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Alright, so the journey to find a basketball name for my new pup, Max... well, it wasn't exactly a slam dunk. I'm a huge hoops fan, right? Have been since I was a kid. So when we got the little guy, I figured, easy peasy, find a cool basketball name. That was the plan, anyway.

First, I went through the obvious legends. You know the ones:

• Jordan
• Kobe
• LeBron
• Magic
• Bird

Solid names, sure. But loads of dogs probably have 'em already. Felt a bit like picking 'Max' or 'Buddy', just... slightly more sporty. Plus, yelling "Kobe!" across the dog park felt a little… I don't know, heavy? Like putting too much pressure on the little fella before he'd even learned 'sit'.

Digging a Bit Deeper

So, okay, scratch the GOATs for now. I started thinking about nicknames or slightly less common players. Shaq popped into my head – big personality, fun name. Thought about Pip (for Pippen), maybe Drexler (call him Dex?), or even Iverson (call him Ivy?). Some potential there. Felt a bit better, less like naming him after a global icon.

Then I pivoted – see, basketball term! – to thinking about the game itself. Not just the players. This felt more creative. I started brainstorming words:

• Hoops
• Swish
• Neto (like 'net')
• Rebound (maybe call him Bounder?)
• Dribbler (nah, too long)
• Pivot
• Alley (like Alley-oop)
• Buzzer

Hoops sounded pretty good, actually. Simple, clear connection. Swish was fun, but maybe too close to 'swish-and-flick'? Pivot had a nice ring to it. Buzzer felt kind of cool, especially if he turned out to be energetic.

Considering the Dog Himself

My little guy is quick, bounces around like crazy. So I thought about names that reflected that energy. Flash came to mind, but felt a bit generic superhero-ish, not strictly basketball. Thought about Point (like Point Guard) or just Guard. Hmm, getting closer but still didn't quite feel right.

Looked at team names for a hot second. Laker, Clipper, Pacer, Celtic. Decided against it pretty fast. Felt weird naming him after a team I didn't necessarily follow religiously, or worse, one that my buddies hate. Too much potential for trash talk directed at my dog.

Landing the Name

After all that back and forth, listing things out, saying names out loud (which my wife thought was hilarious), I kept coming back to one of the simpler ones from the 'game terms' list. It felt right. It wasn't tied to one player's legacy, wasn't too common, but still clearly basketball.

So, we landed on Hooper.

Yeah, just Hooper. It sounds like a proper name, it nods to the game I love, and honestly, it just suits the little guy. He definitely looks like a Hooper. So that was my process. Started thinking I'd pick a legend, went down a rabbit hole of terms and nicknames, and ended up with something simple that just clicked. Took way longer than I thought, but hey, that's how these things go sometimes.