A sports name you long mispronounced

What's a name in sports that you long mispronounced, either because you were young and naive, or it just took a while for you to hear someone say it properly.

I'm thinking of this because I just came across the B-R page for Nap Lajoie, whose last name I always assumed was "LaJoey" until I heard a friend's father pronounce it.

The other is Ivan DeJesus, who will always be Ivan "Da-Jesus" to me.

 

I still can't pronounce Giannis Antetokounmpo.

 

I thought it was 'Kee-Kee' Cuyler. I read later that it's 'Ki-Ki' because he had a stutter and would say his name as 'Ki-ki-Cuyler.' Don't know if its true.

I still don't know why Rafael Devers last name is pronounced the way it is.

 

Bryon Russell just kicked a cat across the room and has no idea why.

 

I was sports director at my college radio station and with graduation coming up, they wanted to tryout a few new anchors. One fill-in couldn't pronounce Martina Navratilova. Each time she tried it got worse. Marteen Nav-rat-a-la, Martin-un Nav-o-roll-uh. I was simultaneously upset and humored.

 

Always thought it was Jim Lar-a-NAY-ga. Although he bears some responsibility for not adopting the tildes until he went to the U.

 

It's pronounced, "Le Freak."

 

Kyrie Irving apparently doesn't realize his name should be pronounced like the Mr. Mister song.

 

People in Dallas have been calling him Roger Stau-BACK for years.

 

spnited

 

NPR ran an April Fool's story some years back claiming that the Boston Celtics had decided to officially ask their fans to pronounce their name properly, changing the pronunciation from Sell-tics to Kell-tics. Hilarity ensued.