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The National Basketball Association's (NBA) dress code was introduced on October 17, 2005, under NBA commissioner David Stern. The dress code was mandatory for all NBA and NBA Development League players, making the NBA only the second major professional sports league to have a dress code, after the National Hockey League.^[1] The dress code went into effect at the start of the 2005–06 NBA season.^[2] It was significantly relaxed shortly before the 2020 NBA Bubble.^[3]

Details

The 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 hiking boots (specifically, Timberland-type boots).^[4] 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,^[4] as well as a necktie.

Banned 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.^[5]

With Stern stepping down and Adam Silver becoming commissioner of the NBA in 2014, the dress code became more lenient, allowing players to be more expressive with what they wear.^[6] Since the 2020 NBA Bubble, coaches have been allowed to wear casual attire, with most opting for polo shirts and quarter-zips.^[3]

Support

The dress code was announced as a direct consequence of the Malice at the Palace, as the NBA sought to undo its image problems, which were hurting its business.^[7] In 2019, Stern said that the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), the labor union representing NBA players, originally supported the idea of a dress code, although the NBPA then attacked Stern after he announced the dress code.^[8] Charles Barkley, in a 2005 interview on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, conceded that there were racial overtones with the new dress code, but he generally supported it. Barkley said that bosses at all businesses are entitled to enact dress codes, and that athletes influence young fans.^[9]

Writing for Rolling Stone in 2016, Zack Graham said that although players were initially critical of the dress code, "Over the years, NBA players accepted, then embraced and eventually began to have fun with the new dress code, changing men's fashion in the process."^[10]

Opposition

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.^[11]^[12] Iverson said, "the dress code is not who I am and doesn't allow me to express myself."^[13] Rod Benson wrote that, as a prospect in the D-League in 2006, the dress code created a financial burden for him.^[14]

Many NBA and non-NBA sports figures also claimed that it targeted young black males and hip-hop culture.^[15]^[16] Many NBA players are sponsored by rappers and casual wear brands such as Nike, Adidas, Puma and Converse.