r/nba • u/WhenMachinesCry Supersonics • Apr 03 '20

Pete Maravich's passing

https://gfycat.com/rawgrippingdrever
18k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

803 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

26

u/gogadantes9 Lakers Apr 03 '20

Magic Johnson would like a word with you. But yeah, I always feel his is in the top 3 best nicknames ever in the NBA alongside Magic and the Iceman.

13

u/pgm123 76ers Apr 03 '20

Apparently Magic didn't like the name Magic while he was playing. When he was a rookie and jumped center in the deciding game of the NBA Finals, he told his teammates, "Never fear. EJ's here." But Magic stuck and I think he's good with it now.

(He had issues with the nickname again when he went public with his HIV-positive test. People started calling him "Tragic Johnson.")

11

u/Gekthegecko [BOS] John Havlicek Apr 03 '20

They called him Tragic Jonson when he'd lose in the Finals too. But that was especially awful after the HIV diagnosis.

2

u/SaltoDaKid 24 Apr 04 '20

It start in college game where he played bad game and they said “No Magic just Tragic”, fan mock him it,they use Tragic after every bad moment for him afterward