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."
How about baseball players spitting all the time? I'd like to see a fine each time a player is caught on camera spitting.
Kids mimic this behavior. Ever been to a little league game and see little kids spitting just like the big league players?
So have you bought your season tickets for this year?
Not a chance. You could not GIVE me a season ticket to an NBA game, anywhere.
>>baseball players spitting
Disgusting, especially now in HD. Yuck. Why they do it, dunno, many don't even chew tobacco.
Of course not! How these players dress doesn't fit my sense of style, personally.
What Stephen Jackson said and what the rest of the NBA players who are complaining about is stupid. What I don't get is the amount of weight we on the Right give these idiots.
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* enforcing a dress code for someone walking from their car or bus 200 ft into the stadium hours before fans are around
Good points I think the NBA should stick to just enforcing what they wear on the court. Let the players know if they are not playing they are wearing either nice clothes or the team jumpsuit. It is up to them which of the two they pick.
Yup. This fan too...and, the NFL when Michael Jackson grabbed his croch during the half-time show some years back. It's crude, vulgar and violent, I see enough of it on the street.
As did the Wizard of Westwood, John Wooden. (I highly recommend his book "They Call Me Coach").
Yep, good fundamental basketball is fast becoming a lost art.
yeah...
Well as long as I am troubleshooting fiber lines as part of my job description, my workplace won't change too much :)
Its called "Dress AFTER success"......
I'm kinda partial to the way college football players (Not sure about the other atletes) are required to dress like REAL professionals. Sportcoats and ties........
Right. I saw several old shows many years ago that had clips of his practices in them. He did the same things like Hackman did in the movie. The anti-dunk rule was what actually made Jabbar learn the sky hook. They could not pack the middle so much on him after he got that shot down. He could hit it as well from 6-10 feet as someone shoot the normal jump shot way. He had that shot down cold. No one else since has shot it like he did.
Your opinion of the NBA was quite clear in your post. Just a little joke on my part.
I really feel that way about all pro sports. The tickets are overpriced; the games aren't all that good; the stadiums are built with taxpayer money and the franchises are socialistic enterprises; it's an extreme (dangerous), time-consuming hassle to attend, and the players are terrible role models for kids. I watch some NFL on TV, but that's it.
I sometimes go to minor league baseball games, but the atmosphere is completely different from "big-time" sports.
you have to admit though, the vast majority of them do, and there are a few that really make it bad for the rest of them.
Guys like Tim Duncan and Yao and guys like that never get into trouble. Most of the bench players (those not on the Trail Blazers) don't either, but every year, you can count on 3 or 4 high profile players to get caught doing something dumb and then the ESPN's of the world report the crap out of it.
But preception is 9/10ths of the battle with viewers and ticket sales. If it doesn't look like a gangbang on the side lines, and assuming the players aren't starting riots in the stands like they did in Detroit, it stands to reason that maybe a dress code would add some professionalism back into the thing.
I haven't watched a game nor contributed a dime to any of the big time sports since the early 90s. I have a close friend who has a close friend who covers these major leaguers for a media outlet. He says if a member of the paying public spends more than five minutes with these guys in a locker room they'd never go to another big league game again.
They have foul mouths and they mostly hate the fans who idolize them. They see the big money as their right. They are mostly interested in sleeping with as many young women as they can. Some of these guys have goupies in evey town they play in.
Do yourself and your family some good, stop contributing your hard-earned dollars to these gangsters. They only spend it on women other than their wives, and drugs.
Now days by the time they get into high school, they are already pretty proficient at dribbling and rebounding. Their passing skills are not that bad either. Not that their isn't any room for improvement.
They'll stand up about as long as a haystack in a hurricane.
They'll crumple faster than a cheap suit.
If Allen Iverson wants to look ludicrous (or look like Ludacris) let him.
Your post reminded me of that old saying: clothes make the man.
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