Crossovers were not the only revolutionary part of Allen Iverson and his game. Before he entered the NBA, a pregame suit or formal attire was a must. But after he came in, he started a new trend, where he dressed up just how he liked and felt comfortable. However, the NBA was not pleased, and in 2005, David Stern introduced a dress code to target him.
In a collaboration with Players Tribune, Iverson featured in a video titled, “So … You Want the Real Story? In the video, he talks about how LeBron James and many others who were inspired by him, got away with wearing what they want because of him.
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“So what’s wrong with LeBron James? He grew off Allen Iverson, he’s walking around with tattoos everywhere. Got his headband on and his sleeves and was dressing like whatever he wanted to dress like. He’s the most popular basketball player in the whole world, and he’s not a threat to anybody. I took the ass whooping for guys to be who they really are.”
Allen Iverson explains why he wore what he wore
“My thing was I dress like the guys from my neighborhood,” Iverson said. “I wouldn’t wear suits to a basketball game, (because) I never wore a suit to the park. Everybody’s dressed up like they’re going to Sunday school. I just wore what I usually wear. I used to always say, ‘They want me to put on a suit. The outfit that I got on right now costs way more than a suit.”
What upset him most was that the NBA was making money off him, but at the same time, they were restricting him. “I couldn’t believe they were making a big fuss about the whole thing. You want to market the guy, but not who he is. You don’t want him to look like what he looks like, but you want him to look like somebody else.”
Russell Westbrook and Kyle Kuzma are two players who have been inspired by Iverson, but at times they take it too far. Even Iverson recently admitted that the NBA needs a dress code now. While talking at ComplexCon in 2018, he said, “You see these dudes. This shit that they wear. That’s what the dress code’s supposed to be implemented now. This is Halloween every night. It’s the 31st of October every night.”
