Throughout the 2013-14 NBA season, the NBA has forced many players to wear their new short-sleeve jerseys. There has also been an increase in the number of players who wear sleeves underneath of their jerseys on their own. And both of those things are funny to Patrick Ewing, who remembers a time when the league wouldn't let him wear a T-shirt underneath of his jersey which was something he became accustomed to doing during his time at Georgetown.
Back in the 1980s, Ewing started wearing a T-shirt underneath of his Hoyas jersey for one reason and one reason only—comfort. He used to get cold during games, so he started wearing a T-shirt to keep warm.
"We started playing in these big arenas and it was always cold," he said recently, "especially when you have the ice down [for hockey games]. I was always complaining I was cold. I started wearing one and it became a fashion statement."
However, the NBA didn't buy into his fashion statement. He tried to get the league to allow him to wear a T-shirt underneath his Knicks jersey in 1985, but they wouldn't let him do it. So he thinks it's crazy to see how open they are to it today.
"The funny thing is when I got to the league they told me I couldn't do it," he said, "and now they let everybody do it. It's crazy and times have changed. And the women [T-shirt] jerseys that guys wear now, it's changed."
Ha. The "women [T-shirt] jerseys"? Funny.
It is kind of crazy to think about how far the league has come, though. If Ewing had his way, everyone might have started wearing T-shirts underneath their jerseys back in the '80s and '90s. But it took nearly two decades for the NBA to come around to the idea and, eventually, to make their players wear sleeves. And now, there are some players who can't stand it. Funny how that worked out.
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[via Boston Globe]
