The NBA banned “ninja-style” headbands before the 2019-2020 season, in a move symptomatic of the general decline of culture west of the Euphrates River since 338 BC. The headbands were denounced as being improperly vetted for safety concerns, a natural excuse for the excoriation of a harmless league fashion trend.
Without a doubt, they looked fantastic, adding just enough extra emphasis to the dynamic motions of the athlete while appealing to the sensibilities of a player base and younger audience members that have been significantly impacted by Japanese hachimaki depictions in titles like Naruto and Afro Samurai.
One key advantage the NBA has had in marketing its players over those of the NFL and NHL are that the players’ individual appearances stand out more as they actually play the game. Viewers can easily differentiate the players on-court not only by their uniforms and shoe color (thanks to the league embracing its place in sneaker culture), but by their faces and hairstyles. Afros, braids, sweatbands, and the occasional face mask serve to strengthen the personal brands of any celebrity, such as Bob Ross, and the players of the NBA are no exception.
Deprived of the innovation that the tied-back headbands offered, the NBA entered a dark age of player style. This era is typified by the likes of Russel Westbrook, who elected to make himself look like a lazily-designed insectile Star Trek character. Alex Caruso hid his heinous hairline behind headbanded harbor. And so the league moved on.
This is the backdrop that made Reggie Jackson a perfect breath of fresh air. The eye poke that got him to wear shooting glasses transformed the look of the veteran, and the synchronous performance increase seems to have cemented the accessory for the long-term. The modern style of the glasses makes his look distinct from past bespectacled players like Kareem and Worthy, and the thick headband rounds out the look to create a distinct, sometimes imposing, coverage of the face.
Hopefully the look persists. Since he’s been using it for two months as of this writing, it’s likely been through enough vetting that any issues would have come up. My only concern is that refs might T him up for glaring (the lighting randomly adding glare to the lenses can really spike the bad vibes emanating from a stare).
As you have probably been able to discern, I’m a big fan of players pushing the envelope when it comes to their on-court appearance, and new developments are always welcome when the look is pulled off. So congratulations to Reggie Jackson; anyone can do something different with their hair, it takes a true pioneer to accessorize effectively.