The NBA won’t allow players to wear ninja-style headbands next season.
Several high-profile players like the Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler, the New Orleans Pelicans’ Jrue Holiday, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Montrezl Harrell, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns and the Brooklyn Nets’ Jarrett Allen wore this accessory a year ago. The league never officially approved the headband but allowed the players to wear it because they didn’t want to intervene midseason.
Back in May, the NBA informed teams that ninja-style headbands will not be allowed for the 2019-20 campaign, and now they finally explained why.
“The ninja-style headwear is not part of the NBA uniform and hasn’t been through the league approval process,” spokesman Mike Bass told ESPN in a statement. “Teams have raised concerns regarding safety and consistency of size, length and how they are tied, which requires a thorough review before consideration of any rule change. When some players began wearing them last season, we didn’t want to cause a disruption by intervening midseason, but we notified our teams in May that they would not be part of this season’s uniforms.”
Source: The NBA’s Competition Committee discussed “Ninja-style headwear” in Chicago meeting today and some members expressed concerns on safety, including looseness of headwear. Safety concern remains at center of review of concept in future. https://t.co/IVkBgwwo1d
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 9, 2019
On the other hand, some people believe it’s all about business. According to Kurt Helin of NBC Sports, Nike didn’t officially make and market the headbands, so that is the main reason for forbidding the ninja-style headbands for the next season.
Translated: Nike didn't officially make and market these yet, so we need to wait for them to catch up. https://t.co/kZXzHAgMCe
— Kurt Helin (@basketballtalk) September 9, 2019
