zeke A few web sites say Kevin McHale made up the nickname. He couldn't pronounce Isiah so he just called him Zeke. I'm not sure if this is true or not.
I guess the Celtics were the ones in charge of nicknaming the Pistons because Ainge ,of course, dubbed "Vinnie the Microwave". I never heard the Kevin McHale thing though. I always just assumed that "Isiah" was a book(or something) in the bible as was "Ezekiel" so someone just started calling him that. lol. Hey, have the new guys "earned" their nicks from Sheed yet??
I believe I saw in a made for tv movie about him that it was his mother that gave him the nickname, not sure tho
Zeke the Freak - Isaac Hayes The little dishmeister picked up the "Zeke" handle from a Hoosier team mate at Indiana University. The "word" is at the time he was streaking thru the BIG 10, a song called “Zeke the Freak” was fresh off the charts.. It was a Isaac Hayes song from the album "Best of Isaac Hayes, 77-81" The Polydor Years. You can hear a sample cut below.... http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,243924,00.html
NO....NO...NO....u heathens! Just kidn....Zeke got his name on the south side of Chicago and If you had a church goinMom like Isiah and (God Bless her heart) wasnt well educated(Anfernee Haraway is spelled that way because his grandma raised and named him and couldnt pronounce or spell Anthony)you get a lot of churchee-type mispellings (hence Isaih instead of Isaiah) so his brother "Lord " Thomas III started teasing him with "Zeekeil" in mockery of "Ezekiel" and that got round to teamate Landon Turner and Jim Thomas , and friend Mark Aquirre,who also teasingly called him Zeke. They then met Magic Johnson at the final four(DePaul was in too, remember)and all became friends and the Zeke moniker spread.....TADA!...my bruddahs!
Thanks everyone for their input. The detnews link would seem to make the "Zeke the Freak" explanation conclusive. (Thanks G-man ) Still, BROTHER HQ's "Ezekiel" explanation seems especially plausible somehow.... DarthTater: Isaiah and Ezekiel are books in the Hebrew Bible (or from a Christian point-of-view, the Old Testament), containing those prophecies that have been attributed to them. buddahfan: I have never heard or seen a reference to "Cuts" except at the Wikipedia article, which leads me to question its validity.
You're very close, Tater. Actually, it comes from the biblical, "Zeke a divine point guard, and you shall find."
Why? The Detroit News link seems legit, has a picture of Isiah signing autographs for the kids, and claims that the "Zeke the Freak" story comes straight from the man himself. Wikipedia on the other hand is open to everyone to muck around with, and in this particular instance, neglects to cite any references.
