BTS' SUGA Reveals Stage Name Inspired By Boxing Legend

BTS rapper SUGA is clarifying the origin of his stage name ... revealing it's not short for "shooting guard" after all -- it takes inspiration from a completely different sport!!

The Bangtan Boys did an interview with WIRED amid their "ARIRANG" album press tour ... where they answered the internet's biggest questions about the massive K-pop group.

When it came to Yoongi around the 13-minute mark, a prompt asked "SUGA name meaning" ... and V and Jung Kook both responded "shooting guard," but the 33-year-old actually corrected them.

"I can finally explain this now," SUGA said. "It's not [shooting guard]. It was annoying to explain, so I just said that, But actually, it's Sugar Ray Leonard."

He went on to also shoutout UFC superstar Sean O'Malley, who also goes by "Suga" with no 'R' ... pointing out how it's a popular moniker in combat sports, but the Big Hit Music founder deserves the credit for giving it to him, too.

"There's a legendary boxer named Sugar Ray Leonard, and I didn't come up with it. Mr. Bang [Si-Hyuk] suggested it because he liked boxing so much. So people who have technical striking skills, the specialists are called 'Suga.'"

And since he's been known to be a technical MC, the name fit.

The story was news to all the members -- even J-Hope admitted it was his first time finding out about the explanation.

SUGA said he went with the "shooting guard" story for a while since it was much easier ... and he was tired of trying to explain the REAL inspiration.

The basketball reference makes sense -- after all SUGA was a global ambassador for the league a few years back ... and has hit up several games himself.