The old saying goes, if the shoe fits, wear it.

Apparently that old adage is just plain wrong, at least according to one Arkansas State basketball player.

The school's leading returning scorer Jerry Nichols is apparently sitting out of practices because he doesn't want to wear a pair of Adidas brand shoes.

Arkansas State, like many other schools around the country, has a contract with Adidas that says basketball players, along with athletes in most other sports, are required to play in Adidas brand clothing. It's nothing out of the ordinary … so what's Nichols' problem?

He was wearing an Adidas shoe a few years ago when he injured his knee, resulting in two surgeries since that time. He apparently tore his ACL in junior college, so he is "not comfortable wearing Adidas."

What is this, a high school love saga? I can hear it now — "My ex-girlfriend made me this awesome mix CD, but I can't listen to it anymore because she dumped me and every time I hear it, it hurts."

Give me a break. You can't wear a certain brand of shoe because that's the kind of shoe you were wearing a few years ago when you got hurt?

I thought Wade Boggs eating chicken before every game was a weird superstition.

When Nichols had his second surgery after last season was it because he was wearing a Reebok shoe?

But this is no laughing matter apparently. Nichols says that he will continue sitting out practice — he did make it to a practice or two, wearing a Nike shoe with the symbol covered up with tape, before the Indians' athletic department put the kibosh on that.

Furthermore, if no deal can be accomplished, he may take his case to court.

"If I have to miss this whole senior season for some shoes, why wouldn't I [sue]?" Nichols said in an AP story, "I have done too much this summer, working out, staying up here all summer to waste a year. So if it has to come to a legal issue then I will."

Then again, if he spent so much time and effort preparing this summer, don't you think it's just a little silly to let it all go to waste over a shoe?

It's a shoe! It's a piece of footwear crafted by a professional company. Did that company create a specific shoe just to injure a certain JuCo player?

Meanwhile, this is not the only fashion story in the world of basketball this week. NBA commissioner David Stern announced the specifics of the league's new off-the-court dress code Tuesday.

Among the stipulations, players will not be able to wear chains or medallions outside their clothing and requires them to dress "business casual" when engaging in team or league business. The memo stated that "business casual" meant a dress shirt or sweater, dress pants and dress shoes.

I can't wait to see Allen Iverson being interviewed by Stephen A. Smith while wearing a wool sweater and khakis.

Players on the bench at a game, but not suiting up, must wear a sport coat and players are not allowed to wear sunglasses indoors, headphones (unless on the team bus or in the locker room) or headgear of any kind during a team or league event.

This doesn't sound so bad, but can it really happen? It's hard to say, especially because Stern did not outline how he and the league office were going to monitor adherence to the policy.

Players have already voiced their concern over the new policy.

Perhaps the NBA teams should just take a page out of every other professional sport's book. Baseball and football don't seem to have any problem getting their players to look presentable.

It's not forbidding players to be flashy off the court — the league would probably die if that were the case. It's just asking its members to look nice and represent the league in an honorable fashion.

Even Chad Johnson — perhaps the NFL's flashiest and loudest player — can look presentable when appearing as a member of the Bengals on TV.

Even most college teams, including the Badgers, have dress policies following games and during public appearances.

Yet, for NBA players, when push comes to shove, they think every little thing is a shove and retaliate with a punch. See: Ron Artest, who last week — despite being involved in a fight in the stands with a fan last year when he was hit with a cup — said he was going to play "out of control, like a wild animal."

Great … I can't wait.

Truthfully, I can't stand the NBA, and the players' issues with the new dress code make me hate it even more. As if seeing travels and no defense every time down the court wasn't bad enough, I always had to see some goon after a game with 14 necklaces around his neck and headphones on one of his ears.

Quit being babies and start looking respectable every once in a while. You can dress however you want when you go home.

This shouldn't even have to be an issue. … Then again, neither should a shoe.