Throughout the entire season so far, the rumor of nicknames being put onto the back of NBA jerseys seemed to be buried under the avalanche of sleeved jerseys that invaded the league in 2013. However, they’ve recently come to the forefront since actual jerseys have been released and a date has been set: January 10th will be the night where the Brooklyn Nets & Miami Heat take to the court with nicknames on the back of the jerseys.
Most players went with names that we’re all familiar with (“King James” for LeBron was a given, as was “Truth” for Paul Pierce & “JJ” for Joe Johnson). Others went with nicknames that we’ve probably never heard of (Seriously, who has ever called Norris Cole “Cole Train?” And knowing Dwyane Wade’s penchant for inventing nicknames for himself, who knows what he’ll go by?). Two players, however, were pretty ingenious with their nicknames…
Andrei Kirilenko’s jersey will probably be a hot seller in his native country of Russia because it has his last name printed in Russian. And seriously, how could you not at least be tempted to purchase an actual Jesus Shuttlesworth jersey?
So, the game will be interesting to watch just to see all of the weird names on the back, and also to see who actually abstained from participating. Either way, it’s full of intrigue.
Although this may seem as if it’s some newfangled fad that those crazy hoop kids have hopped onto, this is nothing new to the NBA. In fact, it could be considered as a throwback to the funky old days of the league back in the 70s. The Atlanta Hawks, in fact, had 2 players on the same team wear nicknames on their jerseys: “Pistol” Pete Maravich (pictured here with the Utah Jazz) and Walt Bellamy, who went by “Bells.”
So, although this is technically nothing new for the NBA, it’ll be fresh to see some of the league’s brightest stars having a bit of fun with the name on the back of the shirt without compromising the actual uniforms, which should be a pretty good matchup uniform-wise. But what do you think? Are you a fan of the nicknames on jerseys or not? As always, let us know exactly how you feel about this in the comments section, where you may or may not be given a nickname upon posting.
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