Announcing New NBA Dress Code

David Stern, the commissioner of the National Basketball Association sees the need to upgrade the public image of the NBA and it's players. To meet this growing need, he has called for a business-casual dress code for all coaches and players.

"We have a minimum standard that we set that reflects on the professionalism of our sport," stated Stern--specifically, a collared shirt including dress shirts, sport shirts, and turtlenecks, slacks or khaki pants or dress jeans, sport coat, and dress shoes with socks.

Some people are calling the dress code "racist" because it bans neck chains and pendants, do-rags, sneakers, and baggy pants commonly seen on African-American men and boys. Racist it's not, as many of the same styles are worn by Caucasian-American men and boys, including flip-flops. Truth be known, it's African-American men who tend to dress up more than Caucasian-American men as a matter of cultural habit.

What no one is thinking or writing about is this--what you wear affects the way you think, the way you feel, and the way you act or behave. The higher standard of dress will influence a higher standard of behavior in player, then reflect to the rest of the world.

If NBA players and coaches would think about it, the new dress code presents a terrific opportunity to function as positive role models for people throughout America. If fashion retailers would think about it, they could use the dress code announcement to turn around the American sloppy-sexy dress downtrend and stimulate sales of classic dressy-casual clothing to the benefit of all.

Looking sharp and classy is not a matter of money. You don't have to shop at designer trend shops. Outlet and discount stores offer nice shirts and slacks all the time. You may have to save a little for a sport coat, but end-of-season sales in department and specialty men's stores always offer nice jackets, slacks, and shirts at reasonable prices.