Do Clothes Make The Man?

Much has been written about the NBA's new dress code, as enforced by commissioner David Stern.

Personally, I could care less about basketball, as its not my sport, but I don't see all the hue and cry (and cries of racism - go figure) from the players.

Steven A. Smith recently wrote:

Long after the whining and moaning subside and the polarizing effects of race dissipate, NBA players will be stuck in the unfamiliar position of having to look in the mirror - and nowhere else - for all the travails concerning their sullied image. The white-man-is-bringing-us-down excuse can last only so long. The same can be said concerning commissioner David Stern. At some point, at some time, the realization that a player's culpability for whatever ails the NBA's image extends beyond the court, especially when that assertion is virtually echoed by the players' own union.

What I apparently fail to grasp is this: What's so hard about dressing (and by extension, acting) like a human being? Has anybody ever watched the NFL after-game reports? Players like Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook, Dhani Jones for the Eagles AND their opponents are always dressed to the nines. They have style, they exude professionalism and class, and they have a look of self-confidence. What sort of role models are NBA players being, dressing like half-witted street thugs? Maybe THAT'S the problem at heart: you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear!