Dress Code Implementation Into the NBA

Dress Code Implementation Into the NBA

The controversial issue as of late is whether or not a dress code

should be implemented into the NBA. These athletes are being paid

millions of dollars a year and serve as role models to children all

over the world. For these reasons it is essential that a dress code

be implemented into the NBA.

Last year during the Olympics, at one of Belgrade’s finest

restaurants, Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and many

other U.S. players attended a dinner in their honor. The guest list

included many respectable people including the Serbian national team,

who were all wearing matching sport coats. Iverson and some of his

fellow NBA professionals arrived wearing an array of sweat suits,

oversize jeans, shimmering diamond earrings and platinum chains,

according to NBA officials at the dinner. Larry Brown, the Hall of

Fame coach of the U.S. team, was shocked and humiliated. He told an

NBA official that he thought about sending some of the worst dressed

players back to the hotel (Washington Post).

The story of this incident eventually made its way back to the office

of David Stern, the commissioner of the NBA. There was already a

rising concern about how some of the players were dressing and how the

overall appeal of the game was being destroyed. The NBA had tried to

fuse its product with the hip hop culture, trying to connect with a

new generation of fans and their street fashion. This plan of attack

was very unsuccessful (Washington Post).

Looking at the statistics, not only were they unsuccessful, ...

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... from. Like I said before, the

NBA is a business, and the main objective of a business is to make

money. They have to realize that the big money in sports comes from

corporate dollars: Sponsorships, Commercials, and Luxury Suites. The

NBA can afford to risk alienating a few kids or slow sales of

throwback jerseys, because portraying their players as professionals

earns $350,000 more corporate dollars from another sold commercial

spot. And this is the money that they want (Not Exactly Rocket

Science).

In conclusion, the players of the NBA have the abilities of a

professional, are paid like professionals, and are powerful role

models among the youth of society. With great power comes great

responsibility, and these players must be men and own up to their

responsibilities of dressing like professionals.