The Rest of the NBA

[Sgt PSN]

Ok, explain how this is racist.

How many women play in the NBA? I don't even know why you brought women up.

im asking if a white woman...who say works in the sixers front office...is allowed to wear a chain outside of her blouse..im pretty certain she is...but iverson isnt allowed to wear one over his shirt

I don't know if the policy applies to front office personnel, especially those who never appear in press conferences or do interviews.  The camera is on the players not some ticket agent or accountant.  The dress policy for those employees is likely enforced by each team rather than by the league.  I doubt the league can impose such regulations for office employees because they don't work for the league or represent the league in any way. 

Also, the policy is in effect for everyone. Not just black people, not just white people, not just hispanics. It applies to everyone.

it applies to all but was instituted because of few

And?  Are you saying it's because the few are black?  Hey guess what?  It's the freaking NBA.  Incase you haven't noticed, the majority of the league is black. 

So I'll say it again, it's a stupid rule but it's not racist and anyone who thinks it is is a farging moron.

A boss telling his subordinates to dress like professionals is totally racist.[.b]

the players dont work for david stern

The get their paychecks from the team they play for but each team in a franchise of the NBA.  Stern is the commissioner of the NBA therefore he is "the boss". 

[Father Demon]

You know what hockey players have to wear if they aren't suited up?  Suits and ties.  The man is telling them to wear SUITS!!  Can you believe it??

Now THAT'S farging racist.....

[Rome]

They can look like punks and thugs on their on time.

When they're representing their team, city and league, they should dress like professionals.

"Business casual attire" is the requirement.  Oh, dear... how will they ever conform to such stringent rules?

You are one ignorant dude. You really need to get out into the real world, because you have no idea what a thug is. You are one angry, depressed individual.

Ahahaha.  I'm neither angry nor depressed.

And apparently, you couldn't spot sarcasm with a farging dictionary in one hand and a microscope in the other.

Moron.

[Rome]

BTW: Is any really surprised that the only two posters attacking this policy are IGY & TOIG?

[Sgt PSN]

Just wait until Steve Nash shows up to a post game pc wearing a pink Izod with the collar flipped up and watch MDS go friggin nutz! 

[PhillyPhreak54]

Just wait until Steve Nash shows up to a post game pc wearing a pink Izod with the collar flipped up and watch MDS go friggin nutz! 

[Rome]

Nothing wrong with pink Izods.

Collared up is for the queers, though.

[Sgt PSN]

Nothing wrong with pink Izods.

Of course not.  My grandmother had one. 

[WEST is GOD]

They can look like punks and thugs on their on time.

When they're representing their team, city and league, they should dress like professionals.

"Business casual attire" is the requirement.  Oh, dear... how will they ever conform to such stringent rules?

You are one ignorant dude. You really need to get out into the real world, because you have no idea what a thug is. You are one angry, depressed individual.

Ahahaha.  I'm neither angry nor depressed.

And apparently, you couldn't spot sarcasm with a farging dictionary in one hand and a microscope in the other.

Moron.

You are both, don't make it worse by lying to yourself. You were not sarcastic either. You've shown here plenty of times that you don't agree with people dressing in a "hip-hop" style because it makes them thugs. Don't pull the sarcastic card out when your stereotypical colors start to show.

[Rome]

 

You don't have the first clue about me or what I believe, so please, do me a favor and keep your imbecilic analysis to yourself.

[ice grillin you]

And?  Are you saying it's because the few are black?  Hey guess what?  It's the freaking NBA.  Incase you haven't noticed, the majority of the league is black.

if you dont think theres a backlash in this country against young rich blacks then you are crazy...if a young black kid is gonna make all my money then he best act and dress the way i want...but a lazy fat redneck like john kruk can whyle out and its considered funny and cool...


The get their paychecks from the team they play for but each team in a franchise of the NBA.  Stern is the commissioner of the NBA therefore he is "the boss". 

no he isnt the boss of the players...the individual owners are...the only reason stern can do this is because the players union agreed to a form of a dress code in the cba

BTW: Is any really surprised that the only two posters attacking this policy are IGY & TOIG?

not sure what that means?...but among others who have attacked it are donovan mcnabb...mark cuban and joe crede...one of the most vociferous supporters of the policy is howard eskin who everyone here despises...so again i ask whats your point???

[Rome]

My point is, the NBA markets itself to rich white people.  Do you honestly think they give a shtein about gang-bangers in the 'hood, IGY?

Puh-lease.

People with bank accounts with two commas in them are what drives the NBA financially.  They're the ones who buy the clubseats, fill the skyboxes, and produce billions in ancillary revenues that the NBA needs to survive.

They're trying to market to baby boomers because that's where the money is.  And when I say baby boomers, I'm not talking about just the white ones either.  Minorities in this country have tons of disposable income and many of them are just as uncomfortable with the "thug" personifications that are portrayed by today's athletes as whites are.

You guys can bury your little noggins in the sand and pretend that the players actually have a say in what goes on in their respective leagues.  But the bottom line is, if the people paying the freight are turned off by the product, then the product has to change.  That's what Stern is doing here.  He's attempting to assuage his "base."

If the poor gazillionaires are offended that they have to present a professional appearance when representing their team, then that's just too farging bad.

[Rome]

Posted on Sun, Oct. 23, 2005

Stephen A. Smith | Blame belongs with players

By Stephen A. Smith

Inquirer Columnist


Long after the whining and moaning subside and the polarizing effects of race dissipate, NBA players will be stuck in the unfamiliar position of having to look in the mirror - and nowhere else - for all the travails concerning their sullied image.

The white-man-is-bringing-us-down excuse can last only so long. The same can be said concerning commissioner David Stern. At some point, at some time, the realization that a player's culpability for whatever ails the NBA's image extends beyond the court, especially when that assertion is virtually echoed by the players' own union.

Has anyone ever heard of the National Basketball Players Association? Did anyone know that its executive director is Billy Hunter, a black man? With all the hollering and vitriol being levied publicly, it should not be lost that everything from its executive committee to the negotiating committee is rife with black men?

All of whom evidently signed off on the league's new dress-code policy.

Where were the players when the NBPA was negotiating the finer points of the collective-bargaining agreement reached this summer? If a dress-code policy consisting of slacks, shoes, shirts and blazers is truly "retarded," where was Tim Duncan's voice of discontent before Hunter and his crew acquiesced, to Stern's delight? That is assuming the NBPA tried to consult the players at all.

The appropriate answer would probably be that the players were on vacation.

The problem is, they're always away when it comes to standing as a strong, collective unit.

Having a dress code is perfectly understandable, but the specific stipulations flat-out stink. Shoes, slacks and a button-collared shirt should be enough, but by now we all know that serves only to camouflage the real issues.

They are:

In June, the NBA Finals suffered a more than 30 percent drop in TV ratings from what they averaged over the last 30 seasons.

There was a 45 percent decline in All-Star Game ratings over the average for the last 15 seasons.

Considering the $400 million a year the NBA gets from ABC/ESPN, the $366 million a year it gets from TNT, and a player's average salary of $5 million (rivaled by no other sport), Stern's actions were nothing but predictable.

The NBA has wanted a dress code since the 1970s.

Why the league was able to get it is something Hunter, Duncan, Allen Iverson and LeBron James should be forced to answer.

The NBA flexed its muscles, threw haymakers, and knocked the players on their proverbial backsides.

An inquisition could have taken place regarding the commissioner's assertion that a downward turn in popularity occurred on these players' watch, but it never happened.

It appears no one stood up and asked why exactly the ratings and attendance have declined, why sponsors have looked elsewhere. No one even stood up and said, 'Hey, Mr. Stern, if something is wrong with our hip-hop image, why are our songs blasting through the public-address system in every one of your arenas?"

The fact is, the players never say much or do much other than play ball. Just like the National Football League, the NBA gets whatever it wants when it wants, and little is done to curtail its momentum.

The easy culprit, of course, is Hunter. He's the guy who runs the NBPA, the one with a prosecutor's background instead of a labor negotiator's. But that's the obvious, simplistic way out of things. The bigger, more appropriate culprits are the players, all of whom should be ashamed for complaining now when they could have done something about it earlier.

A luxury tax might not be in place if the players had displayed more resolve during the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season. If Stern and his cohorts didn't know that the 400-plus players would concede and force Hunter to appease them by reaching a deal, you still may have had maximum limits on the contracts or a rookie wage scale or a luxury tax - but certainly not all three.

To avoid such monetary constraints, however, some level of cohesion would be required, something from the players that depicts unity and dignity.

The problem is, it gets lost when players give time, money and heart to people, foundations and causes. And it has little to do with how a player dresses.

It's usually because the most conspicuous causes that players hold dear completely revolve around them.

Rarely, if ever, is the big picture accounted for and almost always not until it's too late. Remember that mirror.

[MDS]

Mediocre trade for mediocre teams

[BigEd76]

Mediocre teams...yes.  Mediocre trade?  Not really.  Magloire and Mason would be starters on the 76ers....