NBA’s new dress code looks a bit out of style

Call the Fashion Police.

On Wednesday, NBA commissioner David Stern released a memo to all… Call the Fashion Police.

On Wednesday, NBA commissioner David Stern released a memo to all 30 franchises concerning the details of a dress code that will be enforced on all players beginning this season, which begins in less than two weeks.

ESPN.com reported on Wednesday that the memo said, “Players will be expected to wear business casual attire whenever they participate in team or league activities, including arriving at games, leaving games, conducting interviews and making promotional or other appearances.”

This highly ambiguous term, “business casual,” has been defined very interestingly by the NBA. Three main components make up this term. A long or short-sleeved dress shirt (collared or turtleneck) and/or a sweater is required for the upper body. Dress slacks, khaki pants or dress jeans are required for the lower body. Sneakers are not allowed, and only dress shoes/boats are permitted.

That seems pretty straightforward. I think that’s pretty standard policy for what most businesses claim to be business casual. However, the next part of the memo is where the NBA gets itself in some trouble and why everyone can’t seem to stop talking about the dress code.

The NBA issued a list of excluded items that are not allowed to be worn by players: sleeveless shirts, shorts, T-shirts, jerseys or sports apparel (unless appropriate for the event (e.g., a basketball clinic), team-identified and approved by the team), headgear of any kind (while a player is sitting on the bench or in the stands at a game, during media interviews or during a team or league event or appearance), chains, pendants or medallions worn over the player’s clothes, sunglasses while indoors and headphones (other than on the team bus or plane, or in the team locker room).

Once again, at first glance this seems kind of basic, not really a big deal. However, just like the Sesame Street song suggests, there is one of these things that is not like the other.

(Sing that to yourself for a second-OK now stop.)

Yep, you guessed it – chains, pendants or medallions worn over the player’s clothes. And with these particular excluded items comes the issue of race.

I don’t know if you remember the NBA, it has been quite a few months since the Spurs won the title, but the league consists of predominantly black athletes; nearly 80 percent of the players in the league are African-American.

I also don’t know if any of you have seen any music videos recently, but Green Day and Incubus don’t wear too many chains, pendants or medallions over their clothes, while 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg and other hip-hop artists have more ice than Mellon Arena.

Some notable NBA superstars were outraged about this particular issue once they heard it, but Indiana Pacers swingman Stephen Jackson seemed to represent the majority of the players’ thoughts with his quote from the Oct. 19 edition of the Indianapolis Star.

“I have no problem dressing up. But as far as chains, I definitely feel that’s a racial statement. Almost 100 percent of the guys in the league who are young and black wear big chains. So I definitely don’t agree with that at all.”

Say what you want about the dress code, but if you ask me, Jackson and his colleagues are right. Stern went a little too far with this.

Make the players wear suits, no problem. They make millions of dollars, I’m sure they can find a pretty sharp looking suit. Remember, Michael Jordan has his own clothing line with Nike but when he played, he always was wearing some crisp threads any time a camera was anywhere near him – and when you’re MJ, there are cameras everywhere.

I just think that it’s a little ridiculous to say that this isn’t racist. Maybe it wasn’t Stern’s intention, but it happened.

Now, instead of hearing about the interesting events that took place this off-season – Phil and Kobe’s reunion and tons of off-season free agency moves by teams that were contenders last season – we are stuck talking about clothes and racism until the season starts.

And it doesn’t look like it will end until the first ball is tipped. So, even though I never thought I’d say this, I can’t wait for the NBA season to start.

Dave Thomas is a senior staff writer for The Pitt News and wears a gold chain and a cross under his shirt. However, he is not an NBA player, so it really doesn’t matter. Tell him what you are wearing at dthomas7224@yahoo.com.