The NBA's New
Dress Code
It began with a dress code. It continued with a new ball.
There's a new technical foul rule. The NBA is simply getting
ridiculous under the guidance of Commissioner David Stern.
The NBA believes that professionalism comes by wearing a
suit and tie. It is an absurd statement. How one dresses does
not define a personality. A professional will always act like
a professional and a pig will always act like a pig. By changing
the dress code, one can't help but feel a sense of a false
facade. What defined players like Allen Iverson was the gangsta
look. His bad boy attitude was something that kids living
in the city loved. He seemed real to all of us, a player that
was brought up from the tough streets. Put him in a suit,
we think he's a rich guy ignoring his rugged past. People
wanted to be like Allen Iverson on the court and off the court.
By enforcing the new dress code, it's almost as if basketball
has become a business. While one can't deny the fact that
sports is one of the best businesses out there, it's still
a game. By forcing all players to dress like businessmen,
you're only reminding fans that this isn't for fun anymore,
it's for money.
The NBA's New Ball
The new ball has been a very controversial topic this year.
A league has never screwed up changing a product as much as
the NBA has. It's possible they were trying to duplicate the
success of changing balls in other sports. Baseball made a
smaller, tighter ball. Football made a pointier ball. The
current ball makes a difference in the velocity of a pitch.
The current football is a lot easier to throw a tighter spiral.
What is the benefit of having a plastic feeling playground
basketball? Increased grip on a plastic-like texture is the
most absurd scientific explanation. If NBA players really
wanted to have a ball that felt more like a playground ball,
why not change the court to cement? Why not change the nets
to metal? It's the only next reasonable step to make the game
seem more like streetball. What happened to the Stone Age
phrase of "If it ain't broke, don't fit it." Leather
balls are still being used on the high school and collegiate
level. Adjusting back to playing with a playground ball is
going to take a lot of time.
The NBA's New No Tolerance
Is it possible to be more controversial than changing the
ball? Apparently so. This season, a "no tolerance"
policy has been enforced. Players that complain to referees
will be hit with a technical foul. Mr. Stern, you're depriving
athletes of their first amendment right. It's unreasonable
that if a referee makes a bad call that a player should not
be upset about the call. It's human nature. Already, the league
is on pace to set records for technical fouls. Players are
afraid of playing aggressively because they are afraid that
their emotions will take too over. When it comes playoff time,
how many free throws will be shot? In the last NBA Finals,
Maverick and Heat players consistently dogged the referees
about bad calls. Games will start taking five hours with the
amount of technical fouls that will have to issued.
David Stern should realize that referees are getting paid
a handsome sum of money per game. The referees can't take
criticism for the mistakes they make, why not simply install
robots that are mechanical when it comes to what is a foul?
There won't be things like judgment calls that could screw
a team's chance of winning. This is quite possibly more ridiculous
than the penalties in the NFL that overprotect the quarterback.
Let the players play. Emotions are part of the game and if
faulty refereeing cannot deal with players having problems
with calls, they're in the wrong game.
David Stern has turned the NBA into Nazi Germany. He's issuing
ridiculous terms that quite simply are too totalitarian. If
he continues to keep altering the game, will Michael Jordan,
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Larry Bird recognize the game they
used to love and cherish anymore?
By Andy Chang
(chang)
Basketball
Central Articles Home
|
