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Sept. 10 (UPI) -- You won't see LeBron James, Jimmy Butler, De'Aaron Fox and other NBA stars sporting "ninja-style" headwear this season after the league banned the fashion trend ahead of the 2019-2020 season. NBA spokesman Mike Bass told ESPN the league allowed players to wear the headbands last season because it didn't have a formal process to approve the headgear. Bass said the NBA didn't want to "cause a disruption by intervening midseason."
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The league notified teams in May that the headbands would not be approved in 2019-2020. The NBA competition committee met Monday and discussed the headgear.
"The ninja-style headwear is not part of the NBA uniform and hasn't been through the league approval process," Bass told ESPN. "Teams have raised concerns regarding safety and consistency of size, length and how they are tied, which requires a thorough review before consideration of any rule change.
"When some players began wearing them last season, we didn't want to cause a disruption by intervening midseason, but we notified our teams in May that they would not be part of this season's uniforms."
The New Orleans Pelicans' Jrue Holiday, Los Angeles Clippers' Montrezl Harrell, Minnesota Timberwolves' Karl-Anthony Towns and Brooklyn Nets' Jarrett Allen were among the players to sport the headgear last season.
"I love that someone at the NBA had to type the words 'ninja-style [headwear]' and 'consistency of size and length' as their job today," Detroit Pistons star Blake Griffin tweeted Monday.
The Timberwolves also commented on the move, posting photos of Towns wearing the headwear.
"Love live Summer 'Ninja-Style Headwear' KAT," the Timberwolves tweeted. "Gone but not forgotten."
THE NBA regular season begins with a game between the Pelicans and Toronto Raptors at 8 p.m. EDT Oct. 22 in Toronto.
