We can point to a few moments that changed the NBA over the years for better or worse, depending on your opinion.
One is the emergence of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, Michael Jordan being Michael Jordan, LeBron James’ decision, and Steph Curry’s shooting, some of which come to mind.
One that gets lost in the talks is how players like Allen Iverson, who was probably the coolest player at the time, were dressing when arriving at games and in press conferences. The look was very baggy and coincided with the emergence of Hip Hop, which the NBA did not like.
So they made a change.
Making players wear suits and business attire before games which lots of people called racist.
Stern’s dress code stated that all players must dress in business or conservative attire while arriving and departing during a scheduled game, on the bench while injured, and when conducting official NBA business (press interviews, charity events, etc.). The first dress code banned fashions most often associated with hip-hop culture, specifically: jerseys, jeans, hats, do-rags, T-shirts, large jewelry, sneakers and timber boots (specifically, Timberland-type boots).
This particular clothing was not allowed to be worn by players to interviews, games (on and off the bench), charity events, or any other occasion affiliated with the NBA and its developmental league. Violators of the dress code were to be fined or suspended upon repeat offenses. The dress code was developed with the intention of combating image problems that had plagued the NBA in recent history.
Under current NBA dress regulations, if a player does not dress to participate in a game, he must dress in a manner suitable for a coach. In the NBA, a suit or a sport coat used to be required for coaches, as well as a necktie. Since the 2020 NBA Bubble, coaches have been allowed to wear casual attire, with most opting for polo shirts and quarter-zips.
Critics such as Allen Iverson, Stephen Jackson and Paul Pierce claimed that the dress code would not change a person’s character regardless of what type of clothing they wore, and that associating hip-hop style of dress with crime or a bad image is racist. Iverson was also quoted to say, “the dress code is not who I am and doesn’t allow me to express myself.”
Many NBA and non-NBA sports figures also claimed that it targeted young black males and hip-hop culture. Many NBA players are sponsored by casual wear brands such as Nike, Adidas, Puma and Converse.
One guy who was in the league at the time that recently talked about this is Gilbert Arenas. Agent 0 appeared on an episode of VladTV where he talks about the more relaxed dress rules now and mentions how the way Iverson was dressed looked like how the rap group Dipset was dressed.
That is a very interesting take.
Flip the page for the video.