Larry Brown Sports

Philadelphia 76ers fans waited an entire season for their new All-Star center to make his debut with the team, and it never happened. Andrew Bynum has battled injuries throughout his entire career, and that continued in Philly this past season. The former Los Angeles Lakers star has yet to play a minute with the Sixers, but that did not stop him from making an impression on Jrue Holiday.

“He’s an awesome teammate even though he didn’t get the chance to play,” Holiday said during an interview with Hoops Hype. “He showed me a lot of perspective from the big men aspect of the game. I do think he’s one of the best big men in the league and having him on the bench and in the locker room helped me to improve my game.”

Holiday should probably have a word with Philadelphia DA Seth Williams, who made a crack a couple of months ago about investigating Bynum’s situation. The big man’s former high school has also decided to separate itself from him, with officials recently saying that they are no longer proud of his accomplishments.

None of the Sixers players know what it’s like to take the court with Bynum, but Holiday said he still wants him to be back in Philly next season.

“I’d love him to… obviously, if he’s healthy. If he’s healthy I think he’s the best big in the league, but like I said it’s tricky because of the knee injuries,” Holiday said, via CBS Philly. “They actually haven’t talked to me about [whether or not Bynum should return] so I don’t know. Again, it’s a tricky situation because of his knees, his injuries. You can’t really make the decision just yet.”

“I think he wants to play, he wants to win. He had a winning career playing with the Lakers, winning two rings… He’s a winner and he wants to play.”

We have no way of knowing if Bynum milked his injuries this season, but we do know his insane hairstyles made more headlines than anything having to do with basketball. If he cuts back on the bowling in the offseason, Sixers fans could finally get the chance to see why their team gave up so much to bring Bynum to town.

Jrue Holiday is in his fourth season with the Philadelphia 76ers and has emerged as one of the team’s top players. He is leading Philly in points, assists, and minutes per game. Given that he’s the center of attention on the team, one would figure those running the website for the team shop would know how to spell his name. Apparently not.

As our friend Spike Eskin shared with us on Twitter, the Sixers’ website advertised his jerseys on Monday and misspelled his first name “Drew” instead of Jrue. The mistake may have appeared on a banner ad.

Jrue’s first name is pronounced “Drew,” so the error makes some sense. There is actually a good story behind the odd spelling for Holiday’s first name. He explained the reason during a live chat in 2009:

“My mom and my mom’s sister were on a kick with J names … my cousins names are Jessica, Jenna, Jade, Jaelyn and James. My oldest brother is Justin and my name is Jrue (my mom liked the name Dru, but wanted to figure out how to keep with the J theme). After me though, that kinda ended, because my sister is Lauren and brother is Aaron.”

There you have it. The Sixers shouldn’t feel too embarrassed — we’ve seen even worse name misspellings.

H/T Deadspin

Making fun of the spelling of someone’s name is always a tricky proposition. Can you really get on the person for a screwup by the parents? For instance, is it Andruw Jones’ fault his parents spelled his name with a “U” causing people for some unknown reason to pronounce it “Ondrew” as if the U somehow changes the pronunciation of the first syllable? It’s a tough call, and maybe you only resort to that when the player messes up on the field. For instance, when watching UCLA play, I would say “nice shot Drew” after Holiday made a basket. As soon as he missed, he became “Jay-roo,” a play on the funky spelling of his name. But now, thanks to The 700 Level, we have found out the reason why Jrue Holiday’s name is spelled with a “J”:

[Comment From Enrico from The700Level]
Hey Jrue, welcome to Philly. Before fans will really get a chance to notice your game, the first thing we notice is your name. Is there a fun story behind the unique spelling?

Jrue: My mom and my mom’s sister were on a kick with J names … my cousins names are Jessica, Jenna, Jade, Jaelyn and James. My oldest brother is Justin and my name is Jrue (my mom liked the name Dru, but wanted to figure out how to keep with the J theme). After me though, that kinda ended, because my sister is Lauren and brother is Aaron.

Sounds to me like the mom should have ended the tradition with Jrue. Can’t really knock that competition because we all know people have their things. George Foreman gave all his kids the same first name (George), and the pretentious Roger Clemens spelled all his kid’s names with a “K” even if a “C” were more appropriate. But come on, Jrue? That’s really stretching it.