Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - Sport
Retired basketball player Moses Malone (left) eggs on, Archie Clarke, one of the five original founders of the National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA), while Mark Green makes suggestions for the pool championship shot at the StarFish Resort in Trelawny, where they held a retreat. - CLAUDINE HOUSEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
IT SHOULD have been no more than the proverbial storm in a teacup, but the implementation of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) player dress code has taken on a life of its own.
Tonight, when the 2005-06 season tips off, we'll see if the players are willing to give up their "bling, do-rags and jeans" on the way to the various arenas or act in defiance of NBA commissioner David Stern's directive.
Philadelphia star Allen Iverson says he shouldn't be told what to wear; Indiana forward Stephen Jackson - one of the guys who climbed into the stands during last year's infamous fiasco in Detroit - says it hints at "racism", while Denver big man Marcus Camby has asked for a uniform stipend.
Not surprisingly, maverick Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has also weighed into the dress code debate, stating: "This is the most ridiculous thing ever", while putting the move on par with Elvis' hips not being shot in TV in the late '50s because it was deemed too provocative.
Iverson, Jackson, Camby and Cuban may or may not represent the bulk of NBA players on the issue, but they have received little sympathy from their predecessors - members of the National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA) who are near unanimous on the subjet and want today's players to, for all intents and purposes, just shut up and dress up.
Len Elmore, a standout college player, NBA star, attorney-at-law and now president of the NBRPA and EPSN college basketball analyst, says some players have lost sight of the big picture.
"Despite the fact how much money they make, one day these young men are going to want to be accepted as professionals and into the mainstream business community," Elmore said at the association's extended weekend retreat at the Starfish Resort in Trelawny.
"Also, some of the young people that look up to the NBA players today need to understand the meaning of appropriateness. No one is saying you can't wear the uniform - if you will - of hip-hop ... but you have to recognise, in a mainstream sense, that there is a certain level of decorum.
"Even though you are a professional athlete and have millions of fans and make lots of money, you still have to adhere to that particular decorum," he said.
When reminded of Jackson's comments on the race issue, Elmore said: "The NBA has created more African-American millionaires than any other industry in the world.
"Plus, anyone making on average US$5 million a year has to be very careful when using the 'R' word as it pertains to them. There are too many other people who are truly the subjects of racism and it waters down the meaning."
Elmore said the move would obviously have a greater affect on African-American players in the league over their white, Hispanic or European counterparts but added: "This is an 80 per cent African-American league but, in legal terms, if the business judgement is legitimate ... to further a legitimate business interest, then an employer is allowed to make that decision."
Mel Davis, CEO of the association which boasts a floating membership of about 900, concurred with the president.
"This is a big-time global business ... I think the dress code is 15 years overdue," Davis said. "They are representing a major corporation ... if they don't understand that, there's other work out there but a lot of those companies have dress codes too."
