Filed under: Bucks, Spurs, The Works

In The Works today, we preview the Bucks and the Spurs. But first, why David Stern should consider a run for office.

The Master Politician

Barack Obama could learn a thing or two from David Stern.

As our nation’s President finally starts to take an interest in the mid-terms that could decide his political legacy, the saga of the NBA dress code — once a lightning rod that threatened to split this country in two, an issue as divisive as all the birth certificates and broken promises in the world — sneakily winds on. Maybe it’s misplaced ethnic chauvinism; if so, according to Rick Sanchez, I better have a lot to go around. But I simply cannot bring myself to say a bad thing about David Stern, however arrogant, draconian, or downright odd his decisions have been at times. And a lot of it has to do with the dress code.

The dress code was, for all the media attention and outcry that came with its announcement, something of a red herring. Stern wanted to make inroads into the so-called red states, like a little place called Oklahoma City, that — while it may have stolen a team fair and square — today is the home base for one of the league’s brightest young teams.

The answer? In a post-Malice at the Palace world, players had to clean up their act. Put away the chains, sweats, and fitteds, and put on a nice suit like any other schmoe going to work. Players bemoaned Stern’s oppressive iron fist, in large part because of the strong cultural associations that zillion-dollar over-sized chains carry. On the other hand, it sent a message to everyone who wasn’t a player, a player sympathizer, or under the age of 30: this league means business. Oh, did I mention that, in addition to the whole red state thing, those older folks still account for most of the ticket sales, especially the upscale seats that have become the lifeblood of gate revenues?

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