https://youtu.be/nhtJ-vPPtUc
So I guess Kenyon Martin Jr. is going by “KJ” now? At first I thought it was just the Rockets commentators being senile, getting him confused with Rockets legend KJ McDaniels, but then the Jazz commentators were calling him that as well, and there’d be no reason for them to be confused in the same way. And his Twitter handle has the “KJ” part in it, so this has been going on for a while now, possibly his whole life? And I hadn’t noticed?
I mean, I wouldn’t want to be named exactly the same as my father either. The ONLY people who name their kids the same name as themselves are ultra-snooty rich snobs, or people who want to pretend to be ultra-snooty rich snobs. If you see a “Jr.” or a Roman numeral (highest I’ve seen is “IV”, going above “V” should be punishable by public execution by guillotine), you know that there’s snootiness in the vicinity, either inherited or learned. This may be classist or whatever, but DownToBuck is a champion of the common man (in honor of that I’m listening to Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” even though Copland’s music is trite and his place as a preeminent modern American composer is wholly unearned). LeBron James is apparently feeling some regret for naming his kid LeBron Jr., maybe Kenyon Martin Sr. is feeling the same.
But if Kenyon Martin Jr. wants to be known as “KJ”, he should know that you can go get the changed. It’s not even that hard! When I wanted to change my name from my original stupid given name (which you don’t get to know, I don’t want people deadnaming me), all I had to do was fill out some forms, sign some stuff, cut a check, and wait in long lines because government employees can’t be bothered to do anything with any sort of efficiency. And BOOM! I am, officially, Mr. Down To Buck. The “Mr.” is part of my actual first name, it’s not a title or anything. “To” is my middle name, and “Buck” is my surname.
Nomenclature aside, I’m getting sort of weary of having to do all these Martin vids. This is three games in a row now where he’s set a new career high, which is really exciting, but when I semi-retired, I was hoping that I wouldn’t fall into these patterns where I have to do a vid for every single performance a player has. But that’s what’s happening with Martin, and who am I to tell him to chill out for a bit because his existence is a burden on my existence? The Rockets are so light on scoring power right now that he’s going to keep doing this until the season ends, or the Rockets sit him because of some phantom injury.