With his upcoming name change, I started to wonder, are there any trends in terms of players performing better or worse after changing their names??? This is an important question, at least from the perspective of whether any of us should consider drafting Domanick Williams on fantasy draft day.
Without further ado, here are the top 10 athletes who changed their name, and if you ask why it’s a top 10, it’s because I couldn’t think of any more. Of course, I’m sure someone else visiting BSD or reading this article will think of another, and I hope everyone will help contribute.
Top 10 Athletes Who Changed Their Name
1) – Muhammad Ali who was Cassius Clay – No need for me to write anything here. He was good before, and a legend after the name change.
2) – Kareem Abdul Jabbar who was Lew Alcindor – No introduction needed here either.Before the name change: 3 NCAA Championships, 3 All-American First Teams, 3 Most Outstanding Player in the Tourney, 1st Ever Naismith winner; 1 NBA Championship and 1 NBA Finals MVP; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kareem_Abdul-Jabbar
NBA.com says he changed his name before the 1971-1972 NBA Season. http://www.nba.com/history/players/abduljabbar_bio.html
After the name change: 5 more NBA MVPs, 5 more NBA Championships
3) – Amahd Rashad who was Bobby Moore – Changed his name in 1971, before his NFL career began.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Rashad
Before the name change: 2-time All-American
After the name change: played from 1972-1982, 44 TDs, and became host of NBA’s Inside Stuff.
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/RashAh00.htm
4) Hakeem Olajuwon who was Akeem Olajuwon
Changed his name on March 9, 1991, right in the middle of the season! (I’m just going to include the 1990-1991 season as being with his original name):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakeem_Olajuwon
Before the name change: Back-to-back 2nd place finishes in NCAA Tourney
NBA – 23 ppg, 12.6 rpg, 3.43 blocks/game (wow!), 51.4% FG%
After the name change: 2 NBA Championships, 20.8 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 2.85 blocks/game, 51.1% FG%
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/o/olajuha01.html
5) World B. Free who was Lloyd Free (Shooting guard)
Not sure if this really counts, because it sounds like he already had the nickname of “World”, and he just legally changed his name in 1980.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_B._Free
Before the name change: 19.8 ppg, 46.8% FG% (leading scorer in 1979-1980 season, averaging 30.2 ppg)
After the name change: 21.0 ppg, 44.9% FG% (NO playoff appearances!) ; Dick Vitale uses his name in college basketball season previews to give the award for best name.
http://www.basketballreference.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=FREEWO01
6) Chad Johnson who was Ocho Cinco who was Chad Johnson
I love Ocho Cinco, even though he only practiced once as Ocho Cinco, and then became Chad Johnson once again. However, I believe it was the spirit of Ocho Cinco that danced the touchdown celebration that day in celebration of NFL Hispanic month.
7) Albert Belle who was Joey BelleAlbert changed his name after battling alcoholism. Battling alcoholism did not affect his rage though, as he still threw a ball at a fan, corked his bat, chased kids away by driving his SUV at them, and then, after retirement, got thrown in jail for stalking his x-girlfriend. Good times!
http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/sportsnuttz/Albert_Belle/33620
Personally, the way he stalked his girlfriend was smart. I mean, he basically copied Batman’s M.O. and used his ideas for evil (or is it sketchiness?), by placing electrical tracking devices on his girlfriend’s car.
Before the name change: BA .225, 7HR, 37 RBI (part of 1 season)
After the name change: BA .295, 374 HR, 1202 RBI (11 seasons)
http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/belleal01.shtml
On a random note, I found this fun quote about Belle:
''In the end, he only had two teammates who'd talk to him. But Kenny Lofton gave up on him and began blasting him to the press. And Wayne Kirby gave up about halfway through his last season. What was truly scary about Belle is that he was smart. He knew exactly what he was doing. He was a rational thug."
And here’s another good quote, from the same article… “Mike Hargrove told me last year that he might not want to invite Albert over to the house, but he belonged in the Hall of Fame."
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/articles/2006/01/18/this_guy_sure_played_a_mean_game_of_baseball/?page=full
8) Mahmoud Abdul-Raouf who was Chris Jackson (guard for the Denver Nuggets)
It appears that he changed his name in 1991, 1 year after getting drafted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Abdul-Rauf
Before the name change: teammate of Shaq’s at LSU, 2 NCAA tourney appearances (made the 2nd round once); First-team All-American
http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0748236.html
After the name change: 9 NBA Seasons, 14.6ppg, 3.5 apg, 35.4% 3pointers, 90.5% FT%, 1 controversy involving Mahmoud’s refusal to stand during the national anthem.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/abdulma02.html
9) Bison Dele who was Brian Williams (forward for the Bulls, Pistons, Magic, Nuggets, and Clippers)
Changed his name in 1998.
Before the name change: 9.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 54.2% FG%, 1 NBA Championship
After the name change: 14.0 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 50.8% FG%, 1 Tragedy (killed or lost at sea, wikipedia cites sources claim that Bison’s brother probably killed him)
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/delebi01.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bison_Dele
10) Michael Jackson who was Michael Dyson who was Michael Jackson – (Browns receiver)
He changed his name to his mom’s maiden name for all of 1 week in 1993, causing mass confusion in many fantasy leagues, including the following description of the problem:http://www.geocities.com/~brfl/93/wk9301.htm (“Browell searched the paperlooking for any activity by Cleveland receiver Michael Jackson, their 6th round pick. The reason that they did not find any was that he changed his name to Michael Dyson.”)
http://www.geocities.com/~brfl/93/wk9302.htm (“They drafted him as "Michael Jackson", but he changed his name to "Michael Dyson". He scored in week 1 and all the necessary corrections were made to all league records. In week 2, B/B needed a touchdown from "Michael Dyson" to win going into Monday's game with JONES/KLINGMAN. Instead, "Michael Jackson" scored the touchdown and B/B got his 24-17 win. Jackson/Dyson is not sure what name he will play under next week.”)
Before the name change: (approximately, can’t find boxscores from 1993) – 64 rec., 1023 yards, 9 TDs
After the name change to Dyson (for 1 game!): can’t find the boxscores, but we know Jackson got at least 1 TD. http://www.geocities.com/~brfl/93/wk9302.htm
After the name change back to Jackson: approximately – 284 rec., 4250 yards, 36 TDs
Final Conclusion:
It seems like each of the players that I could think of, certainly maintained the same level of play, and in a lot of situations, they even played better with the new name. So, this means that I will at least consider drafting Domanick Williams this summer! Of course, he still plays for the Texans, so it's not necessarily a good pick anyway!
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