The NBA is a sports league that generally gives players the freedom to wear what they want, with many players coming into games with fashionable outfits. The same can be said for on-court accessories, and there are many players who wear shooting sleeves and other things in order to help them on the court.
Despite this, there are still some things that have been banned by the NBA. The league generally explains why they ban things, and there’s usually a fairly good reason for the decision. Basketball Instagram page dunk. has recently posted a list of banned items from the NBA, which features things such as tinted glasses and logo cuts.
Some of these decisions are pretty straightforward. Dwyane Wade’s tinted glasses are mentioned as having been banned because people wouldn’t be able to see his eyes, which according to Brian Windhorst, would give him a “competitive advantage”.
After a hands-on review at league headquarters in Manhattan Thursday afternoon, the league has rejected the shaded goggles Wade planned to wear against the Knicks. Officials determined there was too much tinting and it would have given him a competitive advantage because opponents would not be able to see his eyes.
The logo cut was banned because it was a non-NBA logo. The player featured on the dunk. picture, in this case, is Iman Shumpert, who was eventually forced to remove the logo from his hair. According to a Forbes article that quotes Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated, “commercial logos” were only allowed on shoes.
Sporting a corporate logo during games is indeed against NBA rules. Item 5 of Section H of the NBA rule book’s extended comments section, which governs “player/team conduct and dress,” reads: “The only article bearing a commercial ‘logo’ which can be worn by players is their shoes.”
Chains being banned seems pretty straightforward. While chains may be a great fashion statement, they do seem like they could potentially cause a neck injury, as mentioned in the post.
Headbands being upside down may not seem like a big deal, but back in 2010, the NBA made sure to stop players from wearing it upside down, even including it in their uniform rules.
NBA spokesman confirms that uniform rules this year prohibit players (including @RajonRondo) from wearing their headbands upside down.
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) October 26, 2010
While those are all the items on the list from the Instagram post, there are certainly other things that the NBA has outlawed. Back in 2019, the NBA made a move to ban ninja headbands that were popular among players. When explaining why players weren’t allowed to wear those headbands, the NBA stated that ninja headbands haven’t “been through the league approval process” and that “teams have raised concerns regarding safety”.
Bass: "When some players began wearing them last season, we didn't want to cause a disruption by intervening midseason…" NBA notified teams in May that the headwear "would not be a part of this seasons uniforms." https://t.co/23IjTaoT8v
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 9, 2019
There was also the matter of Dennis Rodman’s No. 69 jersey. Despite Rodman’s attempt to wear it, the NBA quickly banned it, most likely cause of the implications behind the number. Mark Cuban still keeps a copy of that jersey in his office though. As of now, no NBA player has worn a jersey with that number.
It remains to be seen if the NBA will take more actions to ban certain things in the future. They generally don’t do it frequently, but you never know what will be the next thing that catches their eye.
Most of the concerns from the NBA about the banned items usually stem from issues of safety or from the desire to maintain a good image. You can’t really blame the NBA for looking out for those things, even if some of the bans seem a little strange.
