The Los Angeles Lakers acquired Kenneth Lamont Bazemore, Jr. in a trade with the Golden State Warriors involving Steve Blake.
For most of his life, Bazemore has been called “Kent.” However, when he was younger, he was known as “Kenneth” or “Little Kenny.” As is customary for names carrying the “Jr.” suffix, his name obviously comes from his father. But where exactly did the name “Kent” come from?
NBCLA.com caught up with Bazemore shortly after his impressive debut with the Lakers and asked the second-year shooting guard about the origin of his name, “Kent.”
“My dad’s name was Kenneth,” Bazemore confirmed before diving into the story.
Apparently, there was another “Kenneth” on the other side of town, and that “Kenneth” also went by the name “Little Kenny.” The other “Little Kenny” was a bad kid constantly causing trouble, as Bazemore remembers it.
Obviously, hearing bad things about your child would be frustrating enough to a parent, but “Little Kenny” Bazemore was also carrying his father’s name. That didn’t go over well with Kenneth Bazemore Sr.
“I got so many whoppings,” Bazemore recalled. “News would travel around town: ‘Little Kenny is doing this and this.’ I would walk in the house and get scolded for no reason.”
After the boy was repeatedly answering for trouble he did not cause, his mother came up with the solution of calling him “Little Kent.”
From that day forward, the boy avoided any more hostilities related to “Little Kenny,” but Bazemore recalled “Little Kenny” continued to get in trouble.
“I like Kent,” the 24-year-old said. “’Kent Bazemore,’ it’s a basketball name.”
