David Stern has opted to require a dress code for his players in the NBA.  Translated: out with retro jerseys, baggy jeans, T—shirts as big as tents and "chains, pendants or medallions;" and in with a more business—casual look.  And apparently, a lot of resistance.

Allen Iverson apparently is no fan of a potential dress code for NBA players.  "It sends a bad message to kids," Iverson told The Philadelphia Inquirer 

"If you don't have a suit when you go to school, is your teacher going to think youｹre a bad kid because you don't have a suit on?" 

What?  Dressing appropriately for certain occasions is going to steer kids astray?  Why don't we discuss what a bad message really is.  Maybe Iverson's insistence that practice is not an important part of sports would be a bad message.  Threatening one's wife with a handgun, allegedly, would that be a bad example?  Perhaps releasing a rap album laced with explicit and anti—homosexual lyrics would not be the best thing for kids to be subjected to. 

But in Iverson's world, wearing a suit delivers a bad message.  Iverson also claims that because he is 30 years old, he should be able to dress in whatever he wants to wear.  I have had the pleasure of hearing this form of argument on a daily basis, as I have kids.  I have heard countless times that "Daddy, I am 4 I can do whatever I want.  I'm a big kid now." 

Congratulations, Allen, you're a big kid now.  There are however, many people who are as old, and as successful as Iverson, and they have to conform to certain dress criteria in certain situations.  There are appropriate times, and inappropriate times for certain clothes in the workplace.  It is not wise to attend a job interview wearing your throw back jersey and pants that are 6 sizes too big for your waistline. 

Nuggets center Marcus Camby, who will earn $9.3 million this season, has weighed in with his opinion.  "I don't see it happening unless every NBA player is given a stipend to buy clothes," Camby said.

I'm not quite sure about anyone else here, but for $9.3 million, I'd wear a pink feather boa around my powder blue jump suit if that is what Stern were looking for.  Marcus, please just go buy yourself a suit, sit down and shut up.  And since your budget is apparently tight, I offer the following... 

Utah center Greg Ostertag vowed to buy a sport coat from "a guy on the street.  They're going to get the worst—looking one they've ever seen on me," he said. Why is this guy even being interviewed about anything related to basketball?  I believe for his career he may average just over 4 points per game.  He seems like a good guy and all, but reporters should really stick to discussing the issue with actual basketball players.

Some of the players seem to want to make this a racism issue.  The dress code, however applies to all players.  Last year's MVP, Steve Nash, is white.  He can no longer roam the airports or hotel lobbies looking as if he belongs in a soup kitchen, or as if he just got finished waxing his surfboard.

The bottom line here is that the NBA has every right to initiate a dress code.  While it is true that there are bigger issues that the NBA might want to look at, such as rampant marijuana smoking, murdering limo drivers, Sean Kemp's inability to abstain, or several instances of alleged sexual misconduct.  But the NBA is trying to take a small step to clean up its image.  Whether or not something as minor as a dress policy will help remains to be seen. 

But the NBA is no different than any other company, and they have every right to ask their workers to dress a certain way.  They pay the players salaries, and it is not too much to ask that they look presentable when they are out in public.  To be sure, clothes do not make the man.  An NBA dress code will not turn players into model citizens.  But it is their right to institute such a code, and any player who takes issue with that should stop playing the race card, and book a flight for Europe where they can play basketball without the added pressure of having to look decent in public.

The NBA's next superstar has had the most reasonable response to the new dress code.  Cleveland star LeBron James was among those who saw the wisdom behind the new rules.

"Sometimes you feel lazy on a flight and you don't want to put dress clothes on," James said. "But this is a job and we want to have fun, but it's a job and we should look like we're going to work." 

One NBA player with maturity beyond his years.  Lebron truly is a big kid.