Word Association Nicknames

As regular listeners of the podcast well know, we have a stream-of-consciousness approach to Pacer nicknames.

Some of the highlights over the years include simple jumps of logic. For example, Lance Stephenson morphed into Lancey Pants, because, you know, fancy pants. Donald Sloan earned the moniker Sloan Ranger, partly because he had a knack for saving the day, but also, you know, the Lone Ranger. (Shoutout to super fan Drinks for that one.) LeVoy Allen gained the nickname Chef Voyardee, because he used to cook in the midrange game, but also, you know, LeVoy reminded us of Boyardee.

Over the years our nicknames for players have moved further away from simple explanation, however.

Corey Jospeh was CoJo, which is just the first syllables of his names mashed together…but this for some reason forced all his teammates to have rhyming nicknames. Darren Collison became DaCo…which became DaCo Taco, which became DaCo Loco. You see where this is headed.

Oshae Brissett showed up on the scene a couple of years ago, forced into a starting role due to injuries. And He Produced! Brissett sounds similar in brisket, brisket is barbecue, and…BBQ sauce is delicious. Oshae would become known as “The Sauce.”

Last season, your Indiana Pacers had the third worst record in their NBA franchise history (25-37) and created an opportunity for massive personnel change. Also, lots of new opportunities for nicknames!

Isaiah Jackson became Night Rider and Duane Washington Jr. became Gummy Bear through so many steps of logic, I can’t remember anymore. We began to call rookie Chris Duarte “8-Track.” All of the analysts, when we drafted him, said he was too old and had zero upside. His initials are CD. What’s a more antiquated listening medium than CD’s? An 8-Track. We think we are clever.

When Terry Taylor came in midseason as an undersized banger/rebounder, we were delighted and felt certain he had earned the honor of an Undebeatable nickname. His initials are TT, or T squared. Where do you use a T-square? In shop class. You also make birdhouses in shop class. He is now Birdhouse.

I was thinking today about Tyrese Haliburton. What a delight to have him as a Pacer. He is a supreme talent and young and charming and looks to be the face of the franchise moving forward. Last seaspn, in his 26 games for the Pacers, he averaged 17.8 points (on nearly 50-40-90,) 4.3 rebounds, and 9.6 assists! (That’s nearly a full assist more than any Pacer for a season ever. Mark Jackson had 8.7 in ‘98.) Oh yeah, and he was second in the league in steals last season! He definitely deserves a nickname from your favorite and longest running Pacer podcast.

Haliburton made me think of LeVar Burton, the national treasure who played Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and, maybe as importantly, helped teach a generation of children the value of reading on Reading Rainbow. Well, Haliburton shoots a textbook-perfect rainbow jumper, so we’re getting somewhere. What is at the end of a rainbow? Gold. He is our new golden child. Getting closer. Gold reminded me of actress great Goldie Hawn, which clearly led me to Han Solo from Star Wars. Haliburton is suave as hell and shoots without remorse…but it didn’t feel quite right. Haliburton glides, floats, flies. His nickname should reflect that. Han Solo’s ship is the Millennium Falcon, the “fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy,” which arguably took down two Death Stars. Yup! Nailed it!

Except, cause I think I’m clever, I’ll take this nickname one more laborious step. He’s a kid. Why not call him “Millennial Falcon.” Thank you. I know, I’m a mad genius.

Unfortunately for me, Tyrese Haliburton is so young he’s not even a Millennial. He’s Gen Z. That’s very fortunate for your Indiana Pacers, on the other hand. It was a tough season, fans, but we have a special 22-year-old kid on this team that we get to watch grow up before our eyes.

I may have failed to come up with a sufficient nickname for Mr. Haliburton, but I look forward to many years of finding something that fits.