By MATIAS WODNER

There are rumblings that the National Basketball Association is trying to have NBA players from the Miami Heat and the Brooklyn Nets wear jerseys with their preferred nicknames on the back of their jerseys.

I am not making this up.

Instead of the traditional way, in which every single player has his last name on the back of the jersey, players will be able to choose which nicknames they want on their jerseys. For instance, LeBron James will most likely use “King James” or “LeBron.” Ray Allen might use “Jesus Shuttlesworth,” a character he played in the hit movie “He Got Game.”

“”Fans will like it and so will a lot of the players,” Allen said. ”Guys will get a good kick out of it.”

Though Allen and a couple of other players might like the idea, I’m not jumping on the bandwagon. Neither is Heat forward Shane Battier, although he’ll obviously comply with the league should it happen.

The NBA just loves the attention, because with it comes, of course, the money. But this is as cheesy as anything any major sports league has done. And it isn’t the first time that the NBA is making headline news for something they shouldn’t be doing.

In 2011, all-star point guard Chris Paul was traded from the New Orleans Hornets to the Los Angeles Lakers. But Commissioner David Stern vetoed the trade, stating the trade was not in the best interest of the Hornets and of the league. He cited “basketball reasons” as his rationale. Paul was subsequently traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in a trade that the NBA didn’t deem too bad for them.

It’s always about them and this latest publicity stunt shows their selfishness and a lack of professionalism.

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