NBA bans Magic guard Jalen Suggs from wearing headband around his neck
Suggs has a habit of starting games with the cloth band around his neck, rather than across his forehead.
Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs, seen resting his head against the backboard padding, isn’t the first player to have his headband style banned by the NBA. David Banks / AP Photo
The NBA has ruled that Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs must wear his headband on his head at the beginning of games, rather than putting it around his neck like a choker.
The 24-year-old has a habit of starting games with the cloth band around his neck, rather than across his forehead. Suggs, the No. 2 football recruit in the state of Minnesota in 2020 (per 247 Sports), told reporters the practice began on the gridiron.
“Really, it originates as football drip, that’s where it stems from,” Suggs said. “I don’t know, there really isn’t much else to it. I wear it on my neck, and once I get into the game, into the flow, I put it on my head, and we rock.”
The Magic guard is averaging 15 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game this season. Orlando sits eighth in the Eastern Conference with a 19-16 record.
Suggs isn’t the first player to see his headband style banned by the NBA.
In 2019, the league barred “ninja-style” tie headbands due to safety concerns. Stars like Jimmy Butler and De’Aaron Fox popularized headbands that are manually tied around players’ heads. The fashion statement had not cleared the league approval process, according to NBA spokesperson Mike Bass.
“When some players began wearing them last season, we didn’t want to cause a disruption by intervening midseason,” Bass told ESPN at the time. “We notified our teams in May that they would not be part of this season’s uniforms.”
Before that, Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo wore his NBA logo headband upside down. But the league banned that practice in 2010, deeming it disrespectful to the logo.
Devon Henderson is a staff writer for The Athletic. He has covered the Summer Olympics, College Football Playoffs, and the Men's Final Four while at Arizona State University and was an intern at the Southern California News Group, where he covered the Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Sparks, and LAFC. Follow Devon on Twitter @HendersonDevon_