D2.0
Years ago

Why do players have "Junior" on their tops?

Us of the term "Junior" seems to be mostly an American thing in my experience.
In Australia, as an example, my father was named after his father, and therefore to his family and growing up was always known by his second name. That would probably have persisted, except he enlisted during WW2 and the RAAF insisted on using his given name.

But, in regards to tops, it puzzles me why for example Casper has Ware Jr on his Australian tops.
From the little I have seen, if you look at his American tops, he doesn't.

And why? The term "Junior" refers to the given name, not the surname. Many people have the same family name as their father, we're not all called junior.
I can understand why it's used when using the given and surname, eg "Casper Ware Junior", but why when only displaying the surname?

And of course CJ is an interesting case, because I think he only used "Bruton".

Yes, one of the many serious basketball questions that plagues me during the break between the end of the AFL (&NBL1) and beginning of the NBL seasons.

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Anon  
Years ago

Jr because their is a senior duh ahahha

Reply #871455 | Report this post


Love this game  
Years ago

Hahaha

Reply #871456 | Report this post


KET  
Years ago

Why even name your kid after yourself, talk about feudal era stuff!

Reply #871457 | Report this post


twenty four  
Years ago

Because someone in the NBA or NFL started doing and it caught on, despite it probably not technically making sense.

Reply #871458 | Report this post


Anon  
Years ago

casper's dad is casper sr

Reply #871461 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

How about Marcus Morris of the LA Clippers? Has "Morris Sr." on his jersey. Good to know so we don't mistake him and his infant son (whom I’m guessing is well known and accomplished necessitating designation).

Also, if I were Dwyane Wade’s father, I would have hoped my son had gone with Wade Jr. so people knew it was his grandfather whom misspelled 'Dwayne’ (though I’d still be guilty of passing that name on to him, but at least I can [questionably] spell correctly).

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Anonymous  
Years ago

I can understand the need for it if you have a famous/known father and need a distinction between the two (for example, Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey Jr.). But buggered if I know who Casper aware Snr. is.

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Perthworld  
Years ago

My favourite professional junior sportsperson is Davis Love IV ('the fourth' from the PGA Tour. Cracks me up everytime.

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Perthworld  
Years ago

My favourite professional junior sportsperson is Davis Love IV ('the fourth') from the PGA Tour. Cracks me up everytime.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Thankfully George Foreman's sons don't play basketball. That would be confusing.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Is it really that big an issue. Why do Kings and Queens tack on numbers as well as pope's? It's to differentiate, but if William becomes king, anyone know of the top of their head what number he is?
Tradition is just peer pressure by dead people.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Thank goodness the golfer Peter Senior doesn't have a son called Peter. Would that make the son Peter Senior Jnr or the father Peter Senior Snr

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RobT  
Years ago

... or Peter Snr Senior!

Reply #871490 | Report this post


Perthworld  
Years ago

#488 gold.

Reply #871509 | Report this post


Jack Toft  
Years ago

Junior and the like is very much an American thing.

I have a guy in my family tree who is the fifth William in a row. The first William was born 1860's and then son after son until the fifth William. Although they are called William, they seem to use their middle names, so William John calls himself John and William Andrew is Andrew etc

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Travis 2nd Best  
Years ago

Very thought provoking question and one of utmost importance

in the same vein:

How come early 90s Trevor Torrance was allowed to just have "TT" on the back of his Wildcats jersey?

how come premier Singaporean big man Pathman Matialakan was allowed to have a Madonna-esque, "Pathman" on the back of his mid 00s Singapore Slingers jersey?

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koberulz  
Years ago

How come early 90s Trevor Torrance was allowed to just have "TT" on the back of his Wildcats jersey?
Crawford had "JC", Watterson had "Watto". Half the teams didn't have names on the back of their jerseys at all. Canberra players all had "Cannons" on the back of theirs. There were no rules about it back then.

how come premier Singaporean big man Pathman Matialakan was allowed to have a Madonna-esque, "Pathman" on the back of his mid 00s Singapore Slingers jersey?
Given how Wiki phrases it, it seems like his name is just "Pathman", "Matialakan" is his father's name, and multigenerational family names aren't a thing under that naming convention. It's essentially a mononym, therefore it makes more sense to use "Pathman" than "Matialakan". Similarly, Yao Ming always had "Yao" on his jersey because that's the family name, and Ming is his given name.

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Travis 2nd Best  
Years ago

I can now sleep easy, thank you Kobe.

Reply #871582 | Report this post


Travis 2nd Best  
Years ago

"Tell me the NBL was a little bush league, without telling me the NBL was a little bush league-ish".

A: A fellow, whose surname was Watterson, had "Watto" on the back of his jersey.

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Jack Toft  
Years ago

A: A fellow, whose surname was Heal, had "GOAT" on the back of his jersey.

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Cram  
Years ago

The junior thing annoys the hell out of me. Not so much on jersies but when commentators insist on using it. Reggie Miller is one of the worst offenders

"Porter Junior" just just "Smith Junior" on a poster. What a play by Porter Junior!"

Side note, all of the players with the last name Porter in the NBA last season were also a junior.

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Cram  
Years ago

Ugh I butchered that "Quote"

Reply #871594 | Report this post


Travis 2nd Best  
Years ago

Dwayne McLain had a kid but he goes by Dwayne McLain II and not Junior.

Is there a rule that you have to be within 3 inches, and at least 30% of your dad's playing ability to be able to inherit the Junior?

Reply #871595 | Report this post


I think it's a recent trend, actually starting with:
"Junior Seau"...
an NFL player w/ 1 of the most remarkable names

Reply #871611 | Report this post


4 real  
Years ago

Kram, knowing Reggie Miller, he is probably taking the piss by incessantly saying the 'Junior'. He loves to shit talk.

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