DeAndre Jordan has been in the Internet’s mentions for more than his hooping skills. New State Farm Insurance commercials that debuted on Christmas have caused a lot of basketball fans to criticize the Los Angeles Clippers player, who was dressed as a woman.
The series of ads, entitled “Meet The Hoopers,” features fellow ballers Chris Paul, Kevin Love, Kevin Garnett and Damian Lillard as a family. Jordan plays the role of the mom and wears a long, blonde Farrah Fawcett wig, hoop earrings, and women’s clothing over his 6 ft 11 inch frame.
While the commercials include tidbits about State Farm, they also poke fun at the fact that the co-stars are in the NBA. For instance, one episode consists of “Mom,” or Jordan, running into the family room and insisting that they’d been robbed because her rings are gone. Then the family tells her, “You ain’t got no rings!”
Funny, right? Well, some Twitter users don’t think so. Many tweets expressed disappointment in the 27-year-old athlete, with some stating that dressing as a woman emasculated him.
Not everyone hated the commercials, though. Some people though it was hilarious.
This is far from the first time a famous Black male athlete was criticized for dressing in drag. Many people were upset when Cleveland Cavaliers player LeBron James put on a brunette wig in a Progressive ad in 2014. That same year, fastest man alive Usain Bolt donned a tiny blue dress and curly wig for a Virgin Media commercial, and former basketball player Charles Barkley dressed like a lady for a Weight Watchers commercial in 2012.
