Does the NBA Dress Code Go Too Far?

savvy101
October 20 2005, 10:40AM

Yeah, that's real crazy. They seem to forget that playing ball professionally really is a job. Well, I guess it is kind of hard to believe, isn't it.

www.savvy101.blogspot.com

JP
October 20 2005, 10:44AM

c'mon....what company doesn't have a dress code? i think it's the NBA's way of attempting to "clean up" it's image and regain some lost credibility....good for them!! the players are coming in younger...maybe some "controls" are necessary? some of this stuff should be a no-brainer.

Troy
October 20 2005, 10:47AM

L.L. Bean, Brooks Brothers and J. Crew are very very pleased, as are they're respective stockholders.

Nathans
October 20 2005, 12:52PM

well image is everything I think that a dress code is a good thing!

cmoney
October 20 2005, 1:06PM

They need to change the uniforms. How about going back to the tight shorts they used to wear in the 70's and 80's? I'm sick of the long floppy uniforms on the court today. I need to see some ass and dicks swinging!! Give me my money's worth :-) I don't think its racist to ask someone to not dress like a thug or drug dealer at work, but since the league is 85% Black, you have to ask the question of motives.

Robert
October 20 2005, 1:21PM

Well, the code only applies when they're appearing in public at team or league events, no?
When I'm not at work, I can dress any way I please, but that freedom ends when I go to work.
If I don't like it, I can find something else to do for a living.

Aaron
October 20 2005, 1:34PM

When we own it we can make the rules. It is not racist to say that grown professionals should dress professionally. In most business casual environs we put on a suit for outside meetings to represent polish, professionalism and order.

They wear a uniform to represent the team on the court so it isnt absurd to me to wear one whenever they represent the company that pays them.

If someone is paying me umpteen MILLION dollars a year to PLAY I would wear a damn chicken suit with the butt cut out and no drawers if thats what it called for! They only represent the company 3 to 4 days out of the week less than 3 hours per game. All other times are in practice and traveling when they can wear whatever the hell they want. Give me a break. And they call us PUNKS!!!!

Kenneth Winfrey
October 20 2005, 3:52PM

I think we have anough Black male role models sporting bling. I've always thought that the look was often overdone anyway. My personal fashion sensibility doesn't include a chain hanging down to my gut with huge medallions. Nor does it include large peices of jewelry. I also think there is something childishly attention-seeking, gaudy and braggadocious about it, even if you are rich. Let young people know that you are a professional, and nothing like the dealers in many fans' neighborhoods some athletes look like. Let them know that there is a world beyond all that, whether you are Black, white, urban or suburban.

There is nothing wrong with success, but I'd like to see better values about materialism and wealth being put forth to what appears to be a largely Black audience. Don't promote spending money on jewelry and cars, but rather on self-improvement through education and life-planning. Leave them guessing how much money you have but have them wonder what's going on in your head to get it...

ron
October 20 2005, 4:46PM

I do not think the code is racist per se but I do think there are racial variables. Lets be clear...if those boys didn't make it to the NBA and had a regular 9-5 they'd be adhering to some kind of dress code, whether it be suit and tie, business casual or red shirt and khakis if they were retailing it at Target. They get paid millions of dollars a year. As much as they think they have power....THEY DO NOT!! Front office and those signing their checks still run shit! As much as people think the NBA caters to hip hop crowd...IT DOES NOT!! If it weren't for the big banks and sponsors there would be no seats to fill so its still very much big business which is run by white folk! Any organization has the right to project a certain image and if that means business casual on company time then Iverson needs to suck it up, go to Men's Warehouse and pay for it.

I think this is LONG OVERDUE!! I'm a Ralph Lauren type brotha so I can't stand the look and I mean goodness...what is wrong about telling grown men that they need to start dressing as such in the work place? They are PROFESSIONAL athletes and need to start looking like it. The bling and hip hop look can be done on their own time. I do think the NBA got itself into this though with their trying to use the hip hop image to make their pockets fatter. So, they got into a marriage of sorts with hip hop and now want a divorce. I think this is probably something that was coming and the Indiana/Detroit fight was the straw that broke the camel's back. So, bottom line...shut it up and deal with it. The millions of dollars they are getting and have the nerve to complain about a dress code on COMPANY time??!! What?!! Oh yeah...bring them back down to earth!

castiron
October 20 2005, 8:57PM

I agree with the comment above. I would like to see the players wear tighter and shorter shorts so we could get a better idea of who has big trade and who has a nice bubble butt. TV basketball ratings have been on a steady decline. A better view of those thick, hairy thighs and fat d**ks would send ratings off the charts. Everyone would be watching.

Erick
October 20 2005, 9:07PM

I don't see a problem with having a dress code. These men are not just entertaining, they're molding young minds (and a lot of the older ones too!). That's a fact. If it were just the clothing, it wouldn't be a problem but more often than not the clothes come with an expected persona. Not the persona in the minds of a non-black person but the persona other blacks encourage young men to have in order to be authentically black. We oftentimes stereotype ourselves without the aid of another ethnic/racial group. Let young black America see there is diversity amongst us too!

Chris
October 20 2005, 10:50PM

They should make them shave that shit off their faces; not worry about what basketball players wear.

Lol lol lol lol lol lol lol.

Laura
October 21 2005, 12:21AM

"They need to change the uniforms. How about going back to the tight shorts they used to wear in the 70's and 80's? I'm sick of the long floppy uniforms on the court today. I need to see some ass and dicks swinging!! Give me my money's worth :-)"

lolololol cmoney, you are too much.

i agree. every non-Black on earth is hot after that tail and those muscled arms to hold you, anyway. everybody knows it, why not flaunt it.

Laura
October 21 2005, 12:29AM

does anyone watch that spike men's channel thing? i don't have cable so only see it every once in a blue moon if, i go to some bar that's playing it.

that channel has to have a big gay following -- buncha repressed hypermasculine men running around in tight suits, growling at each other face to face, extreme sports, any old excuse to touch and grope at each other, etc. it's like Tom of Finland come to life and with commercial breaks.

the entertainment industry may be conventional on the surface but they are no fools to what sells.

unfortunately, though, the Lifetime channel still is apparently geared towards boring unattractive heterosexual/heterosexist women. no eye candy there, at least that i know of. lol i'd love to be corrected.

jaymillion
October 21 2005, 4:49AM

I only watch track and field to see those Jamaican Pingas

Bklynbro
October 21 2005, 12:41PM

They should make "a good education" a major requirement. Have you heard and seen how a lot of those guys speak...and act? And what about all those tats? Enough to make a lifer or ex-con envious.

cmoney
October 21 2005, 4:55PM

I'm with you on those Jamaican track stars, jaymillion! Faster! Faster! :-)

Lacey
October 21 2005, 5:38PM

I think that it is a good item to stop all of the thug dressing at the games. As a black female I am tired of seeing my brothas walk around dress like criminals even if they are not. I want to see our men look dignified like God intended for them to be.

Kenneth Winfrey
October 22 2005, 12:37PM

What do y'all think of Allen Iverson stating that the NMA should pay for the new clothes they'll need to buy in order to meet the new dress code?

I was dissappointed in the statement given the enviable salaries these men make already. To challenge the dress code is one thing. But to ask for charity when you have a check like that is not even funny. When so many people right in Philly can't afford ANY clothes--thugged out or not, he can't be serious and shouldn't have let such words even cross his beautiful lips...

Houman
October 22 2005, 11:32PM

D. I read it this morning. Sorry for just answering. My computer is jacked up. I like it.

You know, even though Bob Johnson, Shelia Johnson, Nelly, Usher, Michael Jordan, and Jay-Z are black investors in NBA and WNBA teams - it still doesn't matter - white folks are going to protect their investment. If it means making certain "niggers" dress more "European" to attract more European and a broader base of fans that's what they are going to do since they still overwhelmingly control the league. It's not the "Negro League" contrary to what people may think. The NBA is trying to maximize its profits "by any means necessary". If they think "bling" and "hip-hop" is hurting their profits they are going to put the squeeze on them. It's that simple.

And never mind that white folks "bling" whenever and wherever they want. I suppose the "bling" Iverson and others wear is too "ghetto". "Too Niggerish". "Too non-conforming". Can you imagine some white folks having profitted tremendously in the Western World by robbing diamond mines in Africa and fostering civil wars and death in African countries over diamonds having the audacity to tell Emeka Okafor, Mamadou N’diaye, or Dikembe Mutombo what kinds of jewelry they can wear? Maybe their tastes are different from Iverson's. Maybe they don't like jewelry at all.

It would be great if Iverson and others stopped using "mainstream" jewelers to craft to their "bling" and instead started using Demetrius The Jeweler in St. Louis and other black jewelry designers across America in silent protest of this code.

Dress code? Are NBA players allowed to wear dishikis? Would the NBA ban dishikis if Iverson started wearing them? What's next? No cornrolls, no Afros? No tattoos? Mandatory manicured nails and toes? No tricked out Escalade's or Yukon Denali's sitting on 22's pulling in the garage? It's a slippery slope. I imagine the premise is..."If it seems like the NBA is "cleaning up" the league then just maybe it might gain more (NASCAR, country club, and tennis type) fans."

Are NHL players forced to into a new dress code? NHL players can literally knock out cold opponents on the cold ice and where's the uproar? And recently, a NASCAR driver got out of his car, walked in the middle of a race, kicked another driver's car, and then threw his helmet at the car. Will NASCAR mandate a different dress code for drivers? How about baseball players. Don't they having bench clearing brawls? Haven't players thrown chairs in the stands cracking skulls and noses of fans? Where is their mandatory dress code? None of these sportsman have been called "thugs". As long as it is mostly white folks acting like aggressors and acting like aggressors with each other in sports - it's okay. But when a "nigger" fights or misbehaves in a sport - it's time for a change of dress code and/or a tightening of rules. A brotha can't even dance in the end zone in the NFL without rules being tightened. Those NBA guys must be "thugs" that need more guidance than the televised fight-in-every-game NHL thugs. Hypocrisy.

It's bogus.

I had no concerns about Iverson's or any other NBA player's dress off the court. Quite frankly, I wouldn't even wear some of the "appropriate" suits and jewelry I have seen some NBA players wear, but I do believe that a high level of decorum needs to be presented by all athletes in all sports. This especially holds true for black athletes. It goes back to the adage that "black folks have to work twice as hard, and be twice as good". We’ve gotten too complacent as if the enemy has completely died and we see that it has not. We are STILL targets.

I truly believe that blacks, in general, DO HAVE TO PLAY THE GAME regardless of the field of work. As they say, “Don’t hate the player, hate the game”. It's a game set up by their rules, unfortunately, but when you start playing the game better than them you eventually get to a place where you end up making the rules they will have to follow.

Expounding, Asians have played the game well, now Latinos are beginning to play the game. Nonetheless, Blacks are playing the game too, although many are TIRED of the marathon. Yet, us Blacks are the one’s that can least afford not to play the game hard and consistently.

Play the game Allen. Beat them at their own game. Put on the clothes. Then make the rules.

Kenneth Winfrey
October 23 2005, 2:36PM

It's sad that we defend the act of wearing jewels our African brothers give their lives for in those deep dank mines as somehow Afrocentric or, elevate it to the status of Black American culture. It's also a shame that so many of us never seem to fail to fall on arguments that suggest two wrongs make a right when there is advocacy for change in one place, but not another.

Jewelry and other outward expressions of wealth do not compare to what a person experiences when they braid, lock or naturally wear their hair either. I would advocate defending ethnic, natural hairstyles without compunction because they are cultural. Braids are Afrocentric. Afros are Afrocentric. Cadillac medallions, diamond studded dog tags, shoes made by Nike, and gear by Tommy are not--even if some of us think they are. They are fashion trends that will go the way of the liesure suit. In fact, they are products of oppression and the excessive materialism that have kids of all colors killing each other.

Having taught in schools across the country, I see young men of ALL races who actually aspire to acquire these "things" that have nothing to do with real success, but are more in the way of giving money into a system that has given us nothing in return. So, can we begin by showing young people that there are other ways to make a lot of money besides music and sports? Then, can we show our young people that some conformity is required to be a part of anything--Black or white? While we're at it, can we show our young people that it might be wiser to save or invest your money, rather than wearing half of it around your neck, and the other half parked in the driveway, and some more you borrowed on the wheels?

It doesn't matter who designs and creates the jewelry either. Whether it's Demetrius in St. Louis or Tyrone in Tulsa, for that matter, the vast majority the stones and metals come from the blood, sweat, AND tears of Africans. Even if some of them don't, I doubt anyone takes the time to ask, or would be willing to wait for materials that don't come from this horrific oppression. I can't imagine how disgusted and hurt the widows and other loved ones who've lost someone in a mine must feel when they see us Blacks from America in the media wearing these items.

Personally, I find it more painful to see this egotistical, vain perpetuation of so many ills, than I do any hockey player loose a tooth--because we all know that people come to see the hockey game AND a fight. Sure, maybe the NHL, NASCAR, or the whole sports entertainment industry needs to also take a step back and look at how what they do impacts everyone else. No behavior exists in a vacuum. I'd admire a man for giving the money for for all the "gear" to a Black school or church, actually.

Sorry Allen, I love you, but you need to take a different angle because I am not going to feel pity for you in the situation to have to buy a few new clothes. I own hip hop clothes and accessories, but I certainly don't teach class in them, and I know full well that I will never be permitted to walk into my clients offices dressed that way and hardly expect to be hired. I am not there to make them accept new fashion trends, or even to perpetuate some kind of cultural evolution, I am there to get their money! I can change the world in so many other ways other than those that might lead me to poverty and loose the respect of the business community I work in. Namely, I take much of that money and give it to elevate causes and people who need it. Trust me, I don't take to compromise or humilation, but as someone else said here, I'd wear a chicken suit to get it.

I have learned to accept that what we wear is the costume for the role we wish to play within dominant culture. If you dress in a matter that defines a thug, then most people will receive you as such. If you dress in a matter that declares that you actually can play their game AND win it, then they will respect you that much more.

ThomB
October 23 2005, 6:10PM

The day after the Dress Code was announced Allen Iverson was on WPGC 95.5 in DC and said, I paraphrase, That he would hate to have to tell his son who looked up to his father's image (the way he dressed) that what his father wore was unacceptable.

This is the question that needs to be answered: Would a son rather see his father in an Armani suit or the cleanest white Tee shirt? I don't have children and will probably never understand. But i do understand this, Iverson and his counterparts have a taken this semi-street image too far. If i got paid an excess of 20 million dollars per year +/-, I would definitely not dress like the commoners. Then to go to an event where the people are there who pay you that money...it would behoove me to be dress conservatively. And it is not about compromise...it about professionalism and self worth. Some of these players are from the hood, they understand compromise.

In this picture we see a rather dapper Shaq sitting next to AI with multiple chains, and white tee, a doo-rag and a baseball cap (at the basketball game). I think Black men in general need to start looking more presentable at public functions. Here more recently I have been a little peterbed by our outward image. That's all...go NBA officials!

Houman
October 23 2005, 6:14PM

I find it very interesting that most, if not all, of the guys and gals replying on here are gay. Yet, many of the comments here are so prejudice it isn’t funny. Comments like, “Dress like Thugs”, “Defines a thug”, “Dress like drug dealers”, etc. are so judgmental and reeks of the same type of prejudice that so many hets have against homos. “Do as I do”, “Look like I look”, “Act like I act”, “Dress like I dress” seems to be the mantra here. “I'm a Ralph Lauren type brotha so I can't stand the look and I mean goodness...what is wrong about telling grown men that they need to start dressing as such in the work place?” Don’t put your style of dress on a pedestal, because many hip-hoppers “can’t stand” your look necessarily either. If you are going to discuss the dress code from a professional workplace perspective then let’s do that. But if you are going to discuss it from a prejudicial stereotypical point of view that is wrong.

Do clothes really define character? Or are they illusions. If a white person wears Kente cloth attire are they necessarily African? If a person wears a suit is he a decent, moral individual? Many a criminal homicidal maniacs have appeared in courtrooms in suits. I find it very interesting and kind of disturbing that so many naïvely think “suits” are supposed to magically boost the character of an individual. Didn’t corporate “suits” rob Enron, World Com, Refco, Adelphia, Arthur Andersen, Tyco, and others? Aren’t many of them in jail, indictment, or are about to be? Didn’t the 911 hijackers wear slacks, collared shirts, ties, and jackets when they flew planes into the World Trade Center? I would rather deal with Allen Iverson ANYDAY than deal with the execs or “suits” at Texaco that called African-American employees “black jellybeans” suggesting that they land at the bottom of jar (company) or hijackers. How in the hell does a suit improve behavior or curtail malicious intent or ignorance? The NBA’s move is all about illusion.

If the Detroit fan had thrown a cup at Ron Artest while he was in a suit do you think Ron Artest wouldn’t have gone in the stands looking to kick some ass? Or do you think Artest would have said, “Oh, I am in a suit, I am going to contain myself”? If people wearing suits and dresses would have smack downs in city halls and government legislative meetings the world over, what in the hell does a suit have to do anything with behavior?

If Bush, Cheney and Condoleeza Rice can lie and scheme in suit and dresses, what in the hell does a suit have to do with anything?

And Kenneth Winfrey, who is defending anything about jewelry? If you read carefully, you would have understood that I was not supporting the wicked diamond industry, but individual’s RIGHTS to wear to jewelry whether they know about the atrocities of Africa or not. I don’t wear jewelry, not even watches, so you are preaching to the choir.

BTW, the majority of your fruit and vegetables come from undocumented workers in the U.S. that are working like slaves for little wages, but I bet that isn’t keeping you from eating fruits and vegetables. Many have died from heat strokes and workplace accidents, but I bet it ain’t stopping you from eating fresh collards, yams, and cabbage.

Secondly, pointing out DOUBLE STANDARDS is not suggesting, “two wrongs make a right”. That is downright ludicrous. There is no harm in pointing out double standards especially as it relates to laws and rules, which black folk often get the brunt. (Crack v. Cocaine)

Some Negroes have gotten so complacent with their white designed Ralph Lauren and Tommy clothes, white-collar jobs, and suburban dwellings that they forget they can be on the receiving end of discrimination and prejudice. Black homosexuals ought to be last somebody’s in the world to disrespect people just because of the clothes they happen to wear. The het black community gives black homos hell because of how some act, who they are, and how they dress.

I am an individual that would not prefer brothers and sisters to wear their pants off their asses, but the fact remains although it is unattractive to many of us, it doesn’t necessarily make people who choose such attire a thug or drug dealer. It doesn’t make them advocates of violence. It doesn’t make them unlearned, unsocialized, and uncouth. Just like every drag queen isn’t a thief, hot check writer, or a felon. And just like every gay man doesn’t sleep around or participate in orgies in Atlanta during the Labor Day weekend.

I have young cousins that dress “thuggy” but are good students, mannerable, and non-criminals. They have jobs and one is planning to go to college. You can’t judge a book by its cover at least get to the foreward. In essence, the clothes don’t necessarily make the person. The person makes the person and this is not to suggest that workplace standards should go out of the window.

Yes, conformity is required to be a part of anything and that is why I said, “PLAY THE GAME” then make the rules. However, “playing the game” or conforming doesn’t disqualify real questions from being asked or hypocrisy from being pointed out.

Rob G.
October 23 2005, 9:15PM

Youth is wasted on the young,especially basketball bouncing negroes.These overpaid boys have it so damn good. They are talented, famous wealthy, people waiting around night after night just to see them, even in the wind and the rain. One would think that their mommas, or someone would teach these morons something about class, and style.But then again,they have their mommas and other family members living larger than life, so why would they care about the sterotypical images their millionaire ballers project. I doubt that these ball bouncing negroes care anything about how they look. More than half of them should not be allowed to speak,because they are not amongst the most articulate of speakers.As long as they can get paid millions of dollars,they will say, and do as they please no matter how ridiculous they look sitting around in their bling, and ghetto wear.I am no fan of Shaq, but at least he knows that their is a such thing as a suit and tie, and when he is in public he will usually be dressed like the priviledged baller that he is. If these wealthy boys don't want to dress in a presentable manner, then they should be fined or fired. Unfortunately these ball bouncing negroes influence too many young black males down the thug path, just like the rapping negroes.These people have the money, but no dignity,class or style. To hell with race being a factor, the name of the game is DIGNITY....

Houman
October 23 2005, 10:30PM

I bet if one of these so-called basketball bouncing, inarticulate, classless, blinging, ghetto clothes wearing, no style, undignified negroes came to penetrate you in your ass - you'd obliged.

If Allen Iverson came and wanted oral or anal sex with you, you'd jump all over him then shine his medallion before he leaves.

Rob G.
October 24 2005, 12:27AM

Houman, FIRSTLY, I don't know who you are, but more importantly you don't know me from adam. Not that it is any of your business, but if ANYONE comes looking to penetrate me, its not going to happen because I don't get down like that. SECONDLY I am not impressed with, nor am I interested in, comments from someone such as yourself, a nameless, faceless, stranger who is not fit to shine my custom made shoes. LASTLY who the hell is Alan Iverson???

Houman
October 24 2005, 1:30AM

I don't want to know you either, creep. Apparently you do get down like that because your monkey ass is on here. "FIRSTLY?" (LOL). That is so punkish. That word alone shows you have punk tendencies. The other giveaway is when your punk ass talk about your "custom made shoes". So, so punkish. So pussy. Probably high heels too, aren't they? Stilettos? What the hell? And you have the audacity to talk about ballers because they like to "bling" and you are here bragging about some bullshit stiletto heels? You are a big custom shoe wearing pseudo-grandiose punk. Acting like you are above others knowing full well you ain't got a pot to piss in.

See how stereotypes and generalizations work you idiot. And for you not to be impressed with or interested in comments from someone such as myself - a nameless, faceless, stranger who is not fit to shine my custom made shoes – your punk ass sure did respond – and not like the grand queen you think you are. And trust me, you wouldn't want me to shine your shoes. You wouldn’t want me anywhere near your shoes.

Who the hell is Alan Iverson???

It's Allen Iverson and he penetrated you last night. Don't you remember, bitch?!

Kenneth Winfrey
October 24 2005, 2:02AM

Here we go again: If there's oppression in the fruit and vegetable industry, then basketball players should be able to wear what they want? More specifically, if I eat Mexican cantaloupe, I can't feel empathy for someone who dies for a stone that NOBODY CAN EVEN EAT? This is not about the hockey or race car insustry. Nor is it about the global agricultural market. Simply put, all the fruits, vegetables and jewels aside, if you work for me, and I have a dress code, then you'll wear what I tell you to wear, or find another job! If you can't play by somebody else's rules, then make your own way. This is not about racism. This is about pimping and showing off, and being reminded that the somebody else owns the NBA and can dictate what their players wear--plain and simple. What's the matter, can't these guys admit to their fans that even they have bosses who set rules they don't like just like everyone else?

Don't get me wrong, I understand personal freedom. I own my own small business, work at home, and some days I don't get dressed AT ALL, but when I worked for somebody else, I wore the "uniform" diligently. I even found kente ties, wore printed coats and jackets to the office, and had African themed bags for carrying "the Man's" dirty work to and from home. With friends in the fashion industry, I had Afrocentric rugby shirts made for casual Fridays. I even have shoes made WILLINGLY by Africans here and on the continent. Be creative and you'll find that you can still express yourself without have an image "THAT MOST PEOPLE ASSOCIATE" with criminal behavior and the forms of dysfunction and violence that turned most neighborhoods of color (esp. Black) into virtual war zones. You can also find plenty of clothes that meet "their" standard that have Afrocentric themes and are made by your own people.

White people in dashikis look crazy, no one expects that. The only stereotype that would invoke is that of "wigger," or you would assume that they were mocking us. Pimps with bling, with clothes 3 sizes too big, obviously evokes the image of a thug--not because anyone here decided for it to mean this, but because it IS the dominant culture (which, unfortunately, is white). Say what you want, but even I have come to expect to find a gun in the front of those loose pants behind that big buckle, under that white t-shirt, or stuffed in the ankle of those Tims. I don't expect to find much behind the belt through a pair of pressed khakis though. Of course, people can wear what they want and carry a gun. It's just that these are the images being fed to us. ...and if you own your own business, and make your own money without waiting for the NBA to sign and deliver your check, you really CAN wear whatever you want. Nevertheless, associations are everything. Likewise, white people in dashikis aren't part of dominant culture. We don't expect to find that at all. Some of y'all are trippin' with all these weak arguments. We all know full dammed well that encouraging young people to wear this MESS isn't helpful to anyone, and it's something that could actually overpower the game itself. Will they come to see what players wear to work, or to see the game itself?

...so we pay them a mint to play a GAME and then they cry oppression because they can't wear it all in the form of gaudy clothes and jewelry on their backs? Puleez! I don't feel sympathy for people who make that much money when all they're being asked is to wear the clothes of the dominant culture that pays them handsomely to do what THEY love to do. How many of them will turn down their next paycheck over this? ZERO!

Furthermore, Houman, if, in fact, "...one of these so-called basketball bouncing, inarticulate, classless, blinging, ghetto clothes wearing, no style, undignified negroes came to penetrate [me] in [my] ass," I certainly just might proudly oblige, depending on which of them it was. They are beautiful men and I admire all of them. Actually, "if Allen Iverson," IN PARTICULAR, "came and wanted oral or anal sex with [me]," I just might "jump all over him then shine his medallion before he leaves." but then I would say, "Baby, why don't you just change your gear for now, take the dough, and let's give money to the National Black Justice Coalition, the NOI, the NAACP, the King Center, Tavis Smiley, 100 Concerned Men, the Alphas, the Omegas, the Sigmas, the Kappas, the National Council of Negro Women, Howard University, or even Oprah's Angel Network or anybody else instead of DeBeers, Nike, Akademiks (sp?), Roc-A-Wear, Rover, Cadillac, and any of the other non-Black owned vampires that take Black dollars and let many of us live in the poverty we choose when we buy their products."

Rob G.
October 24 2005, 7:16AM

THESE NIGGAZ HAVE TO ABIDE BY THEIR BOSSES RULES. IT IS TIME THAT THEY SEE HOW THEY HELP TO PERPETUATE THE BLACK MALE THUG STEREOTYPE. I STILL SAY FIRE THEM, OR FINE THEM.

Neledi
October 24 2005, 8:54PM

When keepin' it Real Goes Wrong:

It is embarrassing to know that grown a$$ men would rather pay fines (that could feed hungry people) than put on a suit for a couple of hours.

Newsflash: You are not rappers!

Jordan and Majic made the covers of GQ when they owned the game, and this is what represents our generation?

Get it together black men. Stop teaching young brothers that they can wear anything to work.

Neledi
October 24 2005, 8:55PM

P.S. Where they mommas at?

revrawls
October 24 2005, 9:53PM

I applaud the commissioners decision to implement a dress code. You are going to work, and when a dress code is implemented, if you want to keep your job, one abides by it. Have any of you seen the movie Coach Carter? I believe we can say somebody in the front office saw the movie and caught a clue. The NBA, as a business, is also responsible for it's image. The business doesn't want to project a thug-like persona to the public. Maybe somebody in the front office realized that the dress of some players is not what the NBA wants to project. Dr. J. wears a suit to the front office everyday --why can't these players. It's going to be interesting to see Allan Iverson in a suit and some of these others. The NBA, the NFL are nothing more than modern day plantations that pay the black players millions of dollars to continue to make the white man wealthy. The brothers got to realize that somebody else is still SIGNING THEIR PAYCHECKS. Now when they get to the point where nobody signs their paychecks, they can wear what they want to wear. And as far as Allan Iverson's comments regarding how his son looks up to him --well answer this -- how did his son look up to him those times he was arrested and almost ended up in jail for a long time. What did he tell his son then? What he should have told his son was that things changed. The commissioner now says we have to wear suits and Allan should take his son with him and purchase his son a suit as well. In the real world were we live, cloths do make the man. Baggie pants, do rags, long white t-shirts want get you job at any Fortune 500 company that I know of. Allan Iverson would be teaching his son a very valuable lesson of sometimes you have to comply and compromise on things. The idea is correct -- when you are out representing the NBA, you are to dress for business and that's exactly what this is a business and NBA and NFL players are businessmen --whether they like it or not.

Randy Boyd
October 25 2005, 4:45PM

Basically, the message is: there's a more acceptable way to look in America and this is it.

Lang
October 26 2005, 3:25PM

It's about damn time. It sickening how brothas of today dress. It's not about dressing white it's about dressing properly. They have money, yet they choose to dress like criminals, bums and wear overly baggy close as if the store ran out of their size. Rips here, patches there, doo rags,army gear and can't forget the male pumps (Timbs). I HATE the hip hop look, it's so tired.I hate seing a grown man walking down the street, so sloppy with his pants dragging, stopping every ten steps to lift up his pants. Was he in jail? That's how that look started, you cannot wear a belt in jail, 'cause it's deemed as a weapon. Poor people dress certain ways out of lack of funds and clothing options. These athletes have money, yet still want to represent that poverty look. I guess they are keeping it REAL. There are poor folks who take pride in presenting themselves in a decent manner. I do not suggest they start wearing Brooks Brother Suits and such, but just clean it up a little. Whether we want to believe it or not, us Black folks are still profiled based on our color first and then our appearance.It;s not right but it;s how it is. Dresssing like a thug does not equate being criminal but that is the implied look. Let's really be honest about what this new age rap perpetuates? I remember being a kid and my Dad telling me not to wear my hat backwards because the police are gonna assume you are a criminal. Truth was that a lot of guys with pants down low, hat backwards were always harassed by the cops. You are judged on your appearnce until further interaction. Black men have style, displayed over decades. We should get back to that.

Rev. Rawls
October 26 2005, 9:02PM

If Allan Iverson's son looks up to him, I wonder how he answered his son about being arrested.
Hmmmmmmm