What rock band originally named themselves after a professional athlete? I’ll give you a hint. It was an NBA player. The answer is… Pearl Jam. When the band was in its infancy, the members performed and toured briefly under the name Mookie Blaylock, who was an NBA point guard for the New Jersey Nets. After signing with Epic records, the band settled on the name Pearl Jam, and recorded their debut album soon after. Fittingly, the name of that album was Ten… Mookie Blaylock’s jersey number.