The NBA's policy of fining players for wearing shorts
that fall below the knee continues to draw attention from
the media. USA TODAY's Gary Mihoces wrote that "while it
limits self-expression," leagues mandating a dress code is
"not unusual." PGA Tour players may not wear shorts, NFL
players must wear knee socks, and MLB players can't wear
cut-off sleeves "if his teammates don't" (USA TODAY, 11/19).
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: ESPN's David Aldridge called the
NBA's actions "about the dumbest thing I've seen in 10 years
of covering this league," and added that it "smells of a
kind of cultural ignorance that I find surprising." A
"senior league official" told Aldridge that in the longer
shorts, the players "looked like gangsters." Aldridge:
"And, excuse me, didn't the long shorts style originate with
one Michael Jeffrey Jordan? Mr. Madison Avenue?" Aldridge:
"It's beneath the NBA to care this much about a non-issue.
It makes the league look insensitive. Unless, of course, it
simply is insensitive" (SportsZone, 11/19). In S.F., Gwen
Knapp wrote that league which "built itself on personalities
and cutting-edge sideshows is edging toward geeky." Knapp:
"There are real rebellions, real affronts to the public's
expectations of athletes. ... So why is the league warning
and fining players over a few inches of fabric?" (S.F.
EXAMINER, 11/18). In Dallas, Barry Horn added the fines
come "while the league is at a loss to deal with players who
smoke pot or drink too heavily" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS,
11/19). But an editorial in the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES said the
NBA is "show business and the director, not the actor, picks
the costumes" (SUN-TIMES, 11/20). In N.Y., Phil Mushnick
gives the NBA kudos, adding that it "is quietly but actively
concerned about the players' associations with gang members
and, to that end, will not indulge gang-banger images, be
they found in the length of shorts or the flashing of hand
signals" in front of TV cameras (N.Y. POST, 11/21).
