What’s the deal with the NBA dress code? Custom sneakers, headbands, Russell Westbrook and turtlenecks

Are National Basketball League players channelling their inner Karate Kid this season? The league has been hit by yet another fashion craze with the rise of the tie-back headband as sported by Mr Miyagi and Daniel in the Karate Kid films. While players have been sporting headbands in the league for years, a recent Sports Illustrated article noted multiple players have been donning the look, including Jrue Holliday, Wesley Matthews, Andre Drummond, De’Aaron Fox, Damion Lee and Montrezl Harrell. @Jrue_Holiday11 before the game tonight pic.twitter.com/ZuenBI7UIM — Chief Sheek (@mrcleankickz) November 13, 2018 In 2005, the NBA became the first professional North American sports league to install a dress code for its players while they were heading to games or watching as injured reserves. The move, by former commissioner David Stern, which required “business casual attire” was seen as a campaign to separate the game from both hip-hop attire and the music genre’s negative connotations. Some players argued the code specifically targeted black players and was racist. NBA sneakerhead alert! Top shoes heading into 2018-19 season will make your mouth dribble The rules ban players from wearing shorts, headgear, visible jewellery, sunglasses while indoors and headphones. The policy does allow khaki pants, dress boots and turtlenecks. The dress code ended up having a huge legacy when it came to athletes and fashion, as Rolling Stone noted in a 2016 piece it turned the NBA into the “most stylish league around”. The 2005 code has never been rigorously enforced, and lately players have resorted to wearing outlandish attire. Atop the list is Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, who has taken his pre-game clothing to various extremes with mixed results. One of the most underrated changes the NBA made to its sternly enforced on-court guidelines this off-season had nothing to do with the game’s actual rules. Before the 2018-19 season, shoe colours were incredibly restricted, and at one point limited to white, black and grey. Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan kicked off the sneakerheads craze in 1985 with the first-ever Air Jordan, a red and black high-top. First-year commissioner Stern banned the rookie’s sneakers, and the rest was history with the Jordan brand generating billions of dollars a year and sponsoring several NBA stars. Jeremy Lin says it ‘kind of sucks’ being only Asian-American in the NBA ‘rooting’ more Asians will follow The NBA now allows its players to wear sneakers of any colour, which has produced some incredibly cool and quirky results, including Air Jordans with Homer Simpson (worn by Harrell) on them. The league still does not allow players to paint their own shoes, or shoes with reflective material. Players are permitted to write on their sneakers with permanent marker, within reason of course. Many pros have made political statements with the felt writing on their shoes, including last year when Miami Heat player Dwyane Wade sported the words “gun violence” with an ‘X’ through them on his signature Li-Ning sneakers after yet another mass shooting in the US. In 2015, Nike signed an unprecedented deal with the NBA. The sponsorship agreement was a big win for the then struggling sportswear giant, which signed a massive, eight-year US$1 billion (HK$7.8 billion) deal to drape everything basketball related in its trademark swoosh. The company had been dealing with sagging profits, negative press around sweatshops and increased competition from brands like Adidas and Under Armour. The deal revitalised the company and its image as it has regained its financial foothold, and also benefited from expanding heavily into the Latin American and Asian markets to make up for lost profits in North America. As well as easing off the dress code, the NBA has eased up with its on-uniform commercial opportunities. Several teams have also started selling the coveted sponsor spot on the top right part of their jerseys, the most notable being the Golden State Warriors signing a US$20 million deal with Japanese technology company Rakuten. The Philadelphia 76ers were the first a few years ago when they signed on Stubhub. Yahoo Finance! estimates corporate sponsors spent an estimated US$1.2 billion on the NBA this season, the first time in league history its been over a billion dollars, and a figure that has been growing for the past five years. This now ranks the league behind only the NFL (US$1.25 billion) in annual sponsorship revenue when it comes to North American pro sports leagues.