Nike will frequently plan out the color scheme of players' outfits down to their tightsNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
With Nike in control of outfitting NBA teams, gone are the days when teams "would wear white at home ... and darker clothing on the road," and gone, too, are the times when players "could make requests and have them fulfilled on short notice," according to Steve Bulpett of the BOSTON HERALD. Now it has "all been planned." Celtics Travel & Equipment Coordinator John Connor said, "The league gives us a master schedule. We put it on the wall and we just give out what’s on the wall. We get the schedule and what we’re supposed to wear from the league, and it’s for the whole year. It used to be Paul Pierce saying, 'Hey, let's wear the green/black ones.' Not anymore. The players can't control it." Connor added, "Nike will call out, like, they want green tights with the green uniforms or white tights with green uniforms, black tights on white. They actually script for like 50 percent of the games what everything has to be. It’s a lot more restrictive" (BOSTON HERALD, 3/9).
