\n<\/p>\n
A few years ago, Nike did some super-slick \u2018\u2018ish\u2019\u2019 and created a beef between Travis Scott and John McEnroe about the name of a sneaker.<\/p>\n
On an apparent \u2018\u2018authentic\u2019\u2019 Zoom call, they caught feelings about the yet-to-be-released shoe being dubbed \u2018\u2018Cactus Jack\u2019\u2019 (Travis\u2019 brand association with Nike) and \u2018\u2018Cactus Mac\u2019\u2019 (McEnroe\u2019s last-name nickname identification that had been associated with him and Nike for more than 40 years).<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018Come on, man, show a little respect. This is my shoe!\u2019\u2019 were McEnroe\u2019s words on the call. Things got heated, egos got involved, words were exchanged. It wasn\u2019t until about a week later, when McEnroe was spotted outside a Starbucks wearing the silhouettes and winking at the camera \u2018\u2018following\u2019\u2019 him \u2014 and the \u2018\u2018Mac v. Jack\u2019\u2019 Nike poster featuring both of them standing back-to-back, impersonating a quick-draw duel \u2014 that everyone realized we had been played. That Nike\u2019s marketing brilliance was more brilliant than we thought.<\/p>\n
This similar-feeling thing with Caleb Williams and George Gervin and the battle over the \u2018\u2018Iceman\u2019\u2019 name ain\u2019t that. We could only wish it was. No Nike. No marketing schemes. No agreed-upon collaboration. No joke. This is the sad opposite of fake.<\/p>\n
When Williams filed for trademark rights for monetary gain and use of the name \u2018\u2018Iceman\u2019\u2019 on March 16, while doing nothing wrong, he broke a cultural code that may end up being more expensive than the money he plans to make by using the name of a sports icon who held the name down with unique honor for the last 50 years.<\/p>\n
And while Williams may not be old enough or of a generation familiar with just whom Gervin is, the question lingers on, \u2018\u2018Who are the \u2018adults\u2019 in his circle?\u2019\u2019 Is there anyone in Williams\u2019 camp who may have had an idea about whom Gervin was to say: \u2018\u2018Hey, before we do this, let\u2019s just reach out to the original \u2018Iceman\u2019 and see if we can get his blessing. Even if he doesn\u2019t give it to us, we can still move forward with our filings. The call can be made as a courtesy. He deserves at least that.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Hell, the guy who wrote Gervin\u2019s autobiography lives right here in Chicago. Covers the Bears. Is a fan of Caleb. Gervin\u2019s number is super-easy to get.<\/p>\n
According to Yahoo Sports, \u2018\u2018[Williams] has already patented his signature \u2018Iceman\u2019 celebration, where he rubs his arms and shoulders as if warming up the ice in his veins.\u2019\u2019 The same gesture made famous by and directly associated with Trae Young five years ago. Williams even went so far in his filings to include his version of the Michael Jordan \u2018\u2018Jumpman\u2019\u2019 pose he executed on the season-christening pass against the Packers last season. Notice a pattern?<\/p>\n
Notice anything<\/i> original?<\/p>\n
Whereas Williams has the \u2018\u2018procedural\u2019\u2019 advantage due to the priority date of filing his trademark registration \u2014 Note: For full disclosure, former UFC superstar Chuck Liddell filed trademarking papers for \u2018\u2018Iceman\u2019\u2019 as part of this full name, Chuck \u2018\u2018The Iceman\u2019\u2019 Liddell, in 2022, which is different than the recent filings of Williams and Gervin, who filed specifically for \u2018\u2018Iceman\u2019\u2019 (Liddell\u2019s filing is still pending) \u2014 it is the \u2018\u2018cultural\u2019\u2019 advantage on a non-legal basis where this takes precedence. Which is something Williams maybe should have considered. Still consider.<\/p>\n
Look, business acumen and savvy have different meanings when the cost of doing said business disregards the legacy of respected legends. This for Caleb Williams is a one-win scenario in a three-win series. Because sometimes in life \u2014 and career \u2014 not everything is about the law and what can be done. Sometimes some things are about how they are done, and how those things are done supersedes what the law constitutes as legal.<\/p>\n
Being disrespectful \u2014 or disregarding respect \u2014 is not illegal. Just gives a glimpse into the character one carries. Guess there\u2019s no honor among capitalistic thieves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n