Badger Queef alley-oops to Salamander Slinky?!?

If any of you tuned in to Colin Cowherd on Tuesday, you will know where I got my ideas from…More specifically, Cowherd mentioned that the NBA is considering letting the Heat and Nets use nicknames on the back of their jerseys.  Thus, the back of LeBron’s jersey would likely say “King James” and the back of Chris Bosh’s jersey should say “Velociraptor.”  Here’s a link to the story: http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/9714385/nba-miami-heat-brooklyn-nets-wear-nicknames-jerseys.

Cowherd argued how ridiculous this would be, as you know it would expand to teams beside the Heat and Nets, and he noted how the announcers would make the situation worse, calling the players by their nicknames.

In general, I praise the NBA for their marketing.  I believe they are extremely innovative and have done a great job of making the game popular for younger populations. Kids want to wear LeBron James’s shoes, Kobe’s jersey, Westbrook’s lenseless glasses, or Durant’s backpacks. While the NBA is not directly responsible for these fashion trends, they allow them to happen. Can you imagine Roger Goodell allowing NFL players to go to press conferences in lenseless glasses?

Hell no. The NFL is so controlled by Goodell, notice that every team’s players have to wear long socks, typically with two colors (white and the team color).  Further, helmet visors cannot have any swooshes or logos, and the location of the swoosh is standardized on every NFL jersey.  By contrast, the NBA allows players to wear certain accessories, such as 

headbands, long/short socks, etc.

Bob Rathbun "Voice of the Hawks"

But, jerseys with nicknames? I believe that is going a little too far. Suppose everyone’s favorite play-by-play announcer, Bob Rathbun (Voice of the Hawks), started calling a game with nicknames, assuming the Hawks were given permission:

“As Beans inbounds the ball to Badger Queef, he jukes the defender, crosses midcourt, and throws up an alley-oop to Salamander Slinky…Score! Al “Salamander Slinky” Horford slams home the deuce!”

Al "Salamander Slinky" Horford

Yea…point well taken, Colin.