Leg Sleeves & Tights: Your Favorite NBA Player's Favorite Accessory
Leg accessories have gone up in popularity big time: Knee sleeves, calf sleeves, ¾ length tights, full-length tights - you name it. But why do they wear them? Is it just the looks? Or are there tangible benefits to be won from wearing compression gear for your legs?
Came thru drippin’
NBA players wear a bunch of accessories.
There’s the headband. The shooting sleeve. The occasional goggles. And the facemask.
One group of accessories that has gone up in popularity big time are leg accessories: Knee sleeves, calf sleeves, ¾ length tights, full-length tights - you name it.
Checking on this year’s NBA Semis, I noticed that every player in the Celtics, Bucks, Mavs, and Suns starting lineups wore some sort of leg accessory.
That’s a bunch! But why do they wear them? Is it just the looks?
Or are there tangible benefits to be won from wearing compression gear for your legs?
Let’s go ahead and find out.
→ Official NBA Compression Gear From Bauerfeind
David Stern and the Ban on Tights
Leg accessories have been around for a while. Michael Jordan was known to rock a calf sleeve on his left leg and Patrick Ewing is almost synonymous with the diaper-like pads he wrapped around his knees.
But leg swag really took off during the early- and mid-2000s.
Jerry Stackhouse was the one who set it all off with his full-length tights. But many others followed suit: Kobe, A.I., D-Wade - all had been rocking tights in the early and mid-2000s.
But that changed quickly when The Commissioner struck.
In 2006, David Stern decided to put an end to tights, banning them until further notice.
Why exactly he laid out the ban remains a mystery. But Stern, having implemented an on- and off-court dress code less than a year before, had already developed a reputation as a stickler for style. Hence, many believe that Stern thought that tights were just another weird fashion statement that players were trying to pull over on him. He dealt with them accordingly.
But the ban wasn’t able to put an end to the growing popularity of leg accessories in the NBA.
While players were forced to jettison the tights, many found loopholes by turning to other compression leg gear. Dwyane Wade’s heavily padded knees come to mind. So do the calf sleeves Carmelo Anthony wore during his time with the Nuggets and Knicks. And you can’t forget about the iconic Lakers-colored knee sleeve Kobe won his 5th championship in.
Leg Accessories: Fashion Statement or Medical Support
But the question remains, why do NBA players wear leg accessories in the first place?
When the ban hit, the father of tights, Jerry Stackhouse, lamented that tights were intended to help with his knee pain.
And that sounds about right. Like all basketball compression apparel, leg compression gear is designed to increase blood flow to the muscles. The extra blood keeps the muscle tissue warm and can reduce the risk of injury. It can also speed up recovery for joints and muscles that are already injured.
Further, a lot of compression gear, like knee sleeves, also include padding, which can protect from rug burns, knocked knees, and other minor contact injuries.
And since injuries to the lower extremities are the most frequent in the NBA, it makes sense that players do all they can to protect that area of their bodies.
Why do NBA players wear so much leg gear, then? To stave off injury to the body part that is most at risk.
Tights vs. Leg Sleeves
Only one question remains.
Now that the NBA is run by a more liberal commissioner in Adam Silver, tights have made their deserved return and we see NBA players wearing both tights and sleeves - sometimes even both at the same time.
But which one’s better for basketball - tights or sleeves?
At first sight, they seem to serve the same purpose: they compress the muscle tissue of the leg to increase blood flow, in order to prevent injury and promote recovery.
But each does provide some slightly different benefits:
The Benefits of Tights:
360-degree compression
: with full-length tights, you get compression throughout the entire leg: your calves, quads, hammies, and knees all reap the benefits of the compression
The Benefits of Sleeves:
Targeted compression
: while tights provide all-around compression, they don’t provide the targeted compression that a sleeve will. If you’re looking to prevent injury or treat a specific body part that is already injured, a sleeve will be better suited to your needs
Robust:
High-quality sleeves are fashioned from special sports-knit, which give you more support than tights provide
Padded protection
: many sleeves include padding, which gives you further protection against contact injuries
Both tights and sleeves can prevent injury and aid recovery - which is why they’re so popular amongst the NBA’s best. If you’re looking to buy high-quality basketball compression gear, check out Bauerfeind’s (official partner of the NBA) selection below.
