New NBA DRESS CODE!

[Weez]

acutally the headphones rule (they can't walk from the parking lot/ through the tunnel with headphones on) is my only real problem with it.

The biggest 'area' that I think they SHOULD definitely have to 'dress in attire' is the post-game conference; even moreso than what they travel to games in.

I'm also a proponent of the business casual attire in the read to achieve programs and things of the like. It alway strikes me as odd when they show pics of such events and the palyers are wearing practice t's and sweat pants.

Ok~ for those arguing about 'wear what's comfortable.'

I'm a pathologist. On most days I will never see a patient, and likely not another physician (unless the surgeon pops down in scrubs to view a frozen or something). Should I be allowed to wear my sweat pants to work? seriously. A lot of institutions use 'business casual' for pathologists...but I can't get away with a t-shirt of any description.

[PhillyDC]

good point about the headphones weez. i disagree with that. i wear headphones at work sometime, at its not like they are operating heavy machinery or anything. thats a bit much. and the dress travelling is too. i travel a lot and i can wear whatever i want while i travel, just have to be properly dressed when i get to work.

as for the other guy who made the comment about never going to a game and the NBA not being popular with the youth WTF? do you go outside your house? do you ever go to parks/playground littered with NBA jerseys and people lining up to buy NBA Live/2K whatever. what are you talking about? the nba is most popular with the youth. especially in urban areas.

[AHF]

My guess with the headphones is that they don't want players tuning out the fans when they are walking into or out of the stadium. They want to promote accessibility of the players.

Personally, that would be the only part of the dresscode that would annoy me if I were in the NBA tomorrow since I love listening to music before a game.

[Lascar78]

but the headphones and dress is only from the team bus to the locker room. You can jam on the bus on the way to the arena, then take them off to say hi to your fans on your way in, and then get crunk again once in the locker room. I have no problem whatsoever with this. And for traveling, it's only to the team bus. If they have a long travel after that, they can change into sweats in the bus, on the plane, wherever, hell they ride luxuriously all the way. It's not like they have to wear a suit on the plane if they don't want to. Just in the press conference, and for the walk to the bus.

Also, I think the absolute best thing of all of this is no more sunglasses indoors. Man do I hate that

[Weez]

I understand their perspective on the headphones...but the guys are also coming there to play, getting themselves zoned in.

In college and long before, prior to races I would nearly always listen to headphones (or not if the crowd wsa really pumped, just depended). But that helped me focus a lot on the task at hand.

Ban them after the game...but if a player wants to wear them to the lockerroom, while getting himself pumped up to play (note, this is not the same as Vince wearing them while warming up on the court, where the wires and such could cause major problems*)

They should be allowed to wear them while entering the arena and whatnot. if they choose to 'block out the fans' ~ think about when on the road~ cna you blame them? or even at home? what fans see the players come into the tunnels? no one. only the media there.

[Lascar78]

Quote:

---

In college and long before, prior to races I would nearly always listen to headphones (or not if the crowd wsa really pumped, just depended). But that helped me focus a lot on the task at hand.

---

Did you have headphones on while walking from your car to the stadium/gym? I listened to music too, but if I can listen to my jams in my car, and then in the locker room, I don't think it's a big deal to have no music for the short walk. Besides, they are paid entertainers. They are NOT just there to compete in a game of basketball, they are entertainers. They have to give interviews whether they like it or not. They have to hear the fans' comments while they play, like it or not. And now, they have to listen to the fans on the walk from the bus to the locker room. Big deal. I don't know how necessary it is, but it's no big deal. It's not like a principal telling high school kids to do this. It's the head of the NBA telling the players who get paid MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS to entertain, not to have headphones on for a few minutes while they walk by the fans that have gathered to see them. Boo freakin hoo.

Besides, in the NBA, they have a long time between when they show up and game time to get pumped up.

[Weez]

yeah, I did. in the car on the way there (if younger and my parents were driving, head phones on). walked in that way too, especially at big meets (like US Nationals) where I just wanted to block it all out and focus on what I needed to do.

how much so? I bought wireless headphones so that I could have the freedom to go stretch, chill while watching the races (which is what really pumped me up) without outside distractions.

walking through the tunnel to appear friendly or available to the media (prior to the game) should not be a requisite.

[mudderfudder77]

Quote:

---

yeah, I did. in the car on the way there (if younger and my parents were driving, head phones on). walked in that way too, especially at big meets (like US Nationals) where I just wanted to block it all out and focus on what I needed to do.

how much so? I bought wireless headphones so that I could have the freedom to go stretch, chill while watching the races (which is what really pumped me up) without outside distractions.

walking through the tunnel to appear friendly or available to the media (prior to the game) should not be a requisite.

---

When you are under contract it is.

[Lascar78]

Again, I understand why one might want to do that. But they can deal with 5 minutes (if that) without headphones to smile at the fans and hear the cheers/jeers of those who pay their multi-million dollar salaries (in part). Seems like a small compromise for the luxuries they have, to me at least

[Weez]

I would agree...except again, as stated, there really aren't any fans in the players parking lot or the tunnels htat they use to enter the arena. there are media types there and perhaps (perhaps) a few VIP's that paid big bucks to get access...

before the game, it's still basketball time. Allow the guys to prep however they want (and as much as it pains me, I guess that includes letting them wear their damn sunglasses inside/in the tunnels, which is something I find ridiculous).

[chickenstanly]

Does the NBA have the right do do it?

Absolutely.

Is it racially aimed?

Obviously.

[chillzatl]

I don't even have a problem with that. It's illegal to drive a car with headphones on. So it's not like these guys drove in with their headphones on. Most of the guys that wear them into the arenas do so to avoid having to respond to questions by the media. Big deal..

What few people have said, the reason that most of the guys that are complaining are being so vocal. Most of them have never, in their teenage or adult lives, been told NO for anything. It's not something they think they have to tolerate anymore.

[Weez]

this is also true. the no theme.

if they want to avoid the media before the game starts, I hvae no problem with that either ~ but that's a personal opinion.

[chillzatl]

The way people throw around the word "racism" or try to say something is "racially aimed" is becoming a joke...

First off, the NBA has a players union that is ran by a black man who has never, in his career as union head, hesitated to call racism whenever it suited his cause. He's gone as far as to call other black men "uncle toms" simple for disagreeing with him. Do you honestly think he would have agreed to this so easily if he felt it was the slightest bit racially motivated?

Second, I find it funny and at the same time, insulting the way some black people try to make fads into "black culture". Jay-z starts wearing big platinum and rapping about it, so then everyone starts wearing big platinum. So suddenly wearing big platinum is "black culture"?

Jay-z starts wearing throw-back jerseys, so everyone else starts wearing throw back jerseys. Since Jay-z was the first prominant figure to do it, and he's black, wearing throw-back jerseys is suddenly "black culture"?

Give me a break.. It should be insulting to any black person to have your "culture" lumped in with things that are nothing more than passing fads. Especially when it's coming from other black people who pretend to speak for everyone.

[Weez]

Jay-Z's also sporting suits of late...

[AHF]

Quote:

---

Second, I find it funny and at the same time, insulting the way some black people try to make fads into "black culture". Jay-z starts wearing big platinum and rapping about it, so then everyone starts wearing big platinum. So suddenly wearing big platinum is "black culture"?

Jay-z starts wearing throw-back jerseys, so everyone else starts wearing throw back jerseys. Since Jay-z was the first prominant figure to do it, and he's black, wearing throw-back jerseys is suddenly "black culture"?

---

Of course, Jay-z is a team owner and wears suits to games but that is not part of black culture? Charles Barkley has criticized this kind of dress by the players for years but I guess he is a racist? The players agreed to take money in the last collective bargaining for the right for the NBA to set a dress code but it is racist when they set a business casual standard?

[Weez]

Jay-Z started wearing suits long before he became a team owner (last year I believe).

[chillzatl]

he's been wearing them for a long time, just as Puffy has. Those guys know the impact a sharp suit has on your image. It makes you look damned good!

[mudderfudder77]

Quote:

---

Does the NBA have the right do do it?

Absolutely.

Is it racially aimed?

Obviously.

---

I'd really love for you to actually back up the statement you just made. How is this racialy motivated?

This is financially motivated, plain and simple. Whatever David Stern does, the bottom line is always money. He did this because he was losing ratings and sponsors - no other reason.

[Weez]

touche.