NBA鈥檚 stylish coaches happy to dress down
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Going shopping was a top priority for Taylor Jenkins when he was first hired as coach of the Memphis Grizzlies.
The man needed suits.
NBA sidelines tend to look like fashion runways these days, with coaches in tailored suits, sharp ties and polished dress shoes, so Jenkins went out and bought appropriately for his first chance at being a head coach. But at the restart of the season at Walt Disney World, the dress code has been relaxed to allow polos, slacks, even sneakers 鈥 and coaches are thankful.
鈥淚 spent quite a bit of money picking out my wardrobe, so I鈥檝e invested quite a bit there to quote-unquote look good on the sidelines,鈥 Jenkins said.
At least he鈥檒l be saving on dry cleaning for the foreseeable future.
By league rule, male 鈥渃oaches and assistant coaches must wear a sport coat or suit coat鈥 during games. That rule, however, was ditched for the restart, where there are no fans in the stands and games are played at the Walt Disney World resort near Orlando 鈥 where midday temperatures exceeding 32.22 degrees Celsius are not uncommon at this time of year.
Coaches are mixing it up: short-sleeved polos, long-sleeved polos, some in team colors, some in bright colors. When Toronto beat the Los Angeles Lakers on the night of August 1, Raptors coach Nick Nurse was wearing a thin hoodie with a message printed on the front encouraging people to vote.
鈥淚 love it,鈥 Denver coach Michael Malone said. 鈥淚 hope that someday we adopt these dress code rules. Although I look very good in a suit and tie, I will admit, I鈥檓 also very, very comfortable wearing a Nuggets polo and a pair of TravisMathew athletic leisure wear pants. I think I鈥檝e done a very good job with the look.鈥
The looks for football coaches is all over the map; some over the years have worn coats and ties, while New England鈥檚 Bill Belichick seems most comfortable in a hoodie with the sleeves mostly cut off. Baseball managers are in uniforms 鈥 the pants, anyway; not all wear jerseys.
In the NBA, the dress code got ramped up considerably thanks to Miami Heat president Pat Riley and the late Chuck Daly.
When Riley coached he roamed the sideline in snazzy Armani; Daly鈥檚 suits were Hugo Boss and his shoes were so good that his friends coveted them. After Daly died, Rollie Massimino raided his friend鈥檚 shoe collection and wore them for the remainder of his own coaching career.
Riley is still among the sharpest of dressers, and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is not afraid to follow in those footsteps with his own wardrobe. But for this trip, Spoelstra didn鈥檛 pack a single tie. He鈥檚 not afraid to say that he wouldn鈥檛 mind if this became a permanent switch.
鈥淚t takes a little bit more thought when you have to wear suits,鈥 said Spoelstra, who is coaching at Disney in black shirts, black slacks, black dress socks and upscale black sneakers. 鈥淚 can speak for our coaching staff 鈥 we鈥檝e enjoyed it.鈥
Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers didn鈥檛 bring any suits but said after a scrimmage at Disney last month that he鈥檇 wear one if and only if his team was in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Boston coach Brad Stevens has even skipped wearing ties in regular circumstances, so he wouldn鈥檛 figure to have an issue with the polos-and-khakis look.
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