Matt Dowd And The NBA Dress Code...

[DemocratSinceBirth]

I am a hugh (sic) NBA fan and the dress code doesn't both me much but I believe the inspiration for it is Matt Dowd-George Bush's pollster... After the brouhaha at the Auburn Palace when players went into the seats to fight with fans David Stern hired Matt Dowd to help clean up the NBA's image...

[D_Master]

1. I agree

But the main point that the likes of Allen Iverson and Stephen Jackson, who have called the dress code a "bad message to kids" and "racist", missed is that they are EMPLOYEES of the league. If I went into work today and the boss told me that they were instituting a new dress code at work, I couldn't just sit their and whine about it, I would have to comply with it or quit. So these guys that are complaining need to either shut up and play, or quit, one or the other.

[mattomjoe]

2. The difference they have over you at your job is more leverage

Leagues like the NBA go all out to promote players like O'Neal and James and make them practically the league itself. While Stern is a powerful commissioner (I'll never forget the smack-down he laid on the Wolves for the Joe Smith fiasco) the players are also very powerful. And when you consider that the NBA roster is the smallest of all the professional team sports, their star players have all the more clout -- the kind of clout we all wish we had at our jobs.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. The Dress Code Doesn't Bother Me...

I like hip hop and the hip hop culture but some accommodation has to be made when you enter the work environment...

[rucky]

4. the rule targets black players.

in a defacto sort of way. it treads the line of being discriminatory, IMO - private organization or not.

to be fair, they should ban bib overalls and flannel for the white players from Kansas.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. They All Have To Wear The Outfits...

The NBA is over 70% African American but many of the white NBA players epitomize the hip hop culture...