During the Western Conference finals between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder, Hall of Famer and current TNT NBA analyst Charles Barkley made fun of Nickeil Alexander-Walker's first name.
“Is his real name Nickeil?” Barkley asked. “Boy, somebody just made up some stuff again. Nickeil is not a name. They named him after a coin. They just spelled it wrong."
Alexander-Walker, who is Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's cousin, told Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson that Barkley's comments about his name were "disrespectful."
“I didn’t see it when it aired,” Alexander-Walker said. “But my text messages and DMs started going off. People were sending me the clip. Honestly, I felt a little slighted at first. It was a little disrespectful because I take pride in who I am, and my name is part of my identity.
"Knowing that it was given to me from people who I care about a lot means a lot. My mom’s name is Nicole and my dad’s name is Nicholas. My mom originally wanted to name me Khalil; she had a friend who had a baby named Khalil maybe a year or a couple months before I was born, and so, my grandmother just named me Nickeil. And you know, my grandmother’s very close in my life.”
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker
Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images
The Thunder are up 3-1 on the Timberwolves. They can advance to the NBA Finals by winning Game 5 on Wednesday in OKC.
Alexander-Walker is averaging 15.0 points in the Timberwolves-Thunder series while shooting 51.2% from the field, 48.0% from beyond the arc and 80.0% from the free-throw line.
Alexander-Walker becomes an unrestricted free agent this offseason. He has played for the New Orleans Pelicans, Utah Jazz and Timberwolves.