Rise of the NBA Nerd

In Wesley Morris's article, Rise of the NBA Nerd, he talks about the change in fashion styles of NBA superstars. He directly compares the clothes that NBA players are now wearing to press conferences and in public to TV personalities like Carlton Banks and Steve Urkel. Morris's central argument in his article is that popular 90's TV shows, like The Fresh Prince and Urkel, along with popular rap artists like Jay-Z and Kanye West helped to make the suburban "white people" look a new, desirable, fashion style.

Morris writes about Oklahoma City Thunder's star Kevin Durant and how he showed up to one of his press conferences wearing a "blue long-sleeved shirt with tiny screen-window checks" and a backpack with the safety strap clamped. He goes on to talk about the non-notability of his attire is exactly what makes it notable. The real question is why is it so strange for a basketball superstar to dress like this? The answer is quite simple really. Most people remember the early to mid-90's apparel that most black people garbed themselves in, baggy sweatpants or jeans, sideways ball caps, and flashy jewelry, but what really made the game change? 

Morris informs us about how black culture was impacted by popular TV shows and rap artists. Globally known rapper Kanye West released an album, "The College Dropout", then proceeded to dress himself in more formal, nerdy attire. Another very renown rapper, Jay Z, was quoted in the article where he basically denounced the common "black attire", telling them to start dressing like they had an interview with the president. These rappers influenced many people to change their entire fashion sense, from G's to gents, they achieved what the 90's TV shows could not essentially. 

This new fashion statement can be seen in many stars now like, Lebron James, Russel Westbrook, even the president of the United States. This drastic shift clearly has had a major effect on culture, and politics as well. We now have an African American president, and he obviously does not dress as if he is "from the streets". Barrack Obama could be seen as the new-age Kanye or Jay Z in the sense that he is a role model for the well-dressed black person movement we are undergoing. Politics play a part in everything nowadays and our new president makes it evident that the African Americans are undergoing a major change in culture. Clothes do play a major part in our view of a person. If you are seen in public wearing a full suit and tie people regard you as a business person, if you are seen wearing flashy clothes, watches and chains covered in diamonds and other precious gems, and other expensive accessories, you may be seen as a gangster, or rap artist. I believe that the figure heads of the fashion movement aim to change these stereotypes.