The NBA brings in around 5 billion dollars a season, yet they take away the freedom of speech and expression from the players who earn them this staggering amount of money. Starting in the mid 1990’s, the NBA began shifting culturally to represent the African American population of players in the league. Prior to NBA commissioner David Stern’s harsh rule changes and mandates, NBA players were bringing their culture of “the streets” to the league both on and off the court. Players would arrive at games wearing clothes that promote the styles they grew up with. The attire would include long, baggy pants, multiple gold chains, and overly sized T-shirts and jerseys. The NBA is attempting to separate themselves from hip hop culture because of the…show more content… Many viewers of the NBA, prior to the dress code, would watch what high valued players would wear prior to their team’s game. This added many new and unseen styles into the hip hop culture. People wanted to dress and look like their favorite NBA star. Alex Badia writes in her article, “NBA’s All-Star Style Setters”, that many clothing companies want to use NBA stars to promote their fashion and pass it on to the hip hop society. Badian explains that, “Retailers and manufacturers are lining up to associate themselves with the style stars who will hit the court at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night” (Badian). Many clothing brands are fighting for NBA players to wear and show off their new styles, but the restrictive dress code minimizes retailers’ opportunity for marketing their new articles of clothing. Thus, these new styles will have a much harder time reaching their audience, and chances are will not be seen in everyday hip hop culture. David Stern’s dress code does more than just limit what NBA players can wear, it also takes away from the great style of the hip hop…show more content… The NBA’s strict rules against arguing and rough fouls during games disallow players to stand up for themselves. Jason Patt writes for SBNation.com, and discusses retaliation for a certain player who is often the target of rough fouls due to his style of play. In his article, Patt quotes Blake Griffin, “‘It's more about standing up for yourself,’ he said. ‘There are times when hard fouls are just a part of the game, and then there's times when they are a little bit further than that’” (Patt). As a player under the rules of the NBA, Griffin must not retaliate or he faces fines and possible suspensions for his actions. This is very unfair to Griffin, and many other NBA players, because he must face possibly being injured every game, and can do nothing to stand up for himself after receiving a hard foul from one of his opponents. These rules against retaliation take away the players ability to stand up for themselves, thus taking away a key component of hip hop culture. Although, standing up for oneself may lead to an increased chance of a fight, players should have the right to protect themselves during a