Knowledgeable athlete’s profession is measured by two issues and two issues solely: (1) the variety of titles received and (2) their nickname. Sixty % of the time, their nickname is all that issues — each time. Magic Johnson, Air Jordan, The Dream, The Black Mamba, The Reply, Dr. J, The Human Spotlight Reel (my private favourite), The Spherical Mound of Rebound, Larry Legend, The Joker, The Emblem, The Iceman, AK47 (one other private favourite), The Admiral — the probabilities are infinite.
When an NBA participant’s nickname additionally denotes their signature transfer or an precise basketball transfer (e.g., Hakeem The Dream’s Dream Shake), properly slap some Blackbeard’s Delight on or your favourite cologne that has bits of actual panther in it, and name it a day. For the San Antonio Spurs, two new gamers have nicknames within the model of basketball strikes: Kelly Olynyk’s “Kelly Keeper” and Luke Kornet’s “Kornet Contest” (when you ask me, I might go together with Kornet Kontest — however nobody requested me).
Each gamers venture to be essential starters or rotation items for a Spurs crew in want of assistance on the entrance strains. Olynyk brings taking pictures, passing, and rebounding, whereas Kornet brings display screen setting, rebounding, and rim safety. So whereas I’ve been unsuccessfully attempting to embed “WembanDrama” or “If Jeremy Can Sochan You” into the NBA zeitgeist, Kelly Keeper and Kornet Contest convey a sure gregarious nicknaming conference for Jacob Tobey and Sean Elliott to make the most of this coming season.
Talking of the good Sean Elliott, his nickname was “Ninja” and “The Eclectic,” however Tim Duncan affectionately referred to him as a “burnt earthworm with glasses.” Duncan additionally teased Elliott about his “Steve Urkel glasses,” which predated all of the current Tyrese Haliburton comparisons to Steve Urkel dominating on the court docket in that one episode of Household Issues. Nicknames are enjoyable till everybody in your faculty intramural crew refers to you as “George Costanza” since you’re a chucker.
