Sports nicknames aren’t applicable to just any athlete. You’ve got to be or do something special to get one.
Pro hoops is no different, from “The Admiral” to “The Round Mound of Rebound.” And our current Cavaliers have some of the coolest nicknames in the sport. King James is true NBA royalty. Mr. Fourth Quarter does some of his best work in the clutch. And the Wild Thing … well, that’s easy. He plays the game like a maniac.
First-year Cavalier and 15-year NBA vet Shawn Marion fits the nickname criteria. He is a special player and he does special things. There isn’t a player in the Association quite like him. And that’s why he’s “The Matrix.”
“(Getting that nickname) was awesome,” smiled the former Runnin’ Rebel. “Some guys go through their whole playing career without getting a nickname. And that one is pretty cool.”
TNT studio analyst Kenny Smith originally assigned Marion his NBA nom de guerre during his first season with Phoenix. And the reasons are evident to anyone who’s ever watched him play. He can’t leap across rooftops or dodge bullets like Neo, but on the court, there’s nothing he can’t do (and hasn’t done).
Check the stats: Over the course of his career, Marion’s averaged 15.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.1 blocks per contest in 1,106 games with Phoenix, Miami, Toronto and Dallas. He’s shot at least 50 percent from the floor in six of his 15 seasons and is a .458 lifetime shooter. In terms of NBA elite, the man his teammates call ��’Trix” is one of only four players in league history (joining Hakeem Olajuwon, Karl Malone and Kevin Garnett) with at least 17,000 points, 9,000 rebounds, 1,500 steals and 1,000 blocks.
“I have a lot of stats,” understated Marion. “And the older you get in this league, the more records you seem to break. I’ve played with J-Kidd, Vince (Carter), Dirk (Nowitzki). And it seemed like every game somebody was breaking a record or reaching a some kind of milestone.”
When you put up numbers like that, it begs the question: Which is the toughest statistic to accumulate?
”Probably, at my size – and because all those guys are big – it might be blocks,” replied the native of Waukegan, Ill. “But I’ve been able to be smart about it and I just have a knack for doing certain things. Rebounding is tough too, though. It ain’t easy for somebody 6-7 to go in there and get rebounds, unless you’re playing the power forward position all the time. To be a 3-man and come in and rebound the way I’ve done in my career is kinda crazy.”
Marion’s piled up the stats, but he’s also earned the hardware along the way – namely taking the 2011 NBA Championship with the Dallas Mavericks. In that memorable title run, Marion’s Mavs overtook the heavily-favored Heat after falling behind 2-1 in the series.
One of six current Cavaliers to hoist the Larry O. Brien Trophy, Marion knows what a championship teams looks like. He sees that type of talent here in Cleveland. But he also knows it’s an arduous journey.
“We have a very talented team, but we need to keep focused on what WE need to do and keep getting better,” Marion explained. “Right now, it’s just one day at a time. We need to get through Camp – get comfortable with each other, learn each other, help each other and support each other. That’s the backbone of a team is staying together. Forget everything else; we need to have each other’s back.”
One of Marion’s teammates from that Championship run – Brendan Haywood – will now be playing alongside him on Cleveland’s frontline. And three of the foes from that series – LeBron James, Mike Miller and James Jones – are also current mates. But in the small world that the NBA can sometimes be, Marion also was a teammate of James in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and Miller in the 2001 Goodwill Games in Brisbane.
Marion’s NBA journey began in Phoenix, when he was taken with the ninth overall pick in the 1999 Draft. During his first nine seasons in the Valley of the Sun, the Matrix watched the development of David Griffin – the man who orchestrated his arrival in Cleveland as a free agent this past summer.
“Griff’s a great guy,” praised Marion. “I’ve known him since I came into the league. He’s the first guy basically I knew when I got to Phoenix. And I’ve watched him start from the bottom and work his way to the top. Now he’s the GM of a great franchise. He really studies everything about the game, and the business of the game as well. He brought some things to my attention that I had never really thought about.”
One thing David Griffin – nor anyone else – has ever tried to change about Marion is that unorthodox shot that he seems to snap off about waist-high. It’s probably been the strangest shot the NBA’s seen in the decade-and-a-half that Marion’s been in the league. But he’s got 17,000 reasons to keep shooting it that way.
”Nobody at this level has ever tried to change it,” asserts Marion. “Nobody shoots the same way in the league. And if it goes in, that’s really all that counts, right?”
When it goes in this season – as it has in the previous 15 – you won’t hear anyone complaining about that form. And besides, you don’t get a nickname like “The Matrix” by doing things the way everyone else does.