THE NBA TOLD JALEN SUGGS TO TAKE OFF HIS HEADBAND IT WASN’T ABOUT SAFETY OR SPORTSMANSHIP, IT WAS ABOUT THE LEAGUE’S OBSESSION WITH CONTROL AND THE ENDLESS, ABSURD WAR OVER WHAT A PLAYER IS ALLOWED TO BE
THE RULING THAT NO ONE ASKED FOR It happened without fanfare. There was no press release, no league memo sent to newsrooms. It was a quiet, bureaucratic correction, the kind that usually deals with salary cap minutiae or the precise wording of a tampering charge. But this one was different. This one was visible. The word came down to the Orlando Magic: Tell Jalen Suggs he can no longer wear his headband like that. The “that” is important. It wasn’t that he couldn’t wear a headband. Headbands are legal, standard-issue NBA equipment. It was the way he was wearing it.
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