Sometimes in sports it is important to take a step back and remember that it is just a game.

The NBA did a great job of this on Jan. 10 when the two-time defending champions, the Miami Heat, took on the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclay Center. Heat shooting guard Ray Allen donned the nickname “J. Shuttlesworth”, paying homage to his acting days with Spike Lee and Denzel Washington in “He Got Game’.”

LeBron James wore “King James” as only he could and Chris “Birdman” Anderson wore “Birdman”, of course.

Teams should do fun things like this more often.

Is it partially a marketing gimmick? Definitely. But that isn’t the point.

Seeing these grown men running up and down the court fighting for possessions and open shots, all while wearing nicknames on their backs stirred up some emotions inside of me.

The first thing that I thought was the cliché, overused saying, “it’s just a game.”Well guess what folks, it is. The idea that sports is now a business has trickled all of the way down to Little League Baseball and Pop Warner football.

There are so many stories today of professional and college athletes who quit cold turkey because they simply lose the love for the sport that they play. This is largely because of the baggage of being an athlete in today’s world of sports. It’s time to get back to the underlying root of why sports exist, fun and friendly competition. The second thing I thought was “man, this is cool.”

The NBA has done the nickname gimmick before. How fun would it be to see this done in the NFL and even in college football?

Personally, I would enjoy seeing what nicknames Peyton Manning or Drew Brees would wear on their back. If nothing else, it would give casual fans something to talk about. It seems like a logical thing to do maybe once or twice in the 16 week NFL season.  Jersey sales would also get a boost in the weeks leading up to a nickname game.

The third thing that crossed my mind during the game is that the MLB should jump on the nickname train. The MLB is slowly being trampled out of mainstream popularity in the U.S. Having a week of nickname games or maybe even wearing nicknames in the All-Star Game could potentially be a lift in popularity with younger people. It is time for baseball to do something fun and exciting, but most importantly, different.

Last but not least, I commend the NBA for being trendsetters and stepping out of the box yet again. They truly seem to know “it’s just a game.”