Alright, there are some doozies when it comes to names on the Atlanta Hawks roster, so let’s take a minute to clear up any confusion.
The Atlanta Hawks played their first preseason game against the Miami Heat on Sunday evening, leading to a close loss and a chance for Mike Budenholzer to experiment with his squad. What we noticed however, is that there are still some out there who aren’t quite clear on how to pronounce the names of all the Hawk players.
Fortunately, it is still early in the game and there is no time like the present to take a quick timeout and catch up on the nomenclature. Let’s go player by player and hash this out so we’re all on the same page.
Related Story: Atlanta Hawks media day might have revealed the plan for the future
Dennis Schröder
Up first: Dennis Schröder. It’s tempting to pronounce the “o” like you would any other in English, but this one is special, because it has an umlaut (the two dots) on top of it. That makes the it sound more like a “oo”. And remember, the Sch- is pronounced like a “sh”. There, now we’re all on board. Dennis Schröder.
Mike Muscala
We like to call him Moose in Atlanta, but don’t let that fool you when it comes to pronouncing his name. Each of the vowels in his surname are short. The “u” take on an “uh” sound, and the “a” maps to “ah”. Mike Muscala.
Ersan Ilyasova
Ok, it’s time to get serious. The Hawks very own number 7, Ilyasova. Now we’re not asking for the pure Turkish pronunciation, but there’s an Americanized version readily available. The first name is said as it’s read, Ersan. Now for the last name. EE-lee-ah-soh-va. Ersan Ilyasova.
Josh Magette
Believe it or not, this one gives Hawk fans the most trouble, but don’t worry, Soaring Down South has you covered. In a way, it’s both the simplest and the most difficult of the bunch.
If you don’t already know how to say it, you might struggle, but once you learn, it’s like riding a bike and you never forget. Josh Mah-jet. That’s all there is to it, just two simple syllables. Not Mah-ge-tee, and not Mah-je-tee. Josh Magette.
Next: Dennis Schroder arrested for misdemeanor battery
The rest of the Hawks roster has either familiar names or they are simply derived from sounding out the name in question. We hope that this article has provided some justice in the realm of Hawks knowledge ahead of the season. Now we are well and truly ready for the NBA to make a return into our lives.