The NBA is in full swing and Day 1 of David Stern's new dress code came off as smooth as Stephon Marbury's head. But while everything is all smiles and styles on the sideline, we wanted to know how you felt about the NBA's latest policy. Read two of the best responses below and then click on either viewpoint to get more user takes. There's no stipend, but we suggest reading along.

User Responses

The NBA dress code is not racist. It's a ham-handed power play by David Stern.

He's attempting to show the morally bankrupt fat cats, their mistresses, their yoga instructor-coupling spouses, their regulation-skating chief financial officers and their pharmaceutically-dependent offspring whose fannies ring courtside seats and the lower bowl of venues across the country, that he is in control. Never again will the Nordstroms and Abercrombie & Fitch crowd attending these games need to fear that those oversized (most likely injured), brothers in Izod golf shirts and loose-fitting jeans -- will come into the stands during a fight or do anything else unseemly.

Apparently some exhaustive research by the commissioner's office has discovered that a sportscoat and tie are Kryptonite to NBA players That worn together, in a natty combination, they could instantaneously undo a lifetime of whatever behavior issues the players came into the league with. An interesting strategy: Trading counts of assault for shirt thread counts.

That said, Stern is well within his right to do what he deems necessary to protect his product -- including implementing a dress code. If the fans fear FUBU, get rid of if. If Sean Jean makes them shudder, ship it out. And if you want to play in the NBA -- which is a privilege, not a right -- do what the man says and continue to make your millions. Learn to tie a Windsor knot and move on.

The jewelry thing is another issue. But it isn't racist, either. It is culturally biased, but not racist. If Larry Bird, or Steve Kerr, or Jim Paxon were to be all blinged out, you probably couldn't get two feet inside an NBA store without bumping into their signature lines of ice and ropes. But they don't.

Personally, I won't miss the conspicuous I've-never-had-anything-before-so-look-how-I'm-rolling-now displays of riches. Just in case you wondered, all that stuff is just plain tacky. Too garish. Get a nice Piguet watch and be done with it. The players should be glad Stern didn't also mandate bringing back John Stockton-styled game shorts.

Now that's where I would draw the line.
Turner1961

The NBA, whether we want to accept it or not, does have an image problem....it's made up of mostly young, black men! We already know that this country (the part that doesn't look like the majority of the players) is not happy about that, and would love to see it more diverse. Some of you may be able to remember years before Larry Bird came into the league how the popularity of the sport at one point dwindled. The NY Knickerbockers were called the NY N----bockers; and attendance as well as television coverage went down because folk who supported the sport (again, those that don't look like the players) didn't like the fact that basketball had been taken over by black players. It wasn't until the emergence of Bird and folks like John Stockton that the NBA gained back much of its following.

Now we've got your Allen Iversons and Ron Artests who go way far to the left and words such as "thugs," "hoodlums" and any other negative stereotypical description are being thrown around. The powers-to-be see that the style of dress is very closely tied to those kind of connotations and they don't won't to turn off their "supporters"--hence the decision to do away with that particular look.

Now we may call it racist or whatever else we want to say, but the truth of the matter is we ain't running nothing. Just as we can't dictate how we behave and dress on our jobs, the NBA players don't have (and shouldn't have) that power either. Even Jay-Z, Puffy, Jermaine Dupree and others have learned that there is a time and place for everything, and some of them own their organizations! I hope that the NBA players will get over themselves, and be about the business of making money and transferring that wealth into knowledge and power!
Jones4503

More User Takes:

Welcome to the Real World Fellas, Now Buy a Suit: Dress Code is Overdue

"No Black Attire": Dress Code Unfairly Targets Blacks