Do you like coaches wearing suits or casual wear? Anyway, coaches enjoy casual wear now

Translator's note: This article was originally published from TheAthletic, and the author is Josh Robbins. The data in the article are as of the original article as of June 12, local time. The views in the article have nothing to do with the translator and the platform.

For NBA coaches, every game is like a "casual Friday". Will the suit return to the sidelines?

When the Los Angeles Lakers competed with the Detroit Pistons in the 1988 and 1989 NBA Finals, these matches brought together one of the most iconic players in the professional basketball field. Jabbar, "Magic" Elvin Johnson and James Worthy lead the Lakers, while Isaiah Thomas, Joe Dumas and Bill Ranbill are the core figures in the Pistons' roster.

These championship series also contain another form of "contest": the dress collision between the most fashionable and trend-leading head coaches in the league. Lakers coach Pat Riley, who has twice appeared on the cover of GQ magazine, prefers Armani suits with perfect tailoring; while Pistons coach Chuck Daly has won the nickname of "Rich Dad" for his exquisite outfit, and he has at least 100 suits. The

era has indeed undergone drastic changes. For NBA coaches, the moment is a golden age for comfort and convenience, and the dominant one in the decade is a quarter of zippered sports tops rather than custom suits.

When the Indiana Pacers met the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of the NBA Finals Wednesday night, Rick Carlisle, Mark Dagenot and their assistants’ outfits almost certainly won’t be on the cover of any fashion magazine, nor do they meet the standards of any famous fashion show. During the first two games of the series, the Pacers and Thunder coaching staff wore quarter-zippered tops and trousers, continuing the league’s dress style changes since the 2020 NBA Bubble Park, and there is no sign of abating. If league officials resume requirements for more formal dress later, stricter regulations are likely to be pushed amid opposition from the vast majority of league coaches and assistants.

"We have voted several times over the past few years and the result is that more than 80% support our current dressing style, which is actually closer to 85% or 90%," said Carlisle, a longtime president of the National Basketball Coaches Association. "The Coaches Association will listen to all members, not just the head coach, but also the head coach and assistant coaches, with a total of more than 200 members, and we will listen very seriously." In a memorandum sent to teams in mid-October, the league officials detailed the current NBA regulations on coaching dressing, which clearly requires head coaches and assistants to wear "business attire" during the game. For male coaches, the league defines business attire as a sports jacket or blazer, dress shirt or quarter zipper top, casual pants or designer jeans, as well as “fitting shoes” and formal socks. For male and female coaches, business outfits do not include sneakers, travel shoes, sandals, flip flops or work boots.

Athleisure clothing—such as jogging pants, jumpsuits, sweatpants or leggings—is not allowed during competitions. There is one exception to the

league rules: as long as the head coach and assistant coaches are uniformly dressed, they can wear NBA-authorized short-sleeved or long-sleeved polo shirts. Byron Spurr, president of NBA operations, told TheAthletic that the coaching dressing guide is a "modified dress code" that can be traced back to the Disney World epidemic isolation campus five years ago. Because Florida's summer heat and humid, it was reasonable to relax dress codes at the time because it would make coaches more comfortable when they move from team buses to the stadium. In the following years, the league continued to use this revised dress code after consultation with the Coaching Association, because coaches have become accustomed to a more casual dress style. This allows coaches to pack their luggage for the road trip, and letting everyone wear similar outfits from teams can also add a unity element to the coaching staff. The looser dress code of NBA coaches reflects a wide range of trends across the United States since the pandemic. Over the past five years, workplace outfits have often become more casual and comfortable.

"Long story short," Spurr said, "we are still happy with the current dress code. As for whether it will really return to a style of full formal and business dress, rather than casual style, we never easily say 'never'. But by the way, at present they can actually choose to do this themselves, because it is a modified specification that allows for more casual dress after all. However, the regulations still mention that they can still wear sports jackets or collared shirts if they want..."

Nowadays, coaches choose not to wear more formal outfits.

Like many coaches, Pistons' JB Bickstaff and Atlanta Hawks' Quinn Snyder have experienced two ways of dressing. They worked as assistant coaches and head coaches before the pandemic, and now, like many colleagues, they enjoy the ease of one less responsibility – in which case there is no need to choose and match outfits anymore.

"This saves you a lot of time and makes your day easier because it's one less of the decision you have to make that day," Bickstaff said.

"I think people look professional," Snyder said, "making decisions is easier. I'd rather think about what tactics we're going to do after a pause than think about whether my shoes match the belt. Anyway, that makes things easier and more practical. I think it's great...I bet most coaches agree with me after they've gone through it. You'll appreciate this simplicity to some extent. ”

Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson is one of the few voices who disagree.

"I would rather we wear suits," Atkinson said in October, "I think I'm a minority." I just like it (wearing a suit). We are a professional group and I think it looks great and it looks great on TV. My daughter keeps saying this, she says it at least once a week. She is 14 years old and she said, ‘Dad, I miss suits. ’I just think suits can bring some beauty. I like to see what other coaches wear. I don't know if this is an old school idea, I don't know, but I miss dressing like that. I hope we can bring it back. ”

However, on game night for the 2024-25 season, Atkinson and his Cavaliers assistant coaches were always wearing quarter zipper tops.

Atkinson is not the only NBA coach to receive “constructive criticism” from his family.

Milwaukee Bucks coach Rivers Sr. said his son Austin Rivers (who had been in the NBA for 11 seasons) miss seeing coaches wearing more formal outfits.

"I don't know why he has an opinion on this," said Rivers Sr.

The Rivers Sr. "You look more important when you wear a suit, and the game looks cleaner... Look at the hockey coaches, they are all in suits, and you can recognize who the coach is at a glance. ”

" So he might be right," Old Rivers added, "I don't know. But I tell you, when you pack for a two-week trip, man, these two pairs of pants and a quarter zipper top are too practical. That's what I want to say. For fashion, please do not change the status quo. ”