Rule on tights...or not
 

Even though many people don't watch the NBA, I was wondering what the league would do with Dwayne Wade's "tights." Also, I wonder if any of the kids will follow Dwayne Wade to achieve the same look.

I can't say for certain about every game, but some of the time Wade wasn't wearing tights although it looked like he was. He would wear regular spandex, knee braces/pads and high black socks. It looked like he was wearing the same thing as Kobe or LeBron when he actually wasn't.

As far as I know, there isn't a rule to prohibit this, but it will look like an official is letting a rule slide to many. Take a look at this.

http://www.endscore.com/blogimages/legwarmers_thumb.jpg
http://www.nba.com/media/Wadegallery400.jpg
http://hosted.ap.org/photos/S/SPANER...1932-small.jpg

The last one shows what I'm talking about perfectly, although the picture is small.

There is a rule in NFHS
 

3-5 Team Member's Equipment, Apparel

"...Examples of illegal items include, but are not limited to:

Art. 5...An undergarment or tights which extend below the pants/skirt.
Exception: Compression shorts may be worn if the length is above the knee and they are of a single color similar to the predominant color of the pants/skirt."

The NCAA rule is exactly the same as the NFHS rule- i.e. no tights allowed below the game pants.

Long time, no see, Tom. How you doing? How's the new posting?

Chuck, I'm good. We've been in the new house for exactly a month and have done about a year's worth of work to it. I'm going to New Orleans for my first scrimmage tomorrow and the first high school scrimmage is next Saturday. I can't complain because the most important things in life are good.

You guys are not understanding what I'm saying. What Dwayne Wade wore last season does not break any of the rules noted in the two posts above. That is why I included links to pictures. He is wearing compression shorts that do not come above the knee with socks that do come above the knee. While standing still and during most movement, it looks like he has on full-length tights even though he doesn't. If you watched a game with a player wearing something like Wade, what rule would you be able to tell him/her they failed to enforce?

If they are not tights, then the apparel is legal no matter how it looks from a distance.

I wouldn't say that any rule is being broken.


BTW great to hear from you again. :) Cool that you are now in New Orleans. It should be interesting to live there as that city continues to recover.

Then why did you entitle the thread "Rule on tights...or not" if you knew they weren't tights? :confused:

Tomegun,, Glad to hear you are doing well. I guess you left the Maryland/VA area. Glad to hear from you!

I'm not in New Orleans; I'm in Biloxi MS. I don't know if I would want to live in New Orleans right now. That is still a disaster area.

The name of the thread was meant to spark conversation. Sorry if it confused someone. This is nothing more than a possible situation where someone could say an official isn't enforcing a rule when a rule hasn't been broken. Dwayne Wade might change it up this season and it might not ever be an issue.

Well, I can't really envision any experienced official, at any level, attempting to enforce this rule without taking a real good look first to make sure that the player actually is wearing tights. I think that holds true for any equipment/jewelry/clothing problems.

Hey, Robinhood, are you wearing tights? :D

Good to hear from you Tom. Now, we just need to hear from Brandon!

JR, be honest. Before this thread, did you even know Wade or any player could possibly wear something that looked like it broke the rule but didn't? After my first post you thought I was talking about someone obviously breaking the rule and now you are insinuating you would ask a player if they are wearing tights or super-high socks? Excuse me, you said something like any experienced official would take a real good look. Applying your theory, which I realize may be a stretch, to other areas of officiating would mean any experienced official would have this whole officiating thing whipped once they gain experience. That isn't realistic.

Tjones, it's all good.

Today I had a college scrimmage. It was my first time on the court in about two months - the longest layout in years for me. The players played well for the first two halves. One player got a little chippy during the third half. The players were just getting tired.
I also tried out my new shoes, Nike Kobe1's in all black. They are pretty sweet and will work out for me this season. I will only wear them part-time since I have some Nike Air Max Elites on the way.

Tommy,

It is good to see you back. Glad everything seems to be going well.

Until this post, I was under the impression that what Wade was wearing was compression pants not any different than what I wear under my pants. I even had a couple of conversations about this and whether it was legal at the HS and NCAA levels. Until this post I see the difference. I would likely ask the player if those are socks or pants knowing what I know now.

Peace

Thank you Rut.

I just wanted to start a conversation about something I noticed one of the million times Wade was on the floor.