Basketball legend Allen Iverson opened up about the NBA's dress code and his role in transforming player style.
During a recent appearance on The Breakfast Club, Iverson reflected on how he became the poster boy for the league's dress code policy. According to Iverson, he took a great deal of criticism because his style of dress was viewed as a primary reason for the league implementing a code. But AI says people didn't understand that suits weren't something he was familiar with.
"I took the ass whooping for it, but the dress code thing… I was 21. Where am I going after the game? I'm going to the club. Before that, they were used to dudes wearing suits, and I was like, damn. I'd never worn a suit growing up, except to church, funerals… in the courtroom," Iverson said.
The 11-time All-Star explained that his natural style, which included baggy clothes, jewelry, and streetwear, was a reflection of his upbringing. Iverson explained how he "never wore a suit to the gym or the park." Iverson also recalled how his fashion sense challenged NBA norms when he entered the league.
"David Stern and the rest of the NBA was like, 'No,' because it was all right when I was doing it. But then everybody else said, 'Okay, like he can do that, we can do this.' You see Kobe coming in with diamond chains and baggy clothes, and everyone started doing it. Then the league was like, 'Hold on, we got to do something about that,'" said Iverson.
Stern's league-wide dress code, implemented in 2005, required players to wear business or conservative attire while arriving at games, a move widely seen as a response to Iverson and others' influence on player fashion. Beyond clothing, Iverson reflected on the racial and cultural assumptions tied to his style.
"It proved a lot to me at a young age about stereotyping people [...] John Gotti kept on a $2,000 suit, but what was he? He get busy. So it ain't about what you got on the outside. It's who you are," he said.
He also addressed being labeled a "thug," a term he said hurt him and he ultimately rejected.
"I'll be cool with a street dude. That's what I am… but a thug? That's a stretch," Iverson said.