NBA Bans Jalen Suggs’ Neck Headband, Then He Gets Hurt: Coincidence?!
Probably a coincidence, but still...
The NBA has decided to make one thing crystal clear to Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs: headbands are for heads.
Nothing. Else.
This is a shame, because I was always under the impression they had many uses. You can wear them on your head, stretch them, and shoot them off your hand like a big rubber band… actually, those are the ones I could think of. Maybe swing it over your head and pretend it's a lasso?
Well, Suggs recently came up with another one.
He has been wearing his headband around his neck as some sort of choker/neck-warmer, but then, as the game progresses, it migrates up to his head and assumes the standard headband position.
It's a strange move for sure, but when you hear his explanation, it makes a little more sense.
He said he started the game with it around his neck, but as he got into the zone, he moved it up to his head.
That's still weird, but it just seems like one of those equipment idiosyncrasies we see all over sports. Kickers wearing two different colored shoes and hockey players gnawing on mouthguards that hang out of their mouths.
But the NBA decided that this wouldn't fly and that Suggs could no longer wear his headband around his neck.
As if there was anything worse than having the NBA play dress code monitor, things got worse for Suggs and the Magic.
On Friday — the same day it was revealed that the micromanaging NBA was insisting that headbands are only for heads — Suggs suffered a right-knee Grade 1 MCL contusion and is out for the foreseeable future.
Imagine if Suggs had been allowed to wear his headband like a dog collar to start the game, instead of having to wear it on his head like the rest of the sheeple. Athletes are creatures of habit, perhaps having it on his head from the jump rattled him.
Perhaps his MCL wouldn't have gotten Grade 1 contused had he just been allowed to wear his headband the way he wanted.
We will never know.
I just hope all the Magic start their next game with their headbands around their necks in solidarity.