The Great Jersey Crisis: Averted

When I was a young Blazer fan, one of my favorite players was center Caldwell Jones. He had been playing forever, including for the Sixers in the 1977 NBA Finals against the Blazers, and exuded a certain kind of class. He was skinny, even-keeled and goateed. Once as a young child, thanks to a weird coincidence (that got a journalist friend yelled at by the team P.R. people) I got to sit courtside on press row for a few minutes of an actual game. Jones stood right in front of me while inbounding the ball. In 1987, the Blazers added a role player called Charles Jones. Problem. Oh, Charles Jones was, I'm sure, a perfectly good guy, but let's think about clothing here for a second. Now that Joe Smith is a Hawk, what will it say on the back of the his jersey? Yes, it matters. (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) If NBA teammates have the same last name, a common solution is to add a first initial to one or both jerseys. How's that going to work this time, smar...