If you think fashion among NBA players being weird is a recent thing, then you would be mistaken. These unique fashion trends, to put it mildly, have been a feature in the league for decades at this point as players somehow fancy themselves as fashion icons.
One prominent example from the past would be the eccentric Dennis Rodman, who was a character unlike any other in the history of the league. He once claimed he was going to marry himself, and he even wore the dress of a bride! All this craziness was despite being a part of the Chicago Bulls, where head coach Phil Jackson was demanding that his players dress professionally as opposed to how it was done back then. John Salley, who played for the Bulls in 1995-96, recalled during an interview with Vlad TV that Jackson wanted the players to wear suits and told him to stay away from any kind of attire that did not portray professionalism.
(starts at 2:25 mark):
“Phil Jackson didn’t like when I was into that because Michael (and) everybody, we were in the suits. You’re holding more than just you. You’re carrying the league and your family and you. Dress like a professional.”
Jordan, in particular, was always found wearing suits in the 1990s, and that was a time when not a lot of players did that. Charles Barkley once said that Jordan had told him to dress professionally, and the reason for MJ feeling so strongly about this was that he wanted to get away from being labeled as just an athlete. He was a professional and a businessman, so he wanted to portray himself as one.
Salley, during this interview, also took a shot at the players for the way they dress nowadays, as he told them they are not rappers to walk around wearing chains with their shirts in their suits.
