Minnesota Timberwolves forward Shabazz Muhammed is one of the many past and present NBA players to be widely known by something other than their birth name. In Muhammad’s case, the NBA world refers to him as simply ‘Bazz.’
Him being referred to by his nickname is to the point where his locker at the Target Center in Minnesota is the only locker to feature a nickname on his nameplate which reads, you guessed it, Bazz. According to the Star Tribune, Muhammed’s nameplate doesn’t read ‘Bazz’ just because he requested as much. He has real plans to legally change his name from Shabazz Naige Muhammad to ‘Bazz’.
One name, Bazz. Like Seal. We are so into this.
“I just like it,” Shabazz Muhammed said to the Star Tribune. “Everybody calls me that anyway.”
Shabazz Muhammed wouldn’t be the only NBA player to legally change their name to something a little more reflective of how they identify themselves. The most recent example of this was Ron Artest legally changing his name to Metta World Peace. On December 8, 1981, Lloyd Bernard Free legally changed his name to World B. Free simply because his friends in junior high used to call him World, so there is precedent here.
This begs the question, which other NBA players should undergo a similar transformation? There are so many good examples.
DeMarcus Cousins is a prime candidate. His reputation around the league has improved slightly since his trade to the New Orleans Pelicans, but it could still be better. Look at what leaving ‘Ron Artest’ in the past did for Metta World Peace! While you might not like ‘DeMarcus Cousins,’ everyone loves some Boogie Cousins. It’s his social media handle already, he might as well go the whole way with it.
J.R. Smith is candidate number two. For as big as Smith’s personality and on-court persona is, I can’t think of a more common last name than ‘Smith.’ We’ve got enough Smith’s. J.R. Swish, on the other hand, sounds like the best-selling NBA jersey in the world to me. Something about J.R. Smith rocking a Cavaliers jersey that says ‘Swish’ on the back really, really works.
LeBron James is already a pretty spectacular NBA mega-star name. LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, etc. It already fits nicely in the pantheon of NBA greatness. However, you have to consider how wildly arrogant it would be if he legally changed his name to King James. That’s a full WWE-style heel turn right there.
Let’s go ahead and toss Karl-Anthony Towns in the mix here, too. KAT is an awesome nickname, and if Shabazz Muhammed is going to cut his name down to just ‘Bazz,’ the door is wide open for KAT to follow suit.
