In sports, everyone loves a good nickname. Fans gravitate towards it, so much that they even forget players’ birth-given government names.

It can also be a sign of arrival for a player. Not everyone gets a nickname.

Unless you’re good enough to be talked about. Generally. 

There are always exceptions to the rule, however, in anything.

Sometimes players with hyphenated last names get called their initials for short. Is that a nickname?

Technically, yes.

But that’s essentially still their name.

Houston Rockets superstar center Alperen Sengun has long drawn comparisons to Denver Nuggets three-time MVP winner Nikola Jokic. 

Both players are highly capable passers as big men. That’s far from the norm for centers. 

They typically need to be paired with a point guard who can feed them the ball down low in the post. 

At least the traditional center (which doesn’t exist much these days either, to be fair).

Jokic and Sengun each have somewhat similar NBA backgrounds. Neither player was predicted to morph into superstars (or All-Stars).

Jokic was taken in the second round of the NBA Draft. Second round draft picks have become more valuable as trade chips than anything else.

Rarely are you expecting a second-round pick in the NBA to turn into an MVP.

Sengun was selected outside of the lottery at pick sixteen (the lower end of the lottery) and wasn’t deemed ready to start over Bruno Fernando (who is out of the league altogether).

Both players have catapulted at or near the top of their position. Thus, the “Baby Jokic” moniker for Sengun is fitting.

Players even make the comparison.

But Sengun is ready to move on from the moniker, as he respectfully explained.

“I mean, bro, I don’t care what people call me, you know? I can’t stop them from calling me anything. But I have my own game. Yeah, we have similar stuff, with Jokic. He was my looking upto player when I came into the league. But now, I have my own team. We are one of the best teams in the league.
Whatever they call me, I’m fine with it, you know? But, I’m just writing my own story.”

We can only appreciate this perspective from Sengun. He’s his own person.

He’s a unique talent, in his own right. Let’s give him his just due.