A History of Athlete Name Changes

Today, the NBA legend formerly known as Lew Alcindor turns 65. Oh, you young'ns know who we're talking about, right? At the age of 24, the dominant center changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In order to avoid the negative stigma that he felt came with his government name, Kareem made the decision to start anew. But he's not the only one that has made such a drastic shift.

While some choices—like Abdul-Jabbar's—make sense, others can be true head scratchers. We see you, Chad Ochocinco and Metta World Peace. So, let's take a look at the players that choose to make some legal adjustments in their personal lives. Here is A History of Athlete Name Changes.

Sport: Baseball
Year: N/A
There's speed and then there's the stories of how fast Cool Papa Bell was. Word is he could score from second base on a sacrifice fly and that he could go from first to third on a bunt. Bell got his nickname "Cool Papa" for his play on the field, but we're wonder if it may have had something to do with his off the field play, too. What, you thought groupies in the 21st century? Nah, son.

Sport: Boxing
Year: N/A
At the age of 14, Walker Smith, Jr. tried entering into his first boxing tournament but he was told he needed to have an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) membership card first. The earliest he could get one was not until he turned 16 years old. To get around the system, Smith borrowed a card from his friend Ray Robinson. Eventually, he got into the ring and showed that "sweet as sugar" style that he became known for.

Sport: Boxing
Year: 1964
Hear of this guy? Born Cassius Clay, one of the most badass athletes of all time became Muhammad Ali when he joined the Nation of Islam in 1964. Many white reporters and at least one unfortunate opponent refused to call him by his new name at first, now he's an American icon. #lastlaugh

Sport: Basketball
Year: 1971
Lew Alcindor changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar the day after the Bucks won the NBA championship in 1971. The Muslim name means "generous servant of the mighty one." When asked about the change he stated that Alcindor was the name of a French planter who brought his family to America as slaves. "When I was a kid, no one would believe anything positive that you could say about black people. And that's a terrible burden on black people, because they don't have an accurate idea of their history, which has been either suppressed or distorted."

Sport: Football
Year: 1972
Everyone knows the former Pro Bowler turned sportscaster, Ahmad Rashad, but how many of you would recognize the guy named Robert Earl Moore? At the age of 23, Moore converted to Islam and as a result, Rashad was born.

Sport: Basketball
Year: 1981
Lloyd Free officially changed his first name to World when he was 28. Young World? Perhaps, although his hairline said otherwise.

Sport: Boxing
Year: 1982
Throughout his boxing career, Marvin Hagler was referred to as "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler. Pretty cool, huh? But whenever the media talked to him, they would only call him by his government name. A little ticked by the reference, Marvin officially made Marvelous his first name. We're making plans to swap our middle for "Awesome" in the coming weeks.

Sport: Football
Year: 1985
When your last name happens to be Duper, having the middle name Super would be pretty dope. So, in 1985, the Dolphins receiver made it official and became Mark Super Duper. As a three-time Pro Bowler with good but not great career stats, maybe plain old Duper would've been the way to go.

Sport: Baseball
Year: 1985
After getting traded to the Giants in 1985, Jose Gonzalez changed his last name to his mother's maiden name of Uribe because, according to him, there are too many players named Gonzalez. Apparently no one told him that "Jose" is a pretty popular name, too.

Sport: Basketball
Year: 1991
Chris Jackson changed his name to Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf as a part of his dedication to his Muslim faith. He then took a stand for his religion—by taking a seat.

Sport: Skateboarding
Year: N/A
Former star skateboarder turned convict Mark Rogowski removed his surname because it came from his father whom he had never really known. He became known as "Gator" Mark Anthony. While Mark may have thought that a new name would help him find peace, he couldn't escape the legal and personal troubles that included being convicted of murder in 1992.

Sport: Wrestling
Year: 1993
The legend of "The Ultimate Warrior" is respected only in the world of wrestling. So, in order to keep that nickname going, Jim Hellwig officially changed to Jim Warrior. Outside of wrestling, people may not know who this Jim Warrior guy is, but in the ring, he is a legend. If you don't know, now you know.

Sport: Basketball
Year: 1998
When Brian Williams did some research on his past and his family genealogy, he discovered that he had Native American roots. To honor his newfound heritage, Williams changed his name to Bison Dele, which was meant to acknowledge his Native American side while keeping a traditional African name. Sadly, Dele retired in 1999 and disappeared while on a sailing trip in the South Pacific Ocean in 2002.

Sport: Football
Year: 1995; 2000
OK, stick with us on this one. While he was still in college, Sharmon Shaw—who was a Muslim—received the name Karim Abdul-Jabbar. When the NBA legend with the nearly identical name learned of Shaw, who also happened to wear the number 33, he sued the up-and-coming running back for attempting to profit off his identity. The basketball Abdul-Jabbar won the lawsuit and Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar was born. #changesonchangesonchanges

Sport: Baseball
Year: 2001
Since childhood, John Paul Bonser was called "Boof," and made that his official first name in 2001. For the record, you don't have to change your name to a childhood nickname, OK Lumpkins?

Sport: Hockey
Year: 2002
After some family drama, Mike Jefferson decided to make a radical break and change his last name. The name change came in handy when he ended up catching a conspiracy to commit murder charge in 2004. Nothing like removing yourself from the fam before they disown you.

Sport: Baseball
Year: 2003
Call us crazy, but we'd like to be confused with one of the best to do it in our profession. Not Ervin Santana. In an effort to differentiate himself from then-Twins ace Johan Santana, Johan Ramon Santana changed his name to Ervin. Now that he's got a no-hitter to his (new) name, maybe Ervin can go back.

Sport: Football
Year: 2005
As a child, Maurice Jones-Drew hated his hyphenated name, so he dropped it and was referred to as Maurice Drew. After his grandfather, the person who helped raise him, died after suffering a heart attack, Maurice honored him by going back to his original name.

Sport: Football
Year: 2006
After leaving the Giants for what he thought was the greener grass of Philadelphia, Will Peterson left something else behind: his birth name. Because he wanted "a change in my mind-state," the NFL cornerback became known as William James. How has that new mind-state worked out? Since leaving the Eagles in 2008, James is looking for a fifth team to take a chance on him for next season. Different names but the scrub remains the same.

Sport: Golf
Year: 2006
When asked why he changed his name from John Holmes to J.B. Holmes, his answer was short and sweet, "You guys ought to be able to figure that out." For those of you that don't know, John Holmes was the name of a famous adult film star, who smashed a reported 3,000 women in his life. Soundtrack, please!

Sport: Basketball
Year: 2007
Former NBA player J.R. Henderson struggled to make it in the L, so he high-tailed it to Japan. J.R. found so much success in Asia that he even wanted to become an official Japanese citizen. However, there were a couple things standing in his way, like being an American. In an effort to expedite the process, Henderson changed his last name to Sakuragi. Yup, you heard that right. Oh, and did you hear that too? The sound of American anime fans leaping out of their couches to file for citizenship.

Sport: Football
Year: 2008
Who's your favorite movie character of all time? How much do you like that person? So much that you would change your name to acknowledge that individual? Probably not, right? Well, don't tell that to Greg White, who in 2008, altered his name to Stylez G. White to honor Rupert "Stiles" Stilinski from the film, Teen Wolf. #toomuchfreetime

Sport: MMA
Year: 2008
During his days in MMA, Jon Koppenhaver was nicknamed "War Machine." He liked the alias so much that he made it his legal name in 2008. Cool name in the Octagon, but it sounds kinda frightening when you consider that dude moonlighted on the side by smashing your favorite female adult film stars, no?

Sport: Football
Year: 2008
In 2006, the receiver formerly known as Chad Johnson did a little experimenting with his name on Hispanic Heritage Month. Chad gave himself the last name, Ochocinco, which was his Spanish interpretation of the number 85. Two years later, Johnson was no more and Ochocinco officially became his last name. After four years, it looks like he may be going back to Johnson. This is not the type of shit you want to be paying lawyers for.

Sport: Basketball
Year: 2011
In a true head-scratcher of a move, Ron Artest took on the name Metta World Peace in 2011. He said that the change was meant to "inspire and bring youth together all round the world." Job well done, Metta. All of the youth is currently gathering together to wonder why you would do something so silly.