Broadcaster Forced To Say “Ho You Fat” During Basketball Game, Makes a Plea to Viewers
“What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”
William Shakespeare wrote this dialogue centuries ago for Romeo and Juliet.
The meaning of the line is, "Names are irrelevant".
Not if your name is Ho You Fat.
I've spent 20 years in the sports broadcasting industry, and have seen my fair share of odd athlete names, but none quite like "Ho You Fat".
Steeve Ho You Fat has played professional basketball in France for 14 years.
He's teammates with Victor Wembanyama, a 7'4 French player who is the consensus favorite to be the number one overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft.
As a result, Wembanyama and Ho You Fat's team, the Metropolitans 92, competed in a televised game against the NBA G League Ignite last night, forcing the play-by-play broadcaster to say "Ho You Fat".
The announcer said his name and immediately followed it up with a plea to the listeners.
"Ho You Fat with a three. Yes, I just said that. That is the man's name. Don't tweet at me. I don't want a tweet from anybody. That's the man's name."
Ho You Fat finished the contest with 6 points in 17 minutes of play. That's not why his name was trending on social media.
I won't pretend to know how common of a name it is in France, but Ho You Fat is certainly a unique last name in America.
But sports are full of interesting names.
For example, check out a list of these current college football players.
Key and Peele were onto something years ago.
NFL Franchises That Have Never Won A Super Bowl
NFL Franchises With Multiple Super Bowl Championships