HEADBAND-BAN NO MORE: Utah Jazz to allow headbands next season

Break out the headbands, Jazz fans. After years of Utah unofficially—yet officially—having a no headbands rule, the headband is officially allowed. Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News—soon to be of ESPN—broke the news. When asking Quin Snyder if he’d allow Mike Conley to rock a headband, here was Snyder’s reply.

“He can wear it,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder told the Deseret News. “I might wear one, too.”

This has been a many years thing in the making. As we wrote about in July, this tradition goes back to Frank Layden and was confirmed as recently as the Ty Corbin era.

Moni of jazzfanatical and SLC Dunk emeritus wrote, “The no-headband, same-socks, tucked-in-jersey- rule commonly attributed to Jerry Sloan actually originated with Frank Layden. Jerry continued the tradition when he became head coach, telling players if they wanted to stand out, they could stand out with their play.”

When Ty Corbin took over as head coach, there was a possible chance of headbands being allowed. Ty Corbin slammed that door shut when he told Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune, “No headbands.”

Quin Snyder even joked that Utah Jazz fans may even see improved shooting with players wearing headbands.

“We ran the analytics and found he shoots better with a headband,” Snyder said of Conley. “So, I have encouraged him to wear one. ... Joe Ingles also thinks he shot better with one last year, so he asked me if he could wear one ... if that’s the case I might wear one too!”

However, when Jazz players do decide to wear a headbands, they will need to be aware of what type of headband they choose. Today the NBA announced that NBA players could not wear “Ninja-Style” headbands that were made popular by Jimmy Butler, Jrue Holiday, and others.

For Jazz fans, that won’t seem like a big deal as the dress code for Utah just became more relaxed. Especially if Jazz fans get to witness more dominant play from “Headband Joe.”