GLADIATOR REPORT //
MONDAY // NOVEMBER 14, 2005
NBA Demonstrate Control Over Their
Million Dollar Slaves
by Del Jones aka Nana Kuntu
Their slogan is “I love this game,” but the game don’t love you sucker! To demonstrate control over their “million dollar Jigs” the NBA's President David Stern has decreed that the ball players will have to dress like white businessmen when on the bench, traveling or conducting NBA business. Probably, Stern was just testing his power and control for the greater good of white society who have a love/hate relationship with Black athletes just as they have with other Black entertainers. Whites never have problems with contradictions and hypocrisy, as a matter of fact it is their comfort zone. Mini cries of outrage floated outta the locker rooms, but lack of unity make ‘em toothless. Let’s take a brief sampling to gauge the anger coming from what should be the most 
powerful unit in this business, the players, Yo! For example, last years MVP player Tim Duncan put it this way:
I think it's a load of crap," Duncan told the San Antonio Express-News. "I understand what they're trying to do with [forbidding] hats and 'do rags and [retro] jerseys and stuff. That's fine. But I don't understand why they would take it to this level. I think it's basically retarded.
Indiana Pacers guard Stephen Jackson, said that a new ban on chains worn over clothing is "a racist statement" from the league He felt the so-called "business casual" garb was cool but said he believed that the jewelry ban was racist and constituted an "attack on young black males." He continued: "I think it's a racist statement because a lot of the guys who are wearing chains are my age and are Black," said Jackson, 27. "I wore all my jewelry today to let it be known that I'm upset with it. "I'll wear a suit every day. I think we do need to look more professional because it is a business. A lot of guys have gotten sloppy with the way they dress. But it's one thing to [enforce a] dress code and it's another thing if you're attacking cultures, and that's what I think they're doing."
It is all racist Jackson, not just parts of the dress code and it is designed to slow down the socialization of the next generation to dress like Blacks. The contradiction is easy seen if you understand that a major part of the NBA’s revenue comes from the sales of gear and related products. This include doorags. You know the right-wing rulers of this country almost shitted when their son went beyond the picture of the Black athlete on their bedroom walls, but included a doo-rag to top off the gear they rocked in school and out.
It didn’t matter to the Stern power show that a large percent of the athletes sported diamond studded crucifixes or jew-ery depicting Jesus Christ. A section in the new dress code listing items players are not allowed to wear on team or league business includes; chains, pendants or medallions worn over the player's clothing. Jackson went on to say that 
"I know a lot of guys on my team are upset and I have no problem speaking up on it.” He said he would not defy the edict from above.
"I don't like the direction they're going, but who am I?" Duncan told the newspaper that, in the future, he might choose to stay in the locker room on nights he isn't playing. No one seems ready to organize to counter-attack this public castration. Obviously, the lack of unified action in the community and the society exist in the NBA, their toothless union notwithstanding.
Phil Taylor of S.I. Magazine made some interesting observations recently: The real message to the players is: Stop dressing like thugs --or at least, stop wearing what a significant portion of the public perceives as thug attire... Forget for a moment whether the league has any business telling grown men how to dress when they're not in uniform. The unspoken issue here is race... If you think the league isn't targeting any one particular style of dress, ask yourself whether Stern or anyone else would be pushing for a dress code if the predominant look for players out of uniform was a polo shirt and khakis, a la John Stockton. It (NBA) wants to be all things to all people -- edgy and rebellious to younger fans, but not so extreme that it's threatening to their parents. That's why it sends such mixed messages -- pounding rap and hip-hop beats play on the arena sound systems, but the players aren't supposed to look too much like the artists who create that music...
