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The Associated Press reported Monday that players from the Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets were asked to submit nicknames to wear on the back of their jerseys for at least one game between the teams in the 2013/14 season. "It's unclear how many times those teams would wear the nickname jerseys," the report says, "or if they would ever wear them against other opponents."
As a small-market team with no big-time star--yet--the Orlando Magic would not seem to be a likely candidate for nickname jerseys. But let's say, just for fun, that the NBA let Magic players wear their nicknames on their jerseys for one game. What should the players choose?
For Glen Davis, the answer is simple: the "Big Baby" nickname has followed him throughout his NBA career, and I suspect that Magic fans might be persuaded to buy a jersey bearing that nickname.
Sadly, the Magic's fun nicknames end with Davis'. None of Orlando's other players has an obvious choice for this exercise; in fact, Hedo Türkoğlu already goes by a nickname, as his given name is Hidayet.
One supposes that the Magic could capitalize on Victor Oladipo's marketability around town--he might be the Orlando's most popular player despite never having played--by creating merchandise that calls attention to his name's similarity to the city's: #Orlandipo began trending on Twitter shortly after the Magic picked the Indiana product in the 2013 NBA Draft.
Whether Oladipo would want to wear "Orlandipo," or something similar, on his back for a real-life NBA game is unclear. It might be more artful if the front of the uniform said "Orlandipo" in the Magic's wordmark font, but such a design is unlikely to gain traction with the league.
What are your suggestions for Magic nicknames? Would you ever want to see one of them on the back of a jersey for a real game?