“I don’t condone any gun violence that happens around our country,” [Austin] Reaves told ESPN. “But you can’t really control what [nickname] people give you. I mean, I didn’t come out and say my name was that. There’s been others, like the ‘Hillbilly Kobe,’ that probably aren’t the best thing in the situation that’s going on, with Kobe’s passing.”

Earlier this week, University of Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson, who, like Reaves, wears No. 15 on his uniform, also dropped the AR-15 association.

“While a nickname is only a nickname and ‘AR-15’ was simply a representation of my initials combined with my jersey number, it is important to me that my name and brand are no longer associated with the assault rifle that has been used in mass shooting, which I do not condone in any way or form,” Richardson shared in a statement on Twitter. …

“I’m always open to new ideas,” he said. “Because there is always another [nickname] that might stick and could be better than another one that was previous. So I’m always open to new things and for people to really open up their brains and kind of think of new things for me. That stuff helps us out too in branding situations and stuff like that.”

— Dave McMenamin in Los Angeles Lakers’ Austin Reaves looks to shed ‘AR-15,’ ‘Hillbilly Kobe’ nicknames

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101 COMMENTS

  2. I don’t see anything wrong with this. If he don’t want that be his nickname anymore, that’s his personal choice. I understand his reasons.

    • His “reasoning” and yours takes the heat off a perp who criminally misued a firearm just like he criminally misused a vehicle when he crashed it before entering a school. A haphazard school where incompetent unarmed school personell along with trusting gullible parents made defenseless sitting ducks out of children.

      Because a criminally insane individual misuses an inanimate object you and number 15 can hold hands and lay down your rights at the feet of Gun Control zealots and leave you and yours defenseless but do not force your kiss Gun Control behind stupidity on others.

    • Gales, their reasoning is B S. There is no reasoning, only virtue signalling.

      # 2 for brains.

    • > I understand his reasons.”

      “…it is important to me that my name >>> and brand <<< are no longer associated…"

      My name AND BRAND.

    • Gales,

      Obviously, you never played team sports, didya?? YOU don’t pick your nickname; your teammates do. And the more you hate your team nick, the more your teammates use it. The only way to avoid a handle you don’t like is to embrace it . . . your teammates will look for another one that you do hate. But that’s OK, you do you.

    • I have never known of anyone who chose their nickname. It was something that usually evolved and stuck whether you liked it or not. But in the thug life ghetto community they do many unproductive things that defy reason.

  5. Lol
    Well, this kind of craziness is precisely why I don’t spend money on ‘pro sports’ anything. The nick name has nothing to do with anything, one way or the other. It’s all about the anti-American attitude.

  6. Democrats: From now on the number ’15’ is banned from society. Children will now be taught to count thus….”1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14, something-teen, 16,17,…” and math teaching will also reflect this prohibition, for example, “something-teen + 1 = something-teen1′. All sports will remove the number 15 from any jersey and replace it with the words “Me so special”. In very super duper special cases where the number 15 is needed, the person using the number must pay a $200.00 fee and get a special permit and must complete required training for the use of the number 15. All other uses of the number 15 are prohibited, and all books with pages numbered with numbers that contain 15 are outlawed and “he11 yes” we are going to take them.

  10. Can’t do anything at all because somewhere somebody’s feelings might get hurt.

    Everybody spend the rest of their lives face down on the floor in complete silence. Don’t want to risk upsetting the mental patients.

    All hail sportsball.

  11. Oh, I don’t know, how about “PASTEY”, “SNOWFLAKE”, Ooooh oooooh oooooh I know how about “BIBEN-DUM” (Bibendum is Michelin Mans actual name) or HEY YOU, DOUGH BOY, SPOOKY, CASPER, ALBINO, GOLEM… OR, who gives a flying fuk he’s just another pissy, whiny, entitled clown.

  17. I don’t follow basketball but obviously there is no IQ requirement in the sport of Basketball.

    For cripes sakes, where it it written that its absolutely necessary to turn every little thing into a public political statement. We have a generation of idiots. Just change the number and get on with your life.

    • Booger, that is correct. And furthermore why is this news and why should the public care. If being a good athlete makes one smarter or all knowing then POTG are indeed geniuses.

  19. I don’t have any suggestions, I just think he’s not worthy of the nickname “AR-15.”

  20. I’ll defend the guy here. I was tagged with a nick that I didn’t like by an azzhole at work. He used it, I object, he used it more, other people started using it. Bastid came to work one morning, said something like “good morning Nickname” and I decked him. No one ever used that nickname to my face again. I may think he’s a wuss, but the point is, he doesn’t like the nick, he doesn’t have to wear it.

    Let’s see if he’s man enough to enforce his wishes.

    • I had that happen once, the nick name. It was funny at first, I even laughed…but the guy got obnoxious with it after a while. I fired him when he thought it would be funny to include in a very important report we needed for funding purposes.

    • Why didn’t these 2 object from the onset?
      Guess they both were waiting for the requisite moment.

  21. If AR-15 doesn’t work for the kid, how about Pale Racist? That would fit right in with his woke idiocy.

  22. Whats a white boy doing playing ghetto ball? Thats racist. White privilege (and other prog BS)

  23. Don’t know who he is, don’t care about him or his nicknames. Stopped watching professional sports years ago, and don’t plan on ever watching them again.
    Call yourself whatever you want.

  24. In my younger days our nicknames were not picked by us. They were bestowed by our fellows. Once you got said name it was yours. For good or bad.

    • jwm,

      My experience, as well – and the more you hated/objected to the nick, the more it stuck.

      • When I was in the army the guys who disliked their “nickname” just refused to respond so it was like “Hey Teabag” “HEY TEABAG”, “fuck Smith gimme the box”. Smith says, yes sure why are you yelling?”
        After 25 of those the nickname expires.

        • Richard,

          Fortunately for our Armed Forces, they are more disciplined than were my high school basketball and football teams. Trust me, my teammates knew how to snap a wet towel, or just slap me upside the head (hard), if they needed to get my attention, and I didn’t respond. If you “owned” your team nick sufficiently, they MIGHT decide it wasn’t fun enough, and stick you with another – usually worse than the first.

        • I just remembered the kindness of high school when by they nicknamed a boy missing a hand from Thalidomide “stub”.
          He showed zero reaction probably because by then he had already been teased to the point of immunity.

  26. Howbout, “?” the man formally known as AR-15….Well, Prince tried it…but he still died “Prince”…

  29. Seriously! Who f#@king really cares. There are a lot of better things to focus on in life. Like your own. Life can be to short.

    • Gads, my birfday is 2-23… maybe I can get it changed by the courts to 2-29 and I’d be coming up on turning 18 again!
      And change my name to Snowflake the Magic Unicorn.
      I agree – the shit people find time to get their panties in a wad over !

  36. Instead of calling him pansy stuff, invite him to the range a few times and win a convert, then maybe he’ll carry it proudly.

  38. WHEW THA REPLIES . AR ,ALWAYS READY ?? GOOD LUCK IT’S STILL LAND OPPORTUNITY.
    DON’T GIVE UP ON FINDING ANOTHER NICK NAME , K …
    OTHER THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT I AGREE , CLIMATE CRISIS , FRGIN MANCHIN SEND THE WORLD TO HELL IN HAND BASKET JUST FOR ANOTHER DOLLAR … HE A REAL AHOLE..
    WHAT HE SAY NEED BURN MORE COAL , GREEDY , REAL TURD OF A PERSON..
    WHAT COULD WE SAY YEAAA WE DID IT , KILLED OFF MOTHER NATURE , UUUH O , AN HUMANS ALSO , AND ALL LIVING THINGS , THAT’S WHY THEY NAMED US HUMANS … , DUUUAAA… BURNING WAY TO MUCH FOSSIL FUEL ..

      • Have you really thought that one threw, possum? No more humans. No more dumpsters full of food.

    • Don’t worry. You climate fools will inflict more death and misery on a scale never before seen with your intentional energy shortages. Of course the elites will be fine. You’re just a useful idiot.

    • “FRGIN MANCHIN SEND THE WORLD TO HELL IN HAND BASKET JUST FOR ANOTHER DOLLAR”

      He’s the one reigning in the crazy spending by the Puppet Administration. If it weren’t for Manchin and Sinema stopping the insane and completely unnecessary Build Back Broke plan, our inflation problems would be MUCH worse than they are now. Manchin actually saved the Puppet Administration by not allowing them to dig their grave deeper. Not that you understand how that works.

    • NTexas,

      Eff off and expire, dung-brain. AND STOP F***ING SHOUTING AT US, AZZHOLE!!!!!!

  40. I know an idea, he can change his number to 10
    He wouldnt get the AR-10 reference anyway.

    I have another, eliminate certain times on phones and digital clocks, 5:56, 2:23 ya’ll get it.

    Who said never go full retard. ? Or you cant fix stupid?

  44. I understand his reasoning, but he is a spineless pansy for worrying about his brand.

    At one point in my career, my VP (who is a total asshole) nicknamed me Al Qaeda because I wore a beard. He had no idea that I had spent the best years of my youth fighting Al Qaeda, I’d watched Al Qaeda kill some of my friends and Al Qaeda put a piece of shrapnel in my ass (save it, I’ve heard all of the jokes before). Any other guy that worked for him would have laughed it off, but I got pissed.

    None of us should rush to judgement about someone’s motivation.

  51. I don’t give a single crap about this story, but I certainly have enjoyed reading all the comments about it! Way to go, my friends!

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