NBA Commissioner David Stern isn't asking for the world -- all he's really asking for is an appearance that's professional and appropriate for a business, which many of the players in the NBA have forgotten what appropriate is. Many other businesses large and small ask their employees to maintain a certain level of conduct and dress so they can project a professional image.
From ESPN.com:
Indiana Pacers guard Stephen Jackson, contending that a league ban on chains worn over clothing is "a racist statement" from the league, wore every long, diamond-studded chain in his collection Tuesday night as a protest.
"I think it's a racist statement because a lot of the guys who are wearing chains are my age and are black," said Jackson. "I wore all my jewelry today to let it be known that I'm upset with it.
"I'll wear a suit every day. I think we do need to look more professional because it is a business. A lot of guys have gotten sloppy with the way they dress. But it's one thing to [enforce a] dress code and it's another thing if you're attacking cultures, and that's what I think they're doing."
Well, geez -- if that's true, there sure are a lot of racist companies in America.
NBA Commissioner David Stern isn't asking for the world -- all he's really asking for is an appearance that's professional and appropriate for a business, which many of the players in the NBA have forgotten what appropriate is. Many other businesses large and small ask their employees to maintain a certain level of conduct and dress so they can project a professional image.
The NBA is a business. It's entertainment. And it's employment that pays the lowest rung player $400,000 per year, and the average player around $4 million per year. Still, Denver Nuggets center Marcus Camby said that the only way most players would do it is if they got a "clothing allowance."
Many other businesses large and small ask their employees to maintain a certain level of conduct and dress so they can project a professional image. It certainly isn't about race -- it's going to apply to Jason Williams as much as it does to Allen Iverson, and both them are going to look equally ridculous in Dockers.
Their goal should be to attract most customers with their product, which is sport played at a very high level. Many other sports, including baseball, do a very good job of enforcing similar dress codes, and most of the sports have some kind of morality clause in contracts, making sure that their players conduct themselves with a certain level of professional in public.
Sometimes this conduct is unequally applied (read: Baltimore Orioles pitcher Sidney Ponson, who was released because lousy pitching, not because he punched a judge in Aruba), but there are teams that are willing to make a move regardless how it hurts their team in the field because of the image they must project with their paying fans.
That means no more episodes like Portland Trail Blazers teammates Damon Stoudamire and Rasheed Wallace being arrested, admitting they had been smoking marijuana before being pulled over for speeding in Seattle. (Mind you, it was in a yellow Hummer driving at a speed of 80 miles per hour, so they're pretty stupid, but that's besides the point.)
Like any business, the NBA wants their employees to be model citizens that represent their business well. That's not racist -- that's just good business sense.
And if they don't like it, they should just quit.
My only question: why is it when professional sports figures who happen to be African-American are asked to have a certain level of conduct, why do they play the race card?