One Basketball Fact: How a Chicago Rookie Earned the Nickname "Pizza Pete"
There are many NBA players with nicknames, some of them simple and others a little more elaborate. Some nicknames grow organically, others players come up with themselves, and there are some there in reference to specific events.
Paul Pierce became "The Truth" through a Shaq exclamation; a captioning mix-up made Nik Stauskas "Sauce Castillo"; as for Pete Myers his nickname came from a very specific incident from one night in his rookie season.
6'6" guard Myers was a journeyman in a very real sense - he played for fourteen teams in four different leagues in the space of thirteen pro seasons. Early in his playing career he became embroiled in a minor incident following a trade between the San Antonio Spurs and Philadelphia 76ers in 1988. He travelled to Spain and played for Zaragoza during that year's NBA pre-season, prompting a lawsuit by the 76ers for breach of contract.
He is best known though for being Michael Jordan's replacement after his shock retirement in 1993, which some on the Chicago Bulls coaching staff did admit was largely down to a lack of other options as it happened late in free agency.
Prior to this season Myers had only made five other NBA starts and when given more playing time in Chicago his numbers only slightly improved - playing in every game in 1993-94, he averaged 7.9 points per game - in contrast Jordan had 32.6 in the season prior to that. Perhaps it was no surprise Myers lost his starting spot when Jordan un-retired in 1995.
Despite all that Myers was a familiar face to fans in the Windy City. He had a previous stint in Chicago during his rookie year, where he was selected by the Bulls in the 1986 NBA draft with the 120th pick (Yes, the 120th) and a long time afterward he served as the team's assistant coach and three-time substitute teacher.
Before Jordan became a Bull, Pete Myers was known in Chicago for an incident from his early playing days when he earned the nickname "Pizza Pete". According to the Chicago Tribune, in his debut season Myers was playing in a game where fans were in to win free pizza if the Bulls finished with a certain score. Myers had the last home shot attempts from the stripe, but he missed both and the Bulls fell short of the total needed for everyone to get their pizza.
The lesson here: never get on the wrong side of hungry Chicago Bulls fans, they will make sure you never forget it.
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