Being an NBA superstar surely has its perks. After one proves themself in the league and wins over fans’ hearts with their showcase, a select few stars get bestowed with the honor of having their own nickname. Most recently, Anthony Edwards has solidified himself as the ‘Ant-Man’ of the NBA, obviously because he has been called that since childhood, and also because of his superhuman abilities on the court. However, there is one more player in the league who claims to have the same nickname, Portland star Anfernee Simons. But he recently revealed that he has no issues and offered a sign of peace handshake.

Sitting down for an interview with media veteran Chris Haynes, Simons gave his honest opinion about sharing the nickname with Edwards, “If y’all wanna call Anthony Edwards ‘Ant’ that’s fine. I get called Ant by my family. That was a family nickname.” Because he has always been called Ant by his loved ones, Anfernee uses it as his social media handle with his IG account named ‘antsimons’. However, he is not overly concerned about what his fans call him, “Call me Anfernee or Ant, it don’t matter to me.”

More importantly, Simons is just tired of people arguing on the internet over who the real Ant-Man of the NBA is! “It don’t gotta be a civil war between Minnesota and Portland fans.” As expected, fans from both cities have been protective of their superstar and are ready to go to war with each other even over a common nickname.

However, both players have earned the right to be called ‘Ant’ because the name belonged to them long before they entered the league! Just like Simons, Edwards was also given the nickname by someone in his family, his father Roger Caruth. And it’s not like he was the only child in the family with a unique nickname.

In fact, the Timberwolves star’s siblings Antoinette (Mee-See), Antoine (Toine), and Anthony (Bubba), all were known by a different name in their house. It’s just that the Ant-Man nickname became world-renowned because of the youngster’s rise to superstardom.

Shaq’s Superman, who is Melo? – NBA’s shared nickname dilemma

Over the years, we have seen how two superstars having the same nickname can be a bit of a problem. The biggest example? Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard. While Shaq was the one who initially owned the league’s ‘Superman’ tag because of his one-of-a-kind playing style, Dwight also received the same nickname during the 2008 Slam Dunk contest when he pulled up to the court wearing a Superman cape and hit one of the craziest dunks of all time.

But Shaq has always had an issue with sharing the nickname with the fellow Magic superstar, even distributing “The Real Superman” t-shirts during his retirement press conference in Orlando.

Meanwhile, there are also times when a shared nickname can turn extremely wholesome, as it did with Carmelo Anthony. For 19 years, the NBA knew only one ‘Melo’ and it was the Knicks legend. However, as his career came to a close, the younger generation had a new ‘Melo’ to look up to, and he was none other than Hornets star LaMelo Ball.

But unlike the Shaq and Howard beef, Carmelo took a much humbler approach by passing the torch to the young star, “What’s up champ? I just wanna let you know, you don’t gotta worry about that name, like you got it. Do what you do. I’m supportive of you.”

Although the Anfernee Simons and Anthony Edwards situation is a little different because they belong to the same era and are still active competitors, it just looks like the two youngsters do not want any beef because of a minor coincidence.

Before you go, do not forget to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr.