When the Los Angeles Lakers and Detroit Pistons faced each other in the 1988 and 1989 NBA Finals, the matchups featured some of the most iconic players in pro basketball. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and James Worthy led the Lakers. Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and Bill Laimbeer headlined the Pistons’ roster.
Advertisement
Those championship series also included another competition of sorts: a clash between the league’s most stylish, fashion-forward head coaches. The Lakers’ Pat Riley, who twice appeared on the cover of GQ magazine, preferred immaculate Armani suits. The Pistons’ Chuck Daly, whose dapper attire earned him the nickname “Daddy Rich,” owned at least 100 suits.
Times sure have changed. For NBA coaches, this is a golden age of comfort and convenience, a decade dominated by quarter-zips, not bespoke suits.
When the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder meet Wednesday night in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, the wardrobes of Rick Carlisle, Mark Daigneault and their assistant coaches almost certainly won’t qualify for the cover of any fashion magazine or for any of fashion’s most renowned runways. The Pacers’ and Thunder’s coaching staffs wore quarter-zips and pants during the series’ first two games, continuing a fashion sea change within the league that started in the 2020 NBA bubble and shows no signs of abating. And if league officials ever revert to requiring more formal attire, more stringent regulations most likely would occur over the objection of the vast majority of league coaches and assistant coaches.
“We’ve had several votes over the last few years, and it’s well over 80 percent to 20 percent that is in favor of what we’re doing presently, and it’s closer to 85 or 90,” said Carlisle, the longtime president of the National Basketball Coaches Association. “The coaches’ association, we listen to all members. It’s not just head coaches. It’s head coaches and assistant coaches. It’s over 200 members, and we listen very carefully.”
League officials spelled out the current NBA rules governing coaches’ attire in a mid-October memo sent to teams, specifying that head coaches and assistants must wear “business attire” during games. For male coaches, the league defines business attire as a sport coat or suit coat, a dress shirt or a quarter-zip top; slacks or designer jeans; and “appropriate shoes” and dress socks. For male and female coaches, business attire does not include athletic shoes, sneakers, sandals, flip-flops or work boots.
Advertisement
Athleisure items — such as jogger pants, jumpsuits, sweatpants or leggings — are not permitted during games.
The league’s regulations include one exception. Coaches may wear NBA-licensed short- or long-sleeved polo shirts as long as the head coach and assistant coaches dress uniformly.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, the president of the National Basketball Coaches Association, said the overwhelming majority of the league’s coaches prefer the casual approach. (Brad Penner / Imagn Images)
Byron Spruell, the NBA’s president of league operations, told The Athletic that the guidelines for coaches’ attire are a “modified dress code” stemming from the pandemic-necessitated bubble at Walt Disney World, outside Orlando, Fla., five years ago. Because of the withering heat and humidity of a Florida summer, it made sense at that time to relax the dress code because it made coaches more comfortable as they walked from their team buses to the arenas. In the years since, the league, in consultation with the coaches’ association, has continued with the modified dress code because coaches have gotten accustomed to a more casual look, because it’s easier for coaches to pack for road trips and because having everyone wear similar team-issued clothing adds an element of uniformity to coaching staffs.
The more relaxed NBA coaches’ dress code mirrors a broader overall trend nationwide since the pandemic. Workplace attire has tended to be more casual and more comfortable over the last five years.
“Long story short,” Spruell said, “we feel good about it still. Never say ‘never’ in terms of could we actually go back to kind of a full dress and business attire look rather than a casual look. But by the way, they can actually do that on their own at this point because, again, this was a modified dress code that allowed for the more casual look. But it’s still in there that you can still wear a sport coat or a collared shirt … if you chose to do so.”
These days, coaches are choosing not to wear more formal attire.
Advertisement
Like many of their coaching brethren, the Pistons’ J.B. Bickerstaff and the Atlanta Hawks’ Quin Snyder have experienced both approaches. They were assistant coaches and head coaches before the pandemic, and now they, similar to many of their colleagues, enjoy having one fewer responsibility — in this case, choosing and coordinating outfits.
“It saves you a ton of time and just makes your day a little bit easier, because it’s one less decision that you have to make on that day,” Bickerstaff said.
“I think people look professional,” Snyder said. “It’s just easier, the decisions. I’d rather think about what we’re trying to run after a timeout than whether my shoes match my belt. To whatever extent, it makes it easier and more functional. I think it’s great. … I would bet that most coaches would agree with me after having gone through it as well. You kind of appreciate the simplicity of it.”
One of the few voices in the wilderness is Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson.
“I would prefer us wearing suits,” Atkinson said in October. “I think I’m in the minority. I just love (wearing suits). We’re a profession. I think it looks great. I think it looks great on TV. My daughter keeps saying, she says it at least once a week. She’s 14 years old and she says, ‘Dad, I miss the suits.’ I just think it gives a certain aesthetic. I enjoyed seeing what the other coaches wore. I don’t know if that’s old school. I don’t know, but I miss that. I wish we’d bring it back.”
Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson is one of the few NBA coaches who would like to see coaches back in more formal attire. (David Richard / Imagn Images)
On game nights, Atkinson and his Cavaliers assistant coaches nonetheless wore quarter-zips throughout the 2024-25 season.
Atkinson isn’t the only NBA coach to receive some constructive criticism from a family member.
Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers said his son Austin Rivers, who played 11 seasons in the NBA, misses seeing coaches in more formal attire.
Advertisement
“I don’t know why he has an issue about it,” Doc Rivers said.
The elder Rivers recalled Austin saying, “You just look more important when you wear a suit. The game looks cleaner. … Look at the hockey guys. They all wear a suit. You know who the coach is.”
“So he may be right,” Doc Rivers added. “I don’t know. But I tell you what, when you pack for a two-week trip, man, these two pairs of pants and the quarter-zips are amazing. That’s what I would say. For fashion’s sake, please don’t change.”
(Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; photos of, from left, Rick Carlisle, Mark Daigneault, Pat Riley and Chuck Daly: Jonathan Daniel / Allsport/NBAE; Maddie Meyer/Getty Images; Gary A. Vasquez / Imagn Images)
