The NBA realised that too many black guys were dominating the sport and they had to do something in order to keep drawing in the masses. Black guys as celebrities weren't as popular at the time. In come the court-seat celebrities who were offered free or discount seats in order to bring allure, spectacle and glitz to the games.
Celebrities were already sitting courtside during the time that made the NBA get popular to begin with, which was the 80s and 90s. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird saved the NBA from a marketing perspective because they were two relatively straight laced players for the two biggest teams at a time where a large portion of the league was black and throwing games for either their bookies or for their drug habits, which was why the NBA Finals before the 80s was on tape delay. Because there wasn't national interest until them, and then Michael Jordan came in 1984 and David Stern, the NBA commissioner at the time, rode that until the wheels fell off.
What I think you're talking about is when Allen Iverson came in and was wearing chains, baggy pants and dressed like his rapper friends when his team would have him sit out of games, which is why Stern introduced the rule to make players dress in suits while missing games, which the players at the time did call racially motivated.
I watch way too much about the history of American sports to not at least clarify.
It became a PR marketing strategy that spread to other teams as well in the eighties. They needed the glamour and glitz of celebrities to boost the media profile of these games.
Also, the blacks in the 90s (and 80s) were pretty cool. Pippen, Malone, Ewing, Miller... all had normal first names, and acted like normal people. It was a white sport being played by black players.
Celebrities were already sitting courtside during the time that made the NBA get popular to begin with, which was the 80s and 90s. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird saved the NBA from a marketing perspective because they were two relatively straight laced players for the two biggest teams at a time where a large portion of the league was black and throwing games for either their bookies or for their drug habits, which was why the NBA Finals before the 80s was on tape delay. Because there wasn't national interest until them, and then Michael Jordan came in 1984 and David Stern, the NBA commissioner at the time, rode that until the wheels fell off.
What I think you're talking about is when Allen Iverson came in and was wearing chains, baggy pants and dressed like his rapper friends when his team would have him sit out of games, which is why Stern introduced the rule to make players dress in suits while missing games, which the players at the time did call racially motivated.
I watch way too much about the history of American sports to not at least clarify.
It became a PR marketing strategy that spread to other teams as well in the eighties. They needed the glamour and glitz of celebrities to boost the media profile of these games.
Also, the blacks in the 90s (and 80s) were pretty cool. Pippen, Malone, Ewing, Miller... all had normal first names, and acted like normal people. It was a white sport being played by black players.
In the nineties we saw the ascendancy of rap music, which started to leak into mainstream culture. This became associated with NBA players.