Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams may be celebrating the team advancing to the NBA’s Western Conference finals, but according to AP News his wallet is a little lighter after receiving a $25,000 fine from the league after his post-game press conference.
Why Was Jalen Williams Fined $25K by the NBA
Williams, who had a monster Game 7 performance that helped propel his team to victory, appeared with fellow all-star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the post-game press conference in which they broke down the key elements from their win.
As seen in video of the press conference below, Williams is seen sporting a black jacket, some chains and a band T-shirt. But it’s the latter item that apparently caught the eye of the NBA.
The shirt is from the ’80s second-wave ska icons Madness and it features the words “Fuck Art, Let’s Dance.” At the beginning of the press conference, Williams was seen with his jacket open and halfway off his shoulders allowing the shirt to be visible to cameras.
But as the Madness T-shirt had the curse word “Fuck” that was prominently displayed, it fell in violation of the league’s dress code.
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In 2005, then NBA commissioner David Stern implemented the mandatory dress code for players after concern over how some players dressed impacted the image of the league. One of the initial guidelines of the dress code was that players were to dress in “business or conservative attire” while arriving and departing during a scheduled game.
By 2014, when new NBA commissioner Adam Silver took over, the dress code relaxed a bit allowing players to be more expressive in what they wore.
While wearing a vintage band T-shirt can be viewed as a fashion forward move, the use of profanity on the shirt is ultimately what earned Williams the fine.
It doesn’t look like it took long for someone to take notice of Williams’ Madness shirt either, as around the 3:30 mark of the interview, you see the player reaching for his phone while his teammate was answering a question and when the camera pans back to him, his jacket was now zipped up covering the T-shirt for the remainder of the press conference.
Who Are Madness?
The English outfit Madness formed in Camden Town in North London in 1976 and became one of the breakout acts of the early ’80s two-tone ska revival. Their first album, One Step Beyond, arrived in 1979, but they achieved their biggest success worldwide in 1983 when the single “Our House” rose to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The group had minor success stateside, but were hugely popular in their native U.K. where such songs as “One Step Beyond,” “Baggy Trousers,” “Shut Up,” “House of Fun,” “It Must Be Love,” and “Wings of a Dove” kept them consistently in the Top 10 of the U.K. charts through the early to mid-’80s.
For those wondering, the Madness “Fuck Art, Let’s Dance” T-shirt is still available all these years later.
What Next for the Oklahoma City Thunder?
The NBA’s Western Conference finals kick off tonight (May 20) in Oklahoma City with the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder squaring off against the No. 6 seeded Minnesota Timberwolves. Though Williams received a fine, his dress code violation will not keep him off the court for any playing time.
The winner of the potential seven game series will advance as the Western Conference representative in the NBA Finals.
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