NBA players hit plan for sleeved jerseys
This image provided by the NBA on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2015, shows the West, left, and East team jerseys to be worn in the 2014 NBA All Star basketball game. In a poll by Bleacher Report, NBA players have aired their defiance over the new designs. AP.
MANILA, Philippines – With the yearly spectacle that is the All-Star Game looming for the NBA, the top basketball league in the world has extended its use of its sleeved jerseys for the showcase in New Orleans, but the players may not be so happy with the decision.
Sports website Bleacher Report did a quick poll of 21 players that revealed that only two would support sporting the new jerseys on a full-time basis.
Included in the poll, which was published Wednesday (Philippine time), were three league Most Valuable Players, five All-Stars, seven guards, nine swingmen and five big men.
According to Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report, the players’ lack of support for the sleeved jerseys is not surprising.
A Western Conference power forward said the new jerseys were “hideous” and “awkward” and that the NBA issued the designs to rake in larger revenue.
“They are hideous, the sleeves are awkward, and they are being implemented so the NBA can make more money,” the forward said in the article.
“I don’t think they feel good. Or feel good. But I’ve come to accept that the NBA doesn’t care what we think,” said one veteran guard from the Southeast division in the Western Conference.
According to Bucher, the players’ defiance to the new design is a “brazen attempt to generate more revenue to the owners.”
He said that fans would be more likely to purchase sleeved jerseys since it was more socially acceptable to wear shirts than tank tops.
An All-Star guard from the Western Conference said that the when the league considered the fans’ choice of attire, it was “not a good enough reason” to impose the new design to the players.
“There’s nothing wrong with wearing traditional jerseys except some fans don’t want to wear a jersey,” the player who was under the shroud of anonymity said.
The players were also offended that the league did not consider them to provide input for the jersey designs that would impact their performance on the court.
“It’s not a decision that is up to the players,” one center from the Western Conference said.
Another veteran player said that the new design was not better than the traditional tank tops and it did not reflect into better performance.
“I don’t really view it as anything other than another way for the league to make money selling more jerseys,” the veteran swingman said. “The jerseys themselves aren’t better than the traditional ones.”
Bucher said that, despite, players wearing t-shirts underneath the jerseys during high school or college, it was an independent choice and not a league-imposed rule as the NBA was doing in the present season.
“I think our sport is tough to have stuff on your shooting arm with shooting being so key,” one of the big men said.
According to Bucher, most of the players requested anonymity because of their general distrust of the league and team ownership and the fear for the backlash from the NBA officials.
Of the 21 players polled, 15 of them had no interest in playing games wearing the sleeved jerseys.
