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Nila Priyambodo
Managing Editor
Making National Basketball Association players follow a strict dress code is one of the best ideas the NBA has had in a few years.
Last week the NBA announced that at the start of the season players will be required to follow specific wardrobe guidelines when they are involved in team or league business.
Beginning next month, basketball players must be in business-casual attire. According to the dress code, players must wear a long or short-sleeved dress shirt, turtleneck or sweater, dress slacks, khaki pants or dress jeans and appropriate shoes, including dress shoes, dress boots or other presentable shoes.
Under this dress code, NBA players are not allowed to wear sandals, sneakers, flip-flops, work boots, sleeveless shirts, shorts, sunglasses while indoors, headphones unless they are in the team bus, team plane or team locker room, jerseys, head gear of any kind, and any chains, pendants or medallions over their clothes.
If a player attends a game, but is not playing due to injury, illness or any other factors and are benched, they must wear sport coats and dress shoes as well as the proper business-casual attire.
If a player is leaving the arena, they must still follow the dress code or
wear the warm-up suit issued by their team. Players not following the dress code will be fined or suspended.
After the NBA released the memo to the basketball teams, many of its players started complaining.
Stephen Jackson of the Indiana Pacers said, “I think it’s a racist statement because a lot of guys wearing chains are my age and are black.”
Several other basketball players also said that the NBA is trying to get rid of the “hip-hop” image basketball players portray and that the dress code is indirectly related to their race.
The dress code has nothing to do with anyone’s race. Like any other business, there has to be some form of dress code. Every job has some kind of wardrobe rule where a uniform is required or where specific articles of clothing are not allowed.
This is the same exact thing. It is their job and, just like everyone else, they should have a dress code and dress professionally.
What do these basketball players expect? Just because they can get a ball into a hoop doesn’t mean that they are allowed to discard the rules.
They’re not that special.
Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers said, “I feel like if they wanted us to dress a certain way, they should pay for our clothes.”
These basketball players get paid millions of dollars every year, even getting paid more than the President of the United States and the doctors in the world who saves lives. Yet, they feel like the NBA should pay for their clothes. That is ridiculous.
Many of us have jobs where we are required to wear business-casual attire, but you don’t see us getting money to pay for the clothes. The money comes straight out of our pockets.
These players are complaining about the price of the suits, dress slacks and sleeved-shirts. But who said anything about buying Ermenegildo Zegna, Giorgio Armani, Prada, Gucci, Dior, Sean John or Louis Vuitton suits? Go out to your local “Big and Tall” and get yourself a handful of suits.
NBA Commissioner David Stern reacted with a statement saying, “If they really are going to have a problem, they will have to make a decision about playing in the NBA or not.”
I absolutely agree. This is, after all, a job. If they don’t follow the rules, they have to be fired or they have to quit, and get a real job. Then maybe they will realize that most jobs have specific wardrobe guidelines.
Unlike what many of the NBA players are saying, this has nothing to do with race. This is purely an attempt to make the league more professional.
The players are already getting paid so much money. The least they can do is follow a few minor rules. Wearing suits or business-casual clothing is not going to kill them.
Nila Priyambodo, a junior journalism major, is managing editor of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at npriyambodo@ulv.edu. |
