I‘m not familiar with other US sports, but from what I understand, in the NFL for example players are usually called by their surname, right? Like Brady isn’t called „Tom“, Mahomes isn’t called „Patrick“, Rodgers isn’t called „Aaron“, etc.
Also, in european football it is common to call players by their surname. Messi, Ronaldo, Haaland, Mbappe, Lewandowski, Benzema, Bellingham etc… in 99% of the time football players are called by their full surname.
But now look at famous NBA players of the past: MJ, Kareem, Hakeem, Magic, Wilt, Shaq, Kobe, Dirk, etc.
Or famous players in todays league: LeBron, Giannis, Joker, Luka, Klay, Draymond, CP3, KD, Russ, AD, or famous rookies like Wemby, Chet.
Of course there are also famous players who are mostly called by their surname (Curry, Harden, Tatum, Booker, or in history guys like Bird, Duncan, Stockton etc). But rejecting the surname seems to be much more common in the NBA than in other sports league.
How did that come about? Was it always like that? What started this tradition?
Curry goes by Steph plenty
Tatum gets lumped in as one of the Jays
Also add Joel, Udonis, Boban to the list of good first namers
Zion
Franz
The NBA just has good names period
Remember God. (Shamgod)
He’s asst coaching someone out west I believe I just saw him in some clips
I feel like people tend to use whichever name is less common. Like kd gets called durant, not kevin. Ben simmons gets called simmons, not ben. If you say “James”, its really unclear who youre talking about, but theres only one lebron (so far)
We all literally called him Ben for years tho
Fans of the sixers did when talking amongst themselves, yes. But random Magic fan isn’t gonna know who you’re talking about if you just say Ben
Calling someone Giannis sounds cooler than calling someone Tom
Also, in european football it is common to call players by their surname. Messi, Ronaldo, Haaland, Mbappe, Lewandowski, Benzema, Bellingham etc… in 99% of the time football players are called by their full surname.
It was pretty common for Messi and Ronaldo to be called “Leo” or “Cristiano”. Ronaldo was mostly commonly CR7 too TBF
Maradona was “El Diego” quite often too
Barcelona currently has “Gavi” which isn’t even his name. His name is Pablo Gavira. But he is just called “Gavi” and that is what is on the back of his jersey.
Xavi went by his first name too (Xavier Hernandez)
Guys with more interesting first names than surnames (Magic, LeBron, Kobe, Shaq)
Euro guys with cool enough first names, hard surnames (Luka, Giannis, etc.)
Brady is Brady, Mahomes is Mahomes because Tom and Patrick are pretty boring names
You know his name isn’t Magic right lol?
Fewer players in the league, more superstars, superstars have more effect on the game than in any other sport so we see them more and hear their names more. People start to identify the players with their first names.
That’s my guess at least.
I think it’s just whatever sounds cooler. There is no rule to this. The NBA imo has more swagger and also is more related to Black Culture than other leagues in the US.