The code also contains a list of excluded items, i.e. items that players are not allowed to wear while on team or league business. They are as follows:

- Sleeveless shirts; Shorts; T-shirts, jerseys, or sports apparel (unless appropriate for the event (e.g., a basketball clinic), team-identified, and approved by the team); Headgear of any kind while a player is sitting on the bench or in the stands at a game, during media interviews, or during a team or league event or appearance (unless appropriate for the event or appearance, team-identified, and approved by the team); Chains, pendants, or medallions worn over the player's clothes; Sunglasses while indoors; Headphones (other than on the team bus or plane, or in the team locker room)

Predictably, some players feel like the new code is a slap in the face to young black men, in particular, and hip-hop "culture" in general.

(Indiana Pacers guard Stephen) Jackson, who is black, said the NBA's new rule about jewelry targets young black males because chains are associated with hip-hop culture, and he said the league is afraid of becoming "too hip-hop." In protest, he wore four chains to the Pacers' exhibition game against San Antonio on Tuesday night.

Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce agreed that the new rule targeted young, black players."When I saw the part about chains, hip hop and throwback jerseys, I think that's part of our culture," Pierce said. "The NBA is young black males."

To listen to some of these public statements is to know that while in college these particular men passed the ball on court and in the classroom, especially in Introduction to Logic. Here are a few more of their pearls of wisdom:

Philadelphia's Allen Iverson also was critical of the new rule, which the NBA made teams aware of in a memo Monday. "I feel like if they want us to dress a certain way, they should pay for our clothes," he said. "It's just tough, man, knowing that all of a sudden you have to have a dress code out of nowhere. I don't think that's still going to help the image of the league at all."

(Golden State guard Jason) Richardson added that nicer clothing wasn't necessarily the best way to determine the character of the players. "You still wear a suit, you still could be a crook," Richardson said in Oakland, Calif. "You see all what happened with Enron and Martha Stewart. Just because you dress a certain way doesn't mean you're that way. "Hey, a guy could come in with baggy jeans, a do-rag and have a Ph.D., and a person who comes in with a suit could be a three-time felon. So, it's not what you wear, it's how you present yourself."

If these were logical free-throws, Richardson would be renamed Shaquille Richardson. That aside, whether or not the ban will be abided or flaunted remains to be seen. My guess is that despite the loud complaints and a few symbolic acts of defiance, the players will accept the ban and the NBA's battered image will be the better for it. And this is exactly what we'd expect, after all. As any economist will tell you, incentives work, not always perfectly, but they work. This fact is demonstrated quite convincingly by none other than the aforementioned Stephen Jackson, the very same player who, on one hand complained bitterly about the policy, but on the other hand also knows on which side his bread is buttered:

"They don't want your chains to be out, all gaudy and shiny. But that's the point of them," he said. "I love wearing my jewelry. But I love my job. I love playing basketball more than I love getting fined and getting suspended."

Further Reading

It's Not About the Money: The Role of Preferences, Cognitive Biases and Heuristics Among Professional Athletes
MICHAEL MCCANN, Mississippi College - School of Law
Brooklyn Law Review, Vol. 71, 2006

Abstract: Professional athletes are often regarded as selfish, greedy, and out-of-touch with regular people. They hire agents who are vilified for negotiating employment contracts that occasionally yield compensation in excess of national gross domestic products. Professional athletes are thus commonly assumed to most value economic remuneration, rather than the "love of the game" or some other intangible, romanticized inclination.

The Economics of Persistence: Graduation Rates of Athletes as Labor Market Choice
Lawrence Debrock , Wallace E. Hendricks and Roger Koenker
JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCES
Abstract: In this paper we analyze data for each Division I National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) school on academic characteristics, athletic characteristics, and graduation rates. Three groups of athletes are studied: male football players, male basketball players, and female basketball players. We find strong empirical evidence that traditional labor market opportunities unrelated to sport are significant explanatory variables of persistence of athletes. In addition, we find support for the hypothesis that professional opportunities have a significant impact on the graduation rate of athletes. This impact is stronger in sports with higher expected financial returns from this form of non-degree employment.

Tags: nba | Basketball | dress code | hip hop | bling

See also: Dress Code Controversy | Dress Code Controversy | Just Over a Week Away! | Appearances and the NBA Dress Code
Kudos to David Stern for instituting a dress code | Men Join the Bling Generation | Bling it on