best and worst nickname in nba history

[jowglenn]

Classic nicknames that I love:

The Round Mound of Rebound
The Glove
AK47
The Dream
The Truth
Dr. J
The Big Fundamental / The Texas National Bank

One that I hope catches on someday:

The Madness (Paul George)

[WangZhiZhiRules]

Good:
The Matrix
Durantula
The Brockness Monster
The Rifleman
The Boston Strangler

Bad:
Agree with the others about initials and Jersey #s etc.

[Masigond]

Many players are that recognizable by their first names (or by an abbreviation of it, see Shaq) that every other nickname seems too forced, especially Kobe.
Same with Dirk: Almost every one of his nicknames was either terrible ("German Wunderkind", "Dunking Deutschman", "Dirk Diggler") or is a thing of the past ("Irk Nowitzki" - although I still laugh about that - and "Dirk Nowinski").

The best nicknames often are the ones that reflect the player's style ("Air Jordan", "Magic").

[NY2TheBay]

Larry Johnson back in the day.

gran 'ma 'ma

his converse ads were hilarious.

[TwentyOne920]

Potential Nicknames for the future

Simple Green-Potential nickname for Jeff Green since he always cleans it up on the floor.
The Rolls Royce- If Royce White ever becomes good
Super Mario -If Chalmers ever comes up big in the finals

Game 4 of this years' Finals?

[Prospect Dong]

I like "the Matrix" for Marion, and always enjoyed "half man half amazing/half man half season" for Vince. And I have a soft spot for "the answer". "The other T-Mac" for Todd McCullough was kinda fun too.

I spent years calling Spree "the blackest man in sports", after a time magazine article that quoted academic research saying he was, well, the blackest man in sports. But it never really caught on.

"big shot bob", was pretty great to yell whenever Horry made a big shot.

Not enough knicknames these days...

[sule]

Some great ones that i don't think have been mentioned:

Best:
- The Round Mound of Rebound (Charles Barkley)
- Clyde the Glyde (Clyde Drexler)
- Grandmama (Larry Johnson)
- The Big Fundamental (Tim Duncan)
- The Reignman (Shawn Kemp)
- Pistol Pete (Pete Maravich)
- The Owl without a Vowel (Bill Mlkvy)
- The Worm (Dennis Rodman)

Worst:
- Sam I Am (Sam Cassell)
- T-Mac (Tracy McGrady) - btw, wtf is a t-mac anyway?
- Big Country (Bryant Reeves)
- Captain Jack (Stephen Jackson)
- D-Wade (Dwyane Wade)
- D-Rose (Derrick Rose)
- CB4 (Chris Bosh)
- CP3 (Chris Paul)

[EGarrett]

The best ones are short (or easier or more fun to say than the real name, which is the purpose of a nickname in the first place). They also should refer to a thing, concept or idea that is cool in and of itself (which is why "The Mailman" and "The Glove" don't make the list). And they should be memorable. With a truly great nickname, it often will replace the player's real name, or is one you can't help saying when you say the player's full name. Oh, and lastly, it's best when they aren't chosen by the person themselves. It's all about how other people refer to you or what you mean to others. Having a nickname for oneself isn't necessary since you don't speak to yourself or refer to yourself objectively in normal circumstances, so you have to really go out of your way to come up with it...making you come off as especially douchey.

Best:

Magic (greatest ever IMO)
Air
Doctor J
Pistol
Sir Charles
The Diesel
Clyde
The Dream
The Admiral
The Truth
Reign Man
Ice Man
The Answer (A.I. was great too, as both his initials and a reference to super-fast, super-small and amazing computers, actually Illy-Al from Philly-Dal was cool too, Iverson had a ton of great nicknames)
Flash
STAT
Black Jesus (Earl Monroe)
Mr. Clutch


The Worst:

Black Mamba (fails in just about every category)
King James
The Big Fundamental (clunky and a bit negative toward the person in an inappropriate way)
The Stilt
Vinsanity (although Half-Man Half-Amazing was pretty good, and others turned it into Half-Man Half-a-Season)
Big Shot Bob ("Bobby Big Shot" would've at least sounded a tiny bit better)
Skip to My Lou ("Skip" by itself is short and catchy, but Skip to My Lou is just not a cool game/dance/song whatever)
Initial-Syllable nicknames when the last name is one syllable ("E-Snow, J-Lin" etc. Though if someone had thought to call Ewing "P-Ew" it would have been the funniest nickname ever)

I'll stop there.

[BJ43]

I've never been a fan of nicknames, they often come across as forced and childish however it's hard not to like 'Magic'...so simple, spot on and it just suits him in such a way that I'm guessing wherever he is in the world if fans are calling out to him, they're probably saying Magic...and it just sounds so natural, it has pretty much become his name in a cultural sense....

[LamarMatic7]

I've never been a fan of nicknames, they often come across as forced and childish however it's hard not to like 'Magic'...so simple, spot on and it just suits him in such a way that I'm guessing wherever he is in the world if fans are calling out to him, they're probably saying Magic...and it just sounds so natural, it has pretty much become his name in a cultural sense....

moreover, it would have been a great porn name, if Magic ever decided to switch his profession.

[3gbrrrfkyt]

Best:
Half Man-Half Amazing

Worst:
Black Mamba

[thinktank]

SuperNintendo Chalmers

[TheBigBoss]

Best: 21 Shump St
Vinny "The Microwave" Johnson
Louis "iron" Orr

Worst: LeBron "King" James

[DMVleGeND]

Best: 21 Shump St
Vinny "The Microwave" Johnson
Louis "iron" Orr

Worst: LeBron "King" James

Oh yeah, I had forgot about this one. Easily one of the best nicknames.

[HINrichPolice]

Luol Deng aka Lieutenant Deng <- one of my faves
Taj Gibson aka The Secretary of Defense
Jimmy Butler... Who did it? The Butler did it!

Shout out to last year's Bulls bench:
Kyle Korver's 3 pointers aka Hot Sauce
Omer Asik... Asik and Destroy
John Lucas III aka Carlton... Heeeerre's JOHNNY!
Ronnie Brewer aka Chicago's Finest Brew

[This IsMy House]

Udonis Haslem- Mr. 305

[TheBigBoss]

Udonis Haslem- Mr. 305

I agree with you, that name is the worst.

[snaquille oatmeal]

Is Tractor Trailer a knick name or real name?

either way best

worst, Ibaka the NBA Vise Champion

[Weems]

I've seen and heard Terrence Ross' twitter handle "T_DotFlight31" used as a nickname. Not good. Air Canada was fantastic, Heir Canada much worse, and now T Dot Flight 31 has just gone too far.

Should be noted that "Air Canada" was the only true nickname of the three. It's also a good one.

[Avice]

I prefer nicknames like The Dream, The Admiral, His Airness, Mount Mutombo, Magic, and Half Man Half Amazing.

Names like K-mart, Superman, initial + numbers annoy me.