Dwayne Wade's Goggles Banned

[klunderbunker]

Haven't heard of them before? Well they've never been worn. He had a reason for them though.

NEW YORK -- Dwyane Wade's tinted goggles have been banned by the NBA.

After a hands-on review at league headquarters in Manhattan Thursday afternoon, the league has rejected the shaded goggles Wade planned to wear against the Knicks. Officials determined there was too much tinting and it would have given him a competitive advantage because opponents would not be able to see his eyes.

Wade, who has been suffering some light sensitivity after a bout with a migraine last weekend, practiced with the glasses over the last several days and was going to use them out of precaution at Madison Square Garden.

Wade expected to play and might experiment with league-approved glasses with less shading.

"It's goggle-gate," deadpanned Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. "They have approved some other goggles he can wear. He may give it a shot."

The Heat had sent the league some pictures of the goggles this week in an attempt to get approval. With the team in town, trainer Jay Sabol took the glasses over to the NBA's Fifth Avenue home to have them examined. And ultimately rejected.

"The decision has been made, we're moving on, there's no excuses" Spoelstra said. "He wasn't 100 percent going to wear them for the whole game anyway."

Wade had a reoccurrence of some of the migraine symptoms when the team arrived in New York Wednesday night and said Thursday he wanted to use the shades to avoid any setbacks.

"I just don't want to take chances right now," said Wade, who missed the Heat's victory last Saturday with the migraine. "I want to play, and I don't want nothing to stop that."

The Heat will play without forward Chris Bosh, who did not travel while recovering from a sprained ankle.

Brian Windhorst covers the NBA for ESPN.com.

In short, is this going too far? Is it ridiculous to say that someone wearing a pair of glasses to help alleviate pain from a medical condition is going to give them an unfair advantage? Does the NBA have a fair argument here? To be clear I'm not saying that the NBA doesn't have the authority to make this decision and apparently the Heat aren't saying that either. What I'm asking is is this decision fair?

 

[Goliath Uterus]

No it's not fair at all, and the reason for it is complete bullshit. First off, like you noted, it's for a medical condition, and second off, no player in the league is dumb enough to be looking into someones eyes on defense. One of the first things they teach you when you learn basketball is to never look in the offensive players eyes, or else you'll get decieved and faked out every time.

The league should rethink their stupidity and allow D-Wade to wear the damned googles.

 

[Big Sexy]

Honestly, it's a little harsh that they're banned but pretty much all professional leagues have stupid uniform type violations and many of them are much worse then this rule. I mean Caron Butler used to chew on straws during games and had been doing it since high school. Earlier this year the NBA banned his chewing of straws. This one at least makes some sense. If a player pick up there trouble and is looking to pass then not being able to see his eyes could be a hindrance to defenders. It's nothing major but it's something.