Miami Heat Release Nicknames for NBA's ‘Name Collection'

The jerseys themselves will be unveiled on Friday on a nationally televised game in Brooklyn against the Nets.

The Heat released their much-anticipated nicknames for the NBA’s “Name Collection” that will be featured in four games this season.

The jerseys themselves will be unveiled on Friday on a nationally televised game in Brooklyn against the Nets.

This game will mark the first time in NBA history that the name on the back of the jersey will be anything other than the player’s last name.

There are a few nicknames that will come as no surprise to Heat fans such as “King James” for LeBron James, “D.Wade” for Dwyane Wade, “Birdman” for Chris Andersen and “Rio” for Mario Chalmers, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.

There is also the classic “J. Shuttlesworth” for Ray Allen, which is a reference to the character Allen played in a movie called “He Got Game” which was written by Spike Lee.

There are 15 nicknames in all for the Heat and the rest of the list goes as follows: “Doc” for Joel Anthony, “Battle” for Shane Battier, “B Easy” for Michael Beasley, “CB” for Chris Bosh, “Cole Train” for Norris Cole, “UD” for Udonis Haslem, “JJ” for James Jones, “Sweet Lew” for Rashard Lewis, “MoneyMase” for Roger Mason, Jr., and “G.O.” for Greg Oden.

There are sure to be stories for most if not all of those jerseys over the coming days.

One that is already known is the story behind Battier’s choice. It is a nod to his father and his service in the army. Battier’s father was actually born as Eddie Battle but letters on his birth certificate proved difficult to read.

The Heat star went on to say the following to The Miami Herald: “My dad shows up the first day and says: ‘Private Battle reporting for duty,’ ” Battier said. “The sergeant said: ‘Uncle Sam says your name is Battier.’ So my dad rolled with it, and he was now Eddie Battier.”

After Friday’s game, the nickname jerseys will be seen again on January 21 vs. the Boston Celtics, as well as on March 12 and April 8 against the Nets.
 

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