My brother-in-law and I were discussing great basketball players' nicknames the other day and then I remembered that I used to do dorky top five lists on this site from time to time. What a perfect top five subject. There are some truly stellar basketball nicknames from both current NBA players and from classic stars as well.
- "Dr. J" aka Julius Erving
- "AI" or "The Answer" aka Allen Iverson
- Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon
- "Chocolate Thunder" aka Darryl Dawkins
- "The Human Highlight Reel" aka Dominique Wilkins
The list of runner-ups for this topic is extensive. I can't think of any other sport aside from boxing with so many great nicknames — Air Jordan, Spud Webb, The Mailman, The Admiral, Sir Charles, Clyde The Glide Drexler, The Croatian Sensation, Magic Johnson, Wilt The Stilt Chamberlain... And, even with this list, I'm sure I'm missing a lot of great nicknames, especially from the older eras.
Comments
Steven Garrity - May 30, 2005 2:05 pm
The Mailman and Clyde the Glide my picks.
gmn17 - May 30, 2005 6:14 pm
Dr. Dunkenstein was a good one too!
Dico - May 30, 2005 8:35 pm
Just some more that I like... I question your #2 pick though ;-)
"Pistol" Pete Maravich...
Earl "The Pearl" Monroe....
Pastic Man (Stacey Augmon
The Reignman (Shawn Kemp)...
"Thunder Dan" Majerle...
The Chief (Robert Parrish)...
Mr. Clutch (Jerry West).
Jolo - May 31, 2005 2:26 am
The most mermorable for me was "Dr. J" and his airness "Air Jordan".
Andrew Kaufmann - May 31, 2005 6:05 am
Great list! I'd add:
- Run TMC (Tim Hardaway / Mitch Richmond / Chris Mullin)
- The Round Mound of Rebound (Charles Barkley)
- "Magic" Johnson
Johnny - May 31, 2005 11:28 am
I am partial to "AK-47" for Andrei Kirilenko.
Martin - May 31, 2005 2:01 pm
-"The Glove" (Gary Payton)
Bill Laimbeer must have had a lot of good nicks, but I can't remember any of them.
Steven Garrity - May 31, 2005 4:04 pm
Martin: In my household, we referred to Bill Laimbeer as The Mask.
Johnny - June 1, 2005 10:03 am
I forgot "Hair Canada" and/or "Kelly Leak" for Steve Nash.
ffoeg - June 1, 2005 12:22 pm
A few years ago Brian Shaw and Shaquille O'Neal played together for the Lakers, and Shaq dubbed their alleyoop duo the "Shaw-Shaq Redemption"
I believe SHAQ also asked to be known as the Big Aristotle for a while too.
matty - June 5, 2005 11:18 pm
The "Worm" Dennis Rodman?
Kilo Alpha Charlie - June 8, 2005 9:48 am
The Human Highlight Film - Dominique Wilkins
Magic - of course!!
His Airness - MJ 23!!
The Mailman - Karl Malone
and Dr J!
Stephan Segraves - June 10, 2005 3:18 pm
Reggie "Miller Time" Miller
Vlade Divac "Mr. Floppy"
"The Human Eraser" (Marvin Webster)
"The Wizard of Westwood" (John Wooden)
"Larry Legend" (Larry Bird)