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Stern's dress code

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How did the NBA turn around the perception their league is full of TPOS

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I wasn't aware they had

Stern ruled it with an iron fist. That included the owners too.

Goodell is the owner's pawn.

I'm guessing the NFLPA is probably stronger than the NBA too

The NBA really got the players involved with the local communities too.

I really think it started to change around 2001 when Brian Scalabrine came into the league.

quote:

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How did the NBA turn around the perception their league is full of TPOS

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When it became cool for star players to dress like this...

Couple of reasons:

1) I think that the NFL always had more tpos but the NBA was the one with the image problem. Remember Ray Lewis, Rae Carruth, LT etc? NBA players are more likely to be seen on TV and how they dressed was really thuggish. The dress code really cleaned all that up. That was a huge thing. Look at how many NFL players have dreds and braids. There is only 1 NBAer that has braids, K. Leonard and he's considered the prototype Spurs player. Go figure.

2) NBA players are almost like Euro soccer players. They get plucked up at 14 and sent to those AAU and prep schools and they're told that they are a "brand" and it's individualized.

3) I think the type of person that becomes an NBA player is less of a "risk taker" than an NFL player. Jalen Rose talks about how basketball players are afraid to take football hits thats why they played basketball in highschool. i.e. not as crazy.

4) The money is astronomical. Guys like Pekovic and Hayward are making $12-15m a year. Peyton Manning is the most famous NFL athlete and he isn't even sniffing the shoe deal that Durant just got ($265m) from Nike. That money alone makes guys behave. Lance Stephenson just lost about $20m in guaranteed money for blowing in LBJ's ear.

5) Culture. The culture of the sport is just more urban and hipster. That's why you have 7 footers dressed like this:

VS



Last year Rondo had an internship with GQ magazine.
These NBA guys are going crazy of NYC fashion week.

One point I'd like to make is that these days, a lot of NBA players aren't from the hood like they used to be in the past. AAU ball has more middle class kids playing. So a lot of those players go to college and then on to the NBA.

So the league didn't just change the perception of TPOS players... there really are less TPOS players.

The NBA probably sits on thinnest ice of all the leagues. If a player gets in trouble people will come out of the woodwork saying the NBA is a thug league and I'm never going to watch again etc...The NFL doesn't have to worry about any of that. I don't know what the NFL has to do to make people stop watching...