San Antonio Spurs Legend George Gervin, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, sometimes Texas resident Drake, and UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell are all fighting over one thing: who has the trademark rights to the nickname “Iceman.” 

On March 16, Williams filed his “Iceman” trademark applications. Through his business, Caleb Williams Holding Inc., he submitted four applications related to the moniker and his branding. Four days later, Gervin submitted two trademark applications for “Iceman” and “Iceman 44.” Gervin is the first and most well-known Iceman, and the trademark attempt to combat Williams’ own is an act of preserving legacy. 

The Spurs legend became known as the Iceman in the early ’70s, with Gervin’s teammate on the Virginia Squires, Fatty Taylor, giving him the moniker due to his calm, cool nature and uncanny ability to barely break a sweat while playing high-intensity hoops. Taylor initially gave him the name “Iceberg Slim,” but then shortened it to “Iceman.” 

“I’ve been the Iceman for 40-something years,” Gervin said in March. “I never thought anybody would try to trademark it. He kind of knocked me out the box.”

In 2023, UFC legend Chuck Liddell filed for a trademark for “The Iceman,” which is still pending approval. Liddell similarly earned the nickname as one of the premier fighters in the golden age of MMA, competing from 1999 to 2018. Initially, Liddell’s claim was thought to be the obstacle that would prevent both Gervin and Williams attempts to claim Iceman.

On top of the three athletes vying to lay official claim to the nickname, Canadian rapper and Texas resident Drake has also been involved in the Iceman succession war. In May, Drake released his long-anticipated album Iceman, which refers to himself as the titular Iceman. 

“It’s ironic that the Nice Man turned to Iceman, now I’m hot and cold,” Drake rapped in the song on the album.

Drake made fun of Williams, an NFL quarterback who was dubbed “Iceman” after his miraculous playoff win against the Green Bay Packers in 2026, by wearing a vintage Packers jacket to promote Iceman. However, Drake currently has no pending Iceman-related trademark applications. 

That nicknames have to even be trademarked is just business. You do something cool, you get a nickname that people call you, like Gervin who has had the moniker for decades. Now, to protect one’s image and likeness and the ability to capitalize on it, trademarks are a necessary part of that (despite how lame the practice is). The reason Williams trademarked the nickname in the first place was to prevent people from making money off of merchandise using the nickname he earned through his play. 

The Oregon-based LaCrosse Footwear filed a trademark for insulated boots and boot liners called Iceman in 1988, and the USPTO announced in a statement that it found too many similarities and a “likelihood of confusion” in the marks. The USPTO is still reviewing Williams’ trademark application for an Iceman logo that is distinct from the word. 

Gervin’s attempt to trademark the names “Iceman” and “Iceman 44” is still pending, as well as Liddell’s application.Â