Who is the Akron Hammer?

*This article was originally published on 11/18/2009.  I thought that it would be yet another piece that was now horribly obsolete.  However, thanks to Lebron moving back to Cleveland, this article has been given another brief window of relevance.


A lot of basketball players, athletes in general actually, acquire a nickname over the course of their career. Some try to give themselves nicknames while others usually pick one up from the media.

Kobe Bryant, for example is called "the Black Mamba". Why? I don't know, it has a ring to it though. Sports broadcaster, Colin Cowherd, has tried to dub him the "Italian isolationist" but that hasn't garnered as much steam.

While we're on the topic of Sportsnation, co-host Michelle Beadle has dubbed another athlete "The Akron Hammer". Colin is vexed by the name, however the name is spreading like wildfire. There are Facebook groups and Twitter feeds dedicated to making the name official. It was even used in an episode of Sportscenter.

"The Akron Hammer" was a nickname given to Lebron James (he was born in Akron) and as mentioned above, it has gained some momentum as far as legitimacy. While it started off as kind of a joke just to see if it would stick, it has become a phenomenon in its own right. There have even been shirts made featuring the nickname.

Beadle is pushing the name even harder trying to make it James' official nickname over titles like "the chosen one" or "King James". She argues that this is America and we don't have kings so it's more fitting.

Surprisingly, no one has asked Lebron himself about the title. If the nickname has gained as much momentum as it has (it even has a page on Wikipedia), one would think that it would come up in a press conference.

I hope someone does bring it up at some point, I'm curious to see how he'd react to the name. It would be pretty cool if he knew of the name, but it would be funny to see the perplexed expression on his face when some reporter informs him of the nickname that Michelle Beadle has given him. I think he'd be OK with it, I can't say for sure, but I would think that he'd be proud to have a nickname that gives his hometown a namedrop. Then again, maybe he doesn't care, either way, I'm curious to see what his thoughts are.

I myself am a supporter of the nickname, which is one of the reasons why I wrote this article. This nickname needs as much exposure as it can get. It's silly and fun, the "chosen one" is pretentious, while I have no problem with "King James," one could get vexed by the biblical comparisons seeing as he's just a basketball player, a very good one, but a basketball player nonetheless.

Some find the Akron Hammer to be a stupid nickname and are getting tired of it. That is, of course, your right, but the people who want to call him the Akron Hammer should feel free to do so as it is, in my opinion, a great nickname.

Sources

Sportsnation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Akron_Hammer