Aside from being an astrophysicist and an author, Neil deGrasse Tyson is also known for making comments about pop culture on Twitter to his more than 14 million followers. This time, a comment about the Detroit Pistons rubbed people the wrong way.
In one of his tweets, Tyson pointed that with the auto industry soon shifting to battery-electric cars, the NBA's Pistons may need a new moniker, since there will be a day when all car manufacturers in Detroit will not have pistons in their engines anymore. Tyson even suggested other nicknames for the Pistons to consider, such as galvanic cells, alkalines, lithium ions, and rechargeables—all terms that are affiliated with batteries.
But one man who took exception to this is comedian Andrew Schulz, who reminded the astrophysicist that a team’s name can remain the same even if there are changes in the team’s location. Schulz even cited a famous example of a team retaining its moniker over the years to prove his point: the Los Angeles Lakers.
King Dork sometimes you keep the old name even tho it doesn’t match the geography… LA Lakers. https://t.co/9LyiSeTPgi
— Andrew Schulz 👑HEZI (@andrewschulz) February 11, 2021
It appears that Schulz knows his basketball history better than Tyson, as the Lakers initially earned that name back when they were the Minneapolis Lakers and playing in Minnesota. Minneapolis is also called the “City of Lakes,” while Minnesota is known as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.” The Lakers played in Minneapolis from 1947 until 1960, then moving to Los Angeles.
But even when the team moved to California, its moniker of the Lakers remained, and survives to this day, even when the City of Angels isn’t exactly known for its lakes. So even if what Tyson says comes true and the author industry in Detroit changes radically, the team’s Pistons nickname, which is a part of its team’s culture and lore, is likely here to stay.
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