When Willie Cauley-Stein arrived on the University of Kentucky’s campus his name was Willie Cauley, then shortly after arriving on campus he added the “Stein” to his name in honor of his mother. For Willie’s 3 years at Kentucky we have seen many things change with him, his head band to the undershirt to no undershirt to bleaching his hair blonde, but one thing hadn’t changed for quite sometime, his name.
Well, as Willie Cauley-Stien leaves us for the NBA, he’ll also leave us under a different name. As of yesterday Willie changed his name to Willie Trill Cauley-Stein. Now, if you’re not familiar with the word trill other than the musical term, as I wasn’t and had to look it up, it means considered to be well respected, coming from a combination of the words “true” and “real”. Willie is in his own rights is “true” and “real”. Willie has always tried to be himself, and whether you think he should or shouldn’t have done any of what some people may determine foolish, he was one of the focal points of a team that went 38-1, so you can shut up, he did what he was supposed to.
I applaud Willie for being himself and not letting other people determine what he should or shouldn’t do. I do however, question the timing of when he changed his name. With the upcoming NBA draft, it may have not been the smartest thing to do before interviews with potential employers. NBA personel may question his descison making skills and how serious he really is. It’s something you have to think about before going into an interview with a potential employer, you have to take those things into consideration. I am not the only one who thinks this either, but ultimately my opinion doesn’t matter because it’s not my life and I’m not in his situation. It’s just something to think about. A lot of people were completely supportive of Willie changing his name and of the timing. So definitely a dynamic of opinions, but none matter other than Willie’s.
Someone had a completely different reaction. Benard Freeman, better known as “Bun B”, and if you don’t know who that is that’s alright, neither did I and I had to look him up, ripped Willie on Twitter today. Mr. Bun B had this to say on Twitter today:
First off, Mr. Bun B, you don’t get to bash Willie, you don’t know him, you don’t know what HE has gone through. You say “No hate though” but you go on to “hate” on him. I’ll give you that you have used the word “Trill” for awhile now in your music albums, but what gives you the right to bash someone for changing their name to it? You don’t own the word, you don’t control the word. Just because someone passed away that you knew that also used the word trill, RIP Chad Butler, doesn’t give you the right to tell someone they can’t also be “trill”. You also have NO clue if he knew “the origin of the word or the sacrifices of the creators” so shut up. So why don’t you just “be yourself” and let Willie “be Trill.”
Willie is who he is, and no one can take that away from him. Should he have waited till after he was drafted to change his name? Maybe, but who are we to tell him what to do? Should he have asked a guy whose name is Bun B if he was allowed to use the name Trill? Absolutely not. So why don’t we all just be ourselves and let Willie be Trill Cauley-Stein.