How a Controversial Dress Code Shaped the Future of the NBA's Fashion Game

No matter which side you land on when it comes to the 2005 dress code, one thing we can all agree on is that since the NBA implemented the changes, the league has quite literally never looked the same.
Written & Narrated by: Joseph Casciaro (@JosephCasciaro | Twitter)
Produced & Edited by: Brandon Jordan (@BrandonJordan3 | Instagram)
Motion Graphics by: Zack Underhill (@ZackUnderhill | Instagram)
Courtesy List: pastebin.com/rm8dw5pk
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#NBA #AllenIverson #DressCode

[@181cameron]

"I do art." - Serge Ibaka

[@danmoreta]

Underrated comment

[@jpmnky]

The ONE time in his twenty year career I ever heard Tim Duncan lose it - was over this dress code.

[@11bc11ac]

and Joey Crawford

[@antoniokastrocarlisledemel6617]

and u know if Duncan lost it than AI must've had a heart attack

[@lazarorodriguez5161]

Allen Inversion Brought the Streets to the NBA.....He was FLY....

[@afanoflafear]

A.I's style was through the roof, I remember everyone at high school wanted to be and dress like him. Shame his run in the NBA was cut so soon.

[@J.V_Momo]

2:07 what a sight.

[@apaceproduction]

These videos deserve more attention

[@jamesennis4512]

Thank you for this! I'm doing a unit on NBA, fashion and finances. This will be perfect for my students!

[@balltalkdeep]

great topic to cover; an underrated evolution of the NBA in the past decade+

[@Abdul-nk4dy]

Love the score been rocking with the score since middle school channel 53 act like you know 😤

[@OhhHeNice]

Quality content!

[@023hw]

Underrated channel. Underrated videos. Love these Unfiltered, Play it back series.

[@OhhHeNice]

Facts!

[@s1l453]

ye its esports channel is more popular

[@jesusroman7030]

stern was really scared of people dressed like rappers

[@camm8642]

no he just understand image and business and the bigger picture much better then the players did....

[@andrehts11]

Dress code WAS A RACIST move, what's wrong about let's say using the jersey of the city's baseball team??

[@giantchamp415]

They went from Allen Iverson to euro runway. The way the guys dress today is all good with the NBA cuz there being dressed by the most famous names in fashion. Its like this in the NFL too. I hope it dont ever hit the MLB.

[@tinyteemo]

why not? it keeps the nba with a great public perception, which is what is important to the league. If the public perceives that players dress similar to people that the nba does not want to be associated with, then it would change that. If the players are dressing up more professionally, or with more "class" and the nba is okay with associating themselves with it, why stop it?

[@AirKangLocker]

Its all about money, why not dress differently when u can be featured in fashion/gossip media whether for praise or ridicule. There is no bad publicity in murica lol

[@Nandoswitharando]

@@tinyteemo “public perception” bro nobody cares what they’re wearing before or after the game, we care about the game itself. Anybody saying they actually care about it is a weirdo, why you care how another man dresses? The nba isn’t gonna lose money with players rocking baggy clothes or anything

[@Sai4651]

Allen Iverson was cool

[@justinjameswilson5959]

I kinda like the time back when players dressed in fancy suits. It was way better than the "fashion" Russell Westbrook is wearing.

[@UnrhdxBox]

L

[@GameChanger-xi4iy]

Money can't buy style

[@yulifadida6661]

Exactly

[@antoniokastrocarlisledemel6617]

i was 19 when the dress code was put in place and though i never walked around with my pants hanging off my ass i was into baggy shit and wasn't really rocking with Stern on this but it didn't take long for me to realize that he was right.. I love AI mainly cuz he did his own thing and was like no one else but this is a job where u paid more in one game than most people get in a whole year and u getting paid for what u love to do so u can't complain about shit..I'm still into the hip hop way of clothes but at times u gotta come sharp..100 yrs ago even the brokest cat walked around in a suit looking proper..its sad we'll probably never have style like that again but when u working especially getting paid millions of dollars a year to travel all around the country and world don't complain about a dress code and while i understand AI and the counterargument that it's somewhat "racist" I'd call it more Judgemental cuz even with a suit on u could still be a crook but me when i wear a suit while it doesn't change who i am i do feel different ..I'm yappin but even though I see both sides of the argument I'm like 80% on sterns side maybe more

[@agniforma2340]

I'm sorry but you are wrong. And Stern was wrong. Why? Because the rules of the dress code stated that the players should dress professionally and that it's a business environment, but if you look at the NBA now you can actually show up with a fucking diaper and no one cares. The only reason that the NBA implied the dress code is that the league was too "black" for them and that had to change . Guys like Iverson were a big problem for the league's image.

[@epbski]

I'm not a big fan of dress codes in theory. I don't inherently like the idea of telling people what they can and can't wear. But I definitely think people in suits look better than people in baggy jeans and chains. Of course, that's subjective. But, I'm not convinced the dress code was primarily done to appeal to corporate America. Maybe that was part of it, but I doubt that was the only reason or even necessarily the main reason. But anyway, it's patently obvious that the dress code doesn't exist anymore.

[@siddhanthsridhar4742]

bgm music?

[@radicaltrains1402]

why his mic sound like that

[@FrankieAldaba]

lets go a youtube page

[@realtalkphph]

Rodman, A.I. and probably started this

[@manniesupasport7977]

Jordan & Fab 5 started longer shorts Rodman started tattoos AI made tattoos popular, started braids, brought back head bands, started arm sleeves, started hood fashion off the court

[@anthonycelestin3559]

Thank Kanye for changing the style of hip hop & made hip hop style mainstream. You still got guys he still got the more urban look from the early 2000s & mid 2000s but it's more tone down. Plus a lot of the Southern & ATL dudes got a mix of rock star hipster appeal. U got guys like Montrezz Harrell who got the Migos look which not as outlandish but is still contemporary. For some reason guys were scared of that early 2000s & mid 2000s style

[@AirKangLocker]

Naw thank basketball, A.I and rappers who made hiphop style mainstream. Everyone started rocking baggy jeans with nba jerseys and kanye was anti mainstream hiphop style with his polo shirts and bright bape colors. He just had a large following of people who wanted to emulate his mixed style of euro lux fashion and murican hiphop, he didnt make hiphop style mainstream, he made kanye style mainstream.

[@anthonycelestin3559]

@@AirKangLocker True.

[@trcs3079]

@@anthonycelestin3559 that guy debunked your claim and you you say true. I would delete my comment if I agreed with a rebuttal LOL

[@anthonycelestin3559]

@@trcs3079 Why delete it? I do agree with him on the premise of what he's saying but Kanye's style became hip hop style to a degree. Usually hip hop is associated with something being urban & to me that is subjective because Kanye had blurred the lines regarding that. Kanye's style wasnt influenced by hip hop or maybe he was anti-hip hop to a degree with his style but Kanye is associated with the overall style change in hip hop so all in all Kanye made anti-hip hop style hip hop. If Kanye was white, he would be a culture vulture but he gets a pass because hes black LOL. I still feel my comment makes sense but I agree with AirKangLocker too, theres no right or wrong answer to this, its very subjective.

[@jamesmoore9580]

Thank @Newedition & @Diddy first ! Then @Versace. Then @lilkim and so on. The elevated style of @Kanyewest is a product of #NYC high fashion from the likes of....#TheVillage #LGBT @HoodByAir @AsapRocky and @HH Facts!

[@nader91]

compared how bizarre they dress nowadays to 15 years earlier i want them baggy clothes back

[@afanoflafear]

I feel you bro, I have strong nostalgia for 2005, A.I. had all eyes on him.

[@vodoumyers]

THANK YOU! Imagine Joel Embiid & Giannis rocking some baggy Rocawear jeans & some oversized football jerseys

[@mrsoftnessful]

Something about me still misses players with nice tailored suits. Coaches are going the same route.

[@Thomao]

Buckbreaking

[@kodyscot9360]

the shit these players wear now ...they should be getting fined for it. at least iverson looked fly and manly.

[@ThetruthEc]

What they wear now in the NBA isn’t style most of the time. It’s someone who is in fashion who is effeminate and says to them “you look good in this”. All the while they look like fools. It doesn’t set a good example for the younger generation. Being a African American dominated league they should look to set a better example for kids today. Imagine what the slaves who died just to be respected would think about this it’s a clown show. 🤦🏽‍♂️smh

[@thisizdub]

They benefited off of hip hop in some ways but didn't want the dress code

[@jamesmoore9580]

Imagine telling woman at a Race Dirby, they have retrictions on Hat's and Attire. When you retrict peoples right to self expression you create a system of FLYYNESS ..Facts ! Shout out to the new (Tunway Models..HH) of the NBA, you have taken the torch passed on to you to even higher mountains. HH

[@ajrichards1190]

To be fair, the dress code was a PR issue to address the Pistons/Pacers fight and Allen Iverson. Gangster rap popular trend so the baggy clothes look was a thing. Fast forward 15 years later, NBA cleaned up its image and style trends changed. When Adam Silver became Commissioner, he relaxed the dress code. NBA still has a dress code, it's not as enforced unless a major issue with their brand image. Sports like Major League baseball, NFL have a dress code. If the Los Angeles Dodgers had an East Coast series and had to fly to New York to play the Mets, they're wearing formal clothing.

[@ajrichards1190]

@Ryan Harren Hip hop clothing changed from 15 years ago. I didn't say Gangster rap invented baggy clothes, the genre associates with baggy clothes during the time Daniel Stern enforced the dress code.

[@staidenofanarchy]

I love me a good suit, but it's a bit much

[@hanj31]

This was a good decision by david stern because these black kids that look up to nba players need to set the example for the young black folks who look up to them. You have to dress professional/ semi-professional when you’re going for job interviews or are out in the workforce. If the nba stars are dressing professional going to and from the arena or conducting interviews it sets a good president for the young black folks.

[@EZR725]

Gtfoh. How you Asian telling black people what they beed to do

[@hanj31]

@@EZR725 its called common sense. When you go in for an interview for a job you can't be going in dressing in sweats and a T-shirt.

[@devontaelafleur3841]

@@hanj31 when a majority of the black kids love to dress like Allen iverson and they see a league that targets dudes like him how is that helping anything

[@EJFF.]

Why can’t we dress how we want to dress when every other race does? You don’t see us telling white folks to get they kids outta that damn hot topic with all they trashed up jeans and shirts and earrings with marijuana leaves all over them. We’re young, you can’t seriously think we gon dress how we do daily when we go to job interviews and other important events. We got sense bro

[@Nandoswitharando]

@@EJFF. they obviously had no response to this Lmao, he’s a clown

[@juanvelez7091]

It's about money and only money! That is the obvious motivation and it's a legitimate one since it's commercial entertainment. If how you dress affects the bottom line, then you better stop that nonsense if you run a business or you will be out of a job real soon.

[@smthng]

Shame on people for wanting to look good. Stfu broke boi

[@Nandoswitharando]

It doesn’t tho, the way they dresses affects absolutely nothing. If you’re not gonna watch a basketball game because of what they wear BEFORE THE GAME you’re a straight weirdo😂