Basketball player Sun Yue of China is headed to Los Angeles with hopes of earning a spot on the Lakers’ roster. Yue is excited about playing in the NBA, although he would like to ditch the “Chinese Magic Johnson” label for a new nickname.

From AFP:

“I don’t want to be called the next Magic Johnson,” Sun told the China Daily of the nickname given him to by the Chinese sporting press.

“He was a great player, and he has everything you could ask for in a coach but I don’t think I am going to pattern my game after him in my rookie year,” he said of the legendary player and Lakers part-owner.

Already Chinese fans in Los Angeles are calling him “Sun Wukong,” after the mythical “Monkey King,” the legendary simian hero of the Chinese Buddhist literary classic “Journey to the West.”

“For the fans to already have these kinds of plans (to name me Monkey King) is really great support for me.”

Sun Yue is making the right move. There’s no need to put any pressure on himself with the Chinese Magic Johnson nickname. It sets the fans’ expectations too high. It’s much better to be called the Monkey King, based on a 16th century cartoon about a superhero monkey that battled dragons and demons. Now Sun Yue has some goals he can achieve.