Street Players to Nerd Players

-->Street Players to Nerd Players

After reading Wesley Morris’ "Rise of the NBA Nerd: Basketball Style and Black Identity" many questions came to mind. However the one question that I had to focus on was why all these NBA stars were suddenly switching their wardrobe. To sum up the article, NBA stars such as Kevin Durant and LeBron James have been wearing clothes to press conferences that around a decade ago would have gotten them ridiculed by the black community. They have begun dressing in sweaters and cardigans and Durant even shows up wearing a backpack. This image of the ‘Black Nerd’ used to be the scapegoat and victim of many television shows and media, but today the super stars of the black community are seen dressing in the exact same way. Although many think this is odd, I think that it makes perfect sense! When anyone gets to a position of power and public exposure, such as NBA stars, they want either one of two things: To fit in, or to stand out. Some famous NBA stars will see press conferences as horrible events and will dread going to them. These are the same NBA stars who I believe try to go with the flow and not be noticed because they do not want national exposure. There is no better way to ‘hide in’ with a certain crowd by changing your physical appearance to match what is the social normal, which for now is the ‘street basketball player.’ On the opposite side of the spectrum you have the NBA stars who might even like the press conferences more than playing on the court. These NBA stars love the attention they get and want to have the cameras on them as much as possible. They also use their physical appearance to help get them attention. Nothing gets people’s attention more than someone who is visually different. That is why such NBA stars such as Kevin Durant changed their appearance to a more ‘nerdy’ style. Since being the ‘Black Nerd’ is going against the flow I believe he chose to dress like this so he can be an individual and gain attention. He wanted to create a name for himself and a physical appearance just as unique as his personality. I believe we are at a turning of the tides if you will in fashion and acceptable dress. The normal may be changing from the traditional street player to something more sophisticated or something completely original. I believe there is no real ‘normal’ in any aspect of clothing and dress in our society, at least American society. In fact the whole social norm perhaps may be individuality itself. Either way, NBA stars choose the way they dress very specifically to achieve what they want, and whether or not I have analyzed it correctly, I believe this transition from ‘street player’ to ‘nerd player’ is no coincidence. 

-Charlie McManus