He might not have been the best player available in this year’s NBA Draft, but man, Tre Johnson may be one of the most exciting. The 6’5″ shooting guard only spent one year in college at Texas, but he quickly established himself as one of the best shooters in his class with a penchant for scoring from long range, even when off-balance. On top of that kind of predatory perimeter scoring, Johnson is an elite athlete, equipped with size and speed. Yeah, he might need a little bit more work than Cooper Flagg or Dylan Harper to become a complete NBA player, but he’s certainly got enough of the raw materials to eventually become the flagship player for the Washington Wizards, who drafted him 6th overall. And DC natives have taken notice.
Immediately upon being drafted by the Wizards, Johnson’s highlight reel spread throughout social media like wildfire. And in it, he can be seen scoring like there’s no tomorrow, especially from beyond the three-point arch. However, his amazing shooting ability led to one Wizards fan giving him a nickname that DC residents were quick to put the brakes on.
Yeah, The Word “Sniper” Isn’t Going To Work Here, Dawg
Because of Tre Johnson’s scoring ability, he has been viewed as a “sniper” archetype by NBA fans. For anyone who doesn’t play NBA 2K or know basketball terminology, a sniper is essentially a shooting specialist who can pull up from virtually anywhere on the court and score at an elite rate — think of a Reggie Miller, Steph Curry, or Ray Allen.
Because of this being a basketball archetype, and Johnson being drafted to DC’s basketball team, one user on X (formerly Twitter) came up with a nickname that I doubt will ever be used on any NBA broadcast or by any journalist worth their salt: “The DC Sniper.” Yikes!
Naturally, people were quick to put the kibosh on this one almost immediately.
I feel like I’m straddling the line of poor taste by simply mentioning it, but for any of our readers who either have never watched the news in their lives or are too young to recall, the DC sniper attacks occurred in the DMV area throughout 2002. It was a tragic event perpetrated by two gunmen that resulted in 17 innocents killed and 10 others injured. Needless to say, I doubt anyone going to a basketball game in DC would want their star player named after a calamity.
We’re also talking about a city that renamed its NBA franchise for lesser reasons than a terrorist attack. In 1997, the team then known as the Washington Bullets changed its name to the Wizards in order to avoid the team from being associated with violence, something that had been greatly affecting the larger DC area. Needless to say, a nickname for an individual player that draws any kind of parallel to a notorious act of violence isn’t likely to fly.
