rollingstone: After hearing that former NBA all-star Mookie Blaylock was injured in a car crash last Friday, members of Pearl Jam sent get-well wishes to the point guard from whom the band borrowed its original name. Blaylock and Pearl Jam go way back. When the band needed a name for an early tour opening for Alice in Chains, they chose Blaylock’s. Though the band quickly renamed themselves Pearl Jam, they named their first album, Ten, after the NBA star’s jersey number.
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rollingstone:

After hearing that former NBA all-star Mookie Blaylock was injured in a car crash last Friday, members of Pearl Jam sent get-well wishes to the point guard from whom the band borrowed its original name. Blaylock and Pearl Jam go way back. When the band needed a name for an early tour opening for Alice in Chains, they chose Blaylock’s. Though the band quickly renamed themselves Pearl Jam, they named their first album, Ten, after the NBA star’s jersey number.