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Everybody's Crazy 'Bout A Sharp Dressed Man

© Roy Pickering

NBA commissioner David Stern considers the league under his direction to be a class organization, and he wants to be certain that we all agree with him. He realizes that a growing majority of professional basketball players are from America's hip hop generation, yet this does not mean he intends to market the league predominantly to this particular fan base. After all, luxury boxes and courtside seats are still mostly purchased by those who belong to a more affluent demographic. Those corporate types surely must not be neglected.

If a Wall Street executive comes to Madison Square Garden for a rap concert, he knows he'll look out of place if he doesn't change out of his Brooks Brothers suit and into something considerably more casual before heading to the show. If he comes to MSG for a New York Knicks game, that's another matter entirely. The fashion standard will vary widely, from fellow suits to those in loose jeans and bling bling to spare and every look in between. It used to be that NBA players off the court but still on the clock could also choose to dress in whatever style most appealed to them. Per David Stern's latest edict, those days are now in the past. A dress code has been instituted for pro ballers, and unless they don't mind being fined on a regular basis, they have no choice but to adhere to it.

This is not to say that the new dress code is particularly strict. Most people in the workplace would consider the guidelines defining "business casual" in the National Basketball Association to be quite reasonable. The league has banned sleeveless shirts, shorts, chains worn over clothing, sunglasses while indoors, and headphones during team or league business such as flights, public appearances and post game interviews, as well as sitting on the bench when not suited up to play. Now required are collared dress shirts or turtlenecks; dress slacks, khaki pants or dress jeans; and dress shoes or boots or "other presentable shoes" with socks, and no sneakers, sandals, flip-flops or work boots. In other words, the standard casual Friday look as you and I know it is acceptable to David Stern, but dressing like you're onstage to accept a Source Award for best gangsta rap CD is not. The arena of fashion is not the only one being policed by the commissioner in his effort to reform the somewhat thuggish image of the NBA post "Ron Artest Gone Wild". He also announced the inception of N.B.A. Cares. With this vast public-service initiative, Stern vowed that the league, its players and its teams would raise $100 million for charity, serve more than one million volunteer hours and build more than 100 youth centers over the next five years. As lofty an ambition as this may be, it is the new dress code that is garnering most of the publicity and stirring up controversy.