It probably shouldn't be too much to ask of someone that you are paying a couple of million dollars a year to come to work dressed appropriately. The NBA's Commissioner David Stern doesn't think so, but apparently some of the NBA players do.
"I dress to make myself comfortable," Philadelphia 76er's guard Allen Iverson told the Philadelphia Daily News about the league's new dress code that will take affect on Nov 1. "I really do have a problem with it... It's just not right. It's something I'll fight for."
Stern's new dress code will force players who are coming to and from games and conducting press conferences to wear a collared shirt and slacks or "dress" jeans. The new rule will also ban sleeveless shirts, shorts, T-shirts, chains, pendants or medallions worn over the player's clothes, sunglasses while indoors and headphones. Players will also be required to wear a sport coat on the bench if they are not in uniform.
What it all adds up to is that NBA players are now required to maintain a "business casual" dress code. The lowest level of professional dress codes imaginable, a level of professionalism that I was expected to display during an unpaid internship last summer.
So why are the players so upset? Quite simply, they just don't like being told what to do.
Many players have complained that the dress code is racist. This is an easy accusation to make anytime a white man institutes a rule over an 80-percent-black population. Although with the given restrictions Stern and the NBA are essentially trying to combat the league's negative "rap-star" image, that doesn't make him a racist.
The "thug" image doesn't market well to mainstream America and the accusation that the change is race-driven is just a childish excuse that some players are using to get their way.
Inciting a race issue in an effort to get your own is irresponsible. Manufactured race issues are hurtful to real races issues. If any other league attempted to institute this policy and the players complained they would not have an argument to make. The only reason this argument has received any validity is because of the high percentage of black players in the NBA.
Most business owners require their employees to come to work in a professional manor. There are very few jobs that allow a person to show up wearing a throwback jersey and a do-rag and not be penalized. The NBA shouldn't be any different.
Not only is this level of professionalism expected at most places of employment, but this isn't a new idea in sports either. The NHL has a similar dress code. Most collegiate athletes are required to wear a dress shirt and tie to their events and most high school teams do the same thing. George Steinbrenner won't even let his Yankees sport side burns or long hair.
Professional sports are a product and the owners are marketing the players. Just like a lawyer is selling his firm to a client through his self-presentation, players sell the league to the fans.
The fact that some NBA players don't want to comply shows what the league has become.
Thugs used to want to be like NBA players, not the other way around. When Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley came to a game they were the best-dressed men in the arena. Some players still strive for that professional look. The fact that Iverson and others want to do their own thing just shows their desire to be the center of attention, rather than part of a team.
Not wanting to display a level of professional pride that is commonly maintained by every shift manager at Burger King is ridiculous. There is nothing wrong with "street dress" on the street but when you represent your employer, dress like a professional.
However, if this dress code is really too demanding of players' images and comfort, Iverson and the rest of anti-dress-code players can always rock the inside-out, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air blazer.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
