Today (1953): World B. Free is Born

Posted by Matt Sebek, December 9, 2009

December 9, 2009

world-free-shirt

On this day, former NBA player World B. Free was born into this, um, world. Actually, Lloyd Bernard Free was born into the world. In 1980, the former point guard legally changed his first name to "World".

Wikipedia tells us that World B. Free was nicknamed "Prince of Midair" during his playing days at Guilford College in North Carolina.

"Prince of Midair" will go down as one of the stupidest nicknames of all-time - and not because it's a terrible Fresh Prince pun, but because when you have a name like "World B. Free", there's no need for creativity.

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Read More: History Lesson NBA

dkb, February 15, 2010 06:02 PM

saw world b free as a kid at the old cleveland arena ( richfield cols. ) he had that high arc j-work tooo. this dude scored almost 18k points in his career @ 6'2" where is the hall of fame i'm starting a website World B. Free for hall of fame !!!

M Cross, December 9, 2009 06:12 PM

One of my faves- used to shoot his way out of slumps. Be 1-12 at Half and finish 9-22...a respectable evening. Also- famous for rising up high on his J and kicking defenders, fall to the floor, and trick ref into getting two FTs.

Alonzo Moseley, December 9, 2009 01:12 PM

Where can I get one of those t-shirts? I'm serious.