Cedi Osman has a very important role on the Cleveland Cavaliers. He’s not a guy who will give the team a consistent stream of 20-point performances, but Osman has been absolutely delightful this season as the guy on the Cavs’ bench who provides a shot of positivity whenever it is needed.
It’s not a huge shock that he hasn’t really played — he’s a 22-year-old newcomer who is fighting for minutes on a team that is trying to compete for a title now, so veterans will always have the priority. But to Osman’s credit, he has made the best of his current situation, and he’s shown that he is the kind of guy that any team would love to have in its locker room.
For further proof of this, let’s go to an interview Osman gave to Basketball Insiders, where he discussed the fact that he has a hashtag with his nickname, The First Cedi. You can guess exactly where it stems from, but to read his explanation on it is still tremendous.
So I’m working with one agency in Turkey and they’re doing a really good job about myself, my profile, my brand (laughs). They’re doing a really good job. “The First Cedi” is because my first name is Cedi and a lot of people are calling me Jedi, so that’s from Star Wars. The First Cedi—because in Turkey, ‘C’ reads as a ‘J’ so Jedi. First Jedi, that’s why.
The Cavs have some tremendous nicknames in their locker room — LeBron James and J.R. Smith have a handful of good ones, Dwyane Wade has Flash, etc. — so it means a lot when we say that Osman has the best nickname in Cleveland.
