid of becoming "too hip-hop".
"I have no problem dressing up because I know I'm a nice-looking guy," Jackson told the Indianapolis Star. "But as far as chains, I definitely feel that's a racial statement. Almost 100 per cent of the guys in the league who are young and black wear big chains. So I definitely don't agree with that at all."
Paul Pierce, who plays for the Boston Celtics, agreed. "When I saw the rule about, you can't wear chains (outside of a shirt), you know, I think that's just part of our culture. We wear the chains and the hip-hop gear and the throwback [vintage] jerseys," he said. "The NBA is young black males."
The dress code, announced on Monday, is an attempt to clean up the NBA's image, tarnished in recent years by incidents such as the Kobe Bryant rape trial (charges were subsequently dropped) and last season's melee in Detroit where players raced into the stands to fight fans.
"I feel like if they want us to dress a certain way, they should pay for our clothes," said Philadelphia's Allen Iverson, known for his tattoos and throwback jerseys. He echoed Richardson's view: "Just because you put a guy in a tuxedo, it doesn't mean he's a good guy"
But Phil Jackson, the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, welcomed the move. He has referred to the dress of some players as "prison garb". "All the stuff that goes on, it's like gangster, thuggery stuff."
What's the NBA gonna do? Fire all of them if they wear gold chains.
Fine them. They do it quite frequently. The money goes to charity.
I'm in total agreement.
Thugs that get millions for playing a game.
Right, the National High School Basketball Association is 99.9999999% black, with two or three token whites and others, yet it is racists. Right. Made millionaires out of blacks who cannot read or write and dance to gangster music, drive Mercedes automobiles, but the majority are white owners who are racists. Right. Sure. /sarcasm still on.
Can we all agree that once the British broadsheets start hesitantly using a piece of American slang, it is time to retire it?
Bump to your post.
The image of the NBA is tarnished because of the actions of some of its players, not because of how they dress.
I was listening to Doc Rivers with Jim Rome today.
He said that dressing up is nice, but it's the players conduct that will determine whether they continue to lose fans or not. He said that he hopes maybe having the players dress up and act like businessmen, that maybe they will start to watch what they do off of the court as well.
Weak I know, but the NBA had to try something. Their ratings have been falling for at least 7 years straight (the last Jordan final)....
I hear you Allen! I have to wear a shirt and tie with dress pants everyday and my boss, err...my OPPRESSOR I meant, makes me buy them. I would hate to see having to use some of your millions to buy some work cloths for yourself.
If this is true, then the company for which I work has been racist for a long time. Business casual is actually dressing down in most offices.
I doubt the NBA wants to promote the outward *image* (much less the inward) of thugs/gangsters...which is why there is now a dress code. I support it.
Yeah. I thought chains were a statement of slavery.
Maybe this clown should try working on a chain gang rather than the pampered NBA lifestyle if he likes them so much.
I'm not about to start watching the NBA again, but I'm impressed that management has at least taken a small step to reverse the thug culture. Let's see how they stand up to the racism charges.
I thought Stephen Jackson was the most violent of all the players involved in the Pistons-Pacers brawl last year. But then, maybe I'm just a racist.
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No, they shouldn't have to fire them, but if the players think it is racist for an employer to make rules for employment, then they should resign (retire) and leave their $millions to players who are more deserving than they.
Based on the urban culture of the NBA alone, you couldn't get me to go to an NBA game with a gun to my head.
There are two sports in decline in the Americas, hockey and basketball, and for different reasons. Basketball is made up of felons and vulgar characters, hockey players have physically outgrown the physical rules and constraints of the game. (they are too big, tall, fast, use sticks that used to be illegal for length, and make the game appear to be a cluster f**K on every shift)
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