Some NBA players are crying "racism" over the league's new dress code:
Well, I say "Get over it!"
The idea that being forced to dress up has anything to do with racism is beyond ridiculous. So maybe David Stern is a greedy, capitalist pig, but racist? Gimme' a break. First of all, Stern didn't just wake one day and "make up" a new rule, he simply "enforced" a rule that already existed in the current NBA/Players Association contract. If the players were THAT upset about it, they shouldn't have accepted the rule as a part of their latest Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NBA.
Secondly, since it took root, the NBA, like the NFL has become a global phenomenon that transcends national boundaries. With 29 teams in both the U.S. and Canada, NBA games and related programming are broadcast to 206 countries in 42 languages. The league is also one of the largest suppliers of sports television and Internet programming in the world. While corporate America, of which the NBA is a part, loves the demographics and numbers hip-hop represents, there's a lot of baggage that comes with it. Like when rapper Nelly became part-owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, it created a dicey situation in that now you had an NBA owner who also endorses a beverage called "Pimp Juice". I'm sorry, but nothing about a pimp should be put on a pedestal and I'm not the only one who feels that way.
Lastly, when it comes to the "infringement" of their precious Hip-Hop attire, NBA players have to take part of blame. Think about it. Recently, there was the Ron Artest-led fight in Detroit last year, an ugly scene seen worldwide that did nothing to help the league's image in some sectors of the world that sees it as strictly being young, Black and out-of-control.
Think too about the responsibility NBA players refuse to take part in when it comes to the obsession over material items that leads to kids still killing kids so they too can have one of the "big chains" Stephen Jackson wears. Think too that a huge chunk of Michael Jordan's legacy lies in the fact that MJ was a winner, so the NBA had plenty of leverage in marketing Jordan and making him the face of the league. For all his talent, Allen Iverson shouldn't be complaining about the dress code because while he may be the original hip-hop/basketball-playing icon, he still remains a selfish ball-hog who has never won anything team-oriented in his life.
Then again this whole "dress code is racist" drama isn't that big of a deal in the first place considering that we're only talking about wearing a collar for 10-minute press conferences, traveling from the bus to the locker-room and also while your seated on the bench because you can't play due to injury (mind you, while STILL getting paid). Doesn't seem too harsh to me. Or as Carmelo Anthony, who wears one of the NBA's most popular jersey's, said: "I guess Jay-Z said it best: 'Real recognize real.' I think hip-hop has become so popular because it's real. When cats like me hear hip-hop songs, it's like, 'Man, I went through that. We can relate.' When suburban kids hear it they feel they're broadening their horizons. They want to know what's going on, they want to be down. People say I'm real, and while part of that is my personality, I think listening to hip-hop all my life has had a lot to do with it. Like hip-hop, our generation links with the streets. That's why, as a player, it's important to keep your street credibility. But you've got to know how to balance when you can be street and when you should be a businessman. There's a time and a place for everything."
Exactly.
—Cleon Alert