It is very common for NBA players to be known by their nicknames instead of their real names in the NBA. From Larry Bird, Michael Jordan to LeBron James, many NBA legends have been given nicknames by fans and media, highlighting unique characteristics as players. According to online sources, four-time NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal had more than 30 nicknames in his playing days.
Below is the the list of NBA players with their nicknames:
| Player Name | Nicknames |
| Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | The Captain, "A" |
| Edrice Adebayo | Bam |
| Ray Allen | Ray Ray", "Sugar Ray", "Jesus Shuttlesworth" (after his character in the movie He Got Game) |
| Rafer Alston | Skip To My Lou |
| Chris Andersen | "Birdman" |
| Anthony Anderson | "Double A" |
| Greg Anderson | "Cadillac" |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | "Greek Freak", "The Alphabet" |
| Carmelo Anthony | "Melo", "Captain America", "The Patriot", "Hoodie Melo" |
| Nate Archibald | "Tiny" |
| Gilbert Arenas | "Agent Zero", "The Hibachi", "Black President", "Nacho", "Gil", "High-Noon", "The Gambler" |
| Trevor Ariza | "Cobra", "Ariza Green"[citation needed], "Switchblade"[citation needed], "Athreeza"[citation needed] |
| Paul Arizin | "Pitchin' Paul" |
| Stacey Augmon | "Plastic Man" |
| Ken Bannister | "The Manimal" "" (Childhood nickname) |
| Andrea Bargnani | "Il Mago" (The Magician) (In Italy) |
| Charles Barkley | "Chuck", "The Round Mound of Rebound", "Sir Charles", "Prince Charles", "Leaning Tower of Pizza", "Pillsbury Dough Boy", "The Human Refrigerator", "The Flying Coke Machine", "The Crisco Kid", "Boy Gorge" |
| Harrison Barnes | "The Black Falcon" |
| Jim Barnes | "Bad News" |
| Marvin Barnes | "Bad News" (originally because of his basketball skills but later because of his frequent off-court issues) |
| Dick Barnett | "Fall Back Baby" |
| Brent Barry | "Bones" |
| Jerry Baskerville | "Hound" |
| Bradley Beal | "Big Panda" |
| Alfred Beard | "Butch" |
| Michael Beasley | "B-Easy" "Big Mike", "Super Cool Beas" |
| Marco Belinelli | "Beli" |
| Walt Bellamy | "Bells" |
| Chauncey Billups | "Mr. Big Shot" |
| Larry Bird | "The Great White Hope" "The Hick from French Lick", "Larry Legend", "Uncle Larry"[citation needed] |
| Bismack Biyombo | "Bizzy Bo", "The Acrobatic from the Democratic (Republic of the Congo)" "BB-8", "Biznation", "Big Bizness"[ |
| Daron Blaylock | "Mookie" |
| Eric Bledsoe | "The Bledshow" |
| Tyrone Bogues | "Muggsy" |
| Devin Booker | "Book" |
| Chris Bosh | "CB4", "The Boshtrich" |
| Chris Boucher | "Slimm Duck" |
| Bill Bradley | "Dollar Bill", "The Secretary of State", "Mr. President" |
| Shawn Bradley | "The Enormous Mormon" |
| Mikal Bridges | "The Warden" "Brooklyn Bridges" |
| Jon Brockman | "The Brockness Monster" (because he was rarely seen in games) |
| Fred Brown | "Downtown Freddie" (for his proficiency in the 3-point basket, "from downtown") |
| Joe Bryant | "Jellybean" |
| Kobe Bryant | "Black Mamba", "KB-24", "Vino" |
| Jimmy Butler | "Jimmy Buckets" |
| Joe Caldwell | "Pogo", "Jumping Joe" |
| Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | "KCP" |
| Brian Cardinal | "The Custodian" |
| Antoine Carr | "Big Dawg" |
| Joe Barry Carroll | Joe Barely Cares, "Just Barely Carroll" |
| Vince Carter | "Vinsanity", "Old Man Vince", "Air Canada", "Half Man Half Amazing", "VC" |
| Michael Carter-Williams | MCW |
| Alex Caruso | "The Bald Mamba", "Carushow" |
| Sam Cassell | "Sam I Am", "The Space-man" |
| Wilt Chamberlain | "Wilt the Stilt", "The Big Dipper" (because as a child he had to '"dip" his head after hitting it on a door frame) |
| Derrick Chievous | "Band-Aid" (who wore one for good luck) |
| Nathaniel Clifton | "Sweetwater" |
| Craig Claxton | "Speedy" |
| Vernal Coles | "Bimbo" |
| DeMarcus Cousins | "Boogie" |
| Bob Cousy | "The Houdini of the Hardwood", "Cooz" |
| Forrest Cox | "Frosty" |
| Jamal Crawford | "J Crossover", "Crawssover Crawford" "L.A.'s Dance Instructor", "Mr And-One" |
| Billy Cunningham | "Kangaroo Kid" |
| Stephen Curry | "Splash Brothers" (Curry and Klay Thompson), "Baby-Faced Assassin", "Chef Curry", "Steph", "The Golden Boy" |
| Bob Dandridge | "Bobby D" |
| Anthony Davis | Brow, "AD", "Glass", "Day-to-day Davis" (for his propensity for injuries) |
| Deron Williams | “D-Will” |
| Mel Davis | "Killer" |
| Glen Davis | "Big Baby", "Uno-Uno" |
| Ricky Davis | "Ricky Buckets", "Get Buckets", Grits 'N Gravy, Wrong Rim Ricky |
| Darryl Dawkins | "Chocolate Thunder" |
| Dewayne Dedmon | "The Mechanic" |
| Matthew Dellavedova | "Delly", |
| DeMar DeRozan | "Deebo" |
| Dimitris Diamantidis | "3D" |
| Boris Diaw | "Tea Time" |
| Luka Dončić | "Luka Magic" |
| Luguentz Dort | "Dorture Chamber", "Dortress" |
| Clyde Drexler | "Clyde the Glide" |
| Goran Dragic | "The Dragon", "Gold Dragon" |
| Andre Drummond | "Big Penguin" |
| Tim Duncan | "The Big Fundamental" (for his fundamentally sound game), "Slam Duncan", "Old Man Riverwalk,” "Twin Towers" (with David Robinson) |
| Kevin Durant | "KD", "Durantula", "The Servant", "Slim Reaper", "Easy Money Sniper", "Snake" |
| Theodore Edwards | "Blue" (from an older sister, for the color of his face when he was choking as a baby) |
| Pervis Ellison | "Never Nervous Pervis" (during his college days), "Out of Service Pervis" (for his frequent injuries in the NBA) |
| Joel Embiid | "The Process", a self-adopted nickname from a rebuilding process of the 76ers pushed by Sam Hinkie |
| Julius Erving | "Dr. J", The Doctor |
| Patrick Ewing | "The Beast of the East" |
| Derek Fisher | "D-Fish" |
| Eric Floyd | "Sleepy" |
| Clarence Francis | "Bevo" |
| Steve Francis | "Stevie Franchise" |
| Walt Frazier | "Clyde" (after the film Bonnie and Clyde, due to his flamboyant clothes) |
| James Taft Fredette | "Jimmer", "The Lonely Master", "Jimo Dashen", "The Lonely God" |
| Lloyd Bernard Free | "World", "World B. Free", "The Prince of Midair" |
| Markelle Fultz | "Quick Wash" |
| Aaron Gordon | "Air Gordon" |
| Dan Gadzuric | "The Flying Dutchman" |
| Harry Gallatin | "The Horse" |
| Danilo Gallinari | "Il Gallo", "The Rooster" |
| Kevin Garnett | "Big Ticket", "KG", "The Kid" |
| Marc Gasol | "Big Spain", "The Big Burrito" |
| Paul George | "PG-13", "Young Trece" |
| George Gervin | "The Iceman", "Iceberg Slim", just "Ice" |
| Daniel Gibson | "Boobie" |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | "SGA" |
| Armen Gilliam | "The Hammer" |
| Artis Gilmore | "A Train" |
| Manu Ginóbili | "The Magician", "Gino", "El Contusione", "Manudona" |
| George Glamack | "The Blind Bomber" (his eyesight was so poor that he had to look at the court lines to determine how hard to shoot). |
| Rudy Gobert | "The Stifle Tower" |
| Ben Gordon | "Madison Square Gordon" |
| Marcin Gortat | "The Polish Hammer" |
| Travis Grant | "Machine Gun" |
| Draymond Green " | Day-Day", "The Dancing Bear", "Dray" |
| Jeff Green | "Iron Man", "Uncle Jeff" |
| Darrell Griffith | "Dr. Dunkenstein" |
| Robert Gruenig | "Ace" |
| Tom Gugliotta | "Googs", |
| Harold Hairston | "Happy" |
| Richard Hamilton | "Rip" |
| Tom Hammonds | "The Terminator" |
| Anfernee Hardaway | "Penny" (from his grandmother's Southern accent calling him "pretty") |
| Tyler Hansbrough | Psycho T |
| James Harden | "The Beard", "El Chapo" |
| Tobias Harris | "Tobi & Bobi" (with Boban Marjanović after they remained teammates in three separate organizations due to being packaged together in trade agreements)[84] |
| Connie Hawkins | "The Hawk" |
| Udonis Haslem | "U.D." |
| John Havlicek | "Hondo" (from Mel Nowell, because of Havlicek's interest in Western novels and looking like John Wayne in the film) |
| Elvin Hayes | "The Big E", "E" |
| Tommy Heinsohn | "Ack Ack" (from the sound of a machine gun, since Heinsohn "never met a shot he didn't like or wouldn't take"), "Tommy Gun", "Heinie", |
| Juan Hernangómez | "Juancho", "Bo Cruz", "Cruz Missile" |
| Tyler Herro | "Baby Goat", "Boy Wonder" |
| Mario Hezonja | "Super Mario" |
| Buddy Hield | "Buddy Love" |
| Grant Hill | "G", "G-money" |
| Darnell Hillman | "Dr. Dunk" |
| Fred Hoiberg | "The Mayor"; given to him by his Iowa State teammates because of his extraordinary popularity in the school's home city of Ames, Iowa, where he was raised |
| Lionel Hollins | "(The) L-Train" |
| William Holzman | "Red" |
| Robert Horry | "Big Shot Rob" or "Big Shot Bob" |
| Dwight Howard | "Superman", "Foul on You", (for the large number of fouls called on Howard during the 2010 NBA Playoffs), "D12" |
| Kevin Huerter | "Red Velvet" |
| Rodney Hundley | "Hot Rod" |
| Nah'Shon Hyland | Bones |
| Serge Ibaka | "I-block-a", "Serge Protector", "Air Congo" |
| Andre Iguodala | "Iggy" |
| Zydrunas Ilgauskas | "Big Z" |
| Ersan İlyasova | "Turkish Thunder", "Ghostface Ilya" |
| Brandon Ingram | "B.I.", "Sleepy Reaper" (for his similar physical build to Kevin "Slim Reaper" Durant plus his naturally heavy-lidded countenance) |
| Kyrie Irving | "Uncle Drew", "Kyriediculous", "The Ankletaker" |
| Allen Iverson | "The Answer", "Bubba Chuck", "Steven John Ray the Third", "A.I." |
| LeBron James | "The King", "King James", "(The) L-Train", "LBJ" "The Chosen One", "The Akron Hammer", "Bron Bron" |
| Earvin Johnson | "Magic", "Buck", "E.J." |
| Gus Johnson | "Honeycomb" |
| Larry Johnson | "Grandmama" (from his role in a series of Converse commercials in which he portrayed his own grandmother) "LJ" |
| Vinnie Johnson | "The Microwave" ("gets hot instantly") |
| Nikola Jokić | "Joker" |
| Isaiah Joe | "Strokin’ Joe", "Zai" |
| Damon Jones | "The World's Greatest Shooter" |
| Ronald Jones | "Popeye" |
| Sam Jones | "Sad Sam" |
| Michael Jordan | "Air Jordan", "His Airness", "MJ", "The G.O.A.T", "The Black Cat" |
| Greg Kelser | "Special K" |
| Shawn Kemp | "The Reignman" "The Family Man" |
| John Graham Kerr | "Red" |
| Jason Kidd | "J-Kidd" |
| Andrei Kirilenko | "AK47" |
| Furkan Korkmaz | "Furk the Turk" |
| Toni Kukoc | "Croatian Sensation", "The Waiter", "Euro-Magic" |
| Michael Kidd-Gilchrist | "MKG" |
| Jonathan Kuminga | "The Kum Bucket" |
| Trajan Langdon | "The Alaskan Assassin" |
| Meadow Gerge Lemon | "Meadowlark" |
| Lafayette Lever | "Fat" |
| Kawhi Leonard | "The Claw", "Sugar K" |
| Meyers Leonard | "Meyers Legend" |
| Nancy Lieberman | "Lady Magic" |
| Damian Lillard | "Dame Dolla", "Sub Zero", "Logo Lillard", "Dame Time" |
| Jeremy Lin | "Linsanity" |
| Jim Loscutoff | "Jungle Jim", |
| Brook Lopez | "Splash Mountain" |
| Robin Lopez | "RoLo" |
| Bob Love | "Butterbean" |
| Ed Macauley | "Easy", "Easy Ed" |
| Mark Madsen | "Mad Dog" |
| Dan Majerle | "Thunder Dan" |
| Karl Malone | "The Mailman" (because he always delivered) |
| Moses Malone | "Chairman of the Boards" |
| Earl Manigault | "The Goat" |
| Pete Maravich | "Pistol Pete" |
| Stephon Marbury | "Starbury" |
| Boban Marjanović | "Bobi & Tobi" (with Tobias Harris after they remained teammates in three separate organizations due to being packaged together in trade agreements) |
| Kenyon Martin | "K-Mart" |
| Shawn Marion | "The Matrix" |
| Wesley Matthews | "Iron Man" |
| Cedric Maxwell | "Cornbread" (after the title character in the film Cornbread, Earl and Me) |
| Luc Mbah a Moute | The Prince, "Moute Kicks Boute" |
| Xavier McDaniel | "The X-Man"; (play on the initial of his first name with the X-Men, a group of superheroes) |
| Antonio McDyess | "Dice" |
| Jon McGlocklin | "Jonny Mac" |
| Tracy McGrady | "T-Mac" |
| Dick McGuire | "Tricky Dick" |
| Kevin McHale | "Herman Munster", "The Black Hole" (because of his interest in shooting, once balls were passed to him, they never came back) |
| Dean Meminger | "The Dream" |
| Jordan Mickey | J-Mick |
| Darko Miličić | "The Human Victory Cigar", because his court appearances were at the end of routs. The first to have this nickname was Stojko Vranković. |
| Reggie Miller | "The Knick Killer" |
| George Mikan | "Mr. Basketball", "The Big Number" |
| Harold Miner | "Baby Jordan" |
| Bill Mlkvy | "The Owl without a Vowel" |
| Donovan Mitchell | "Spida" |
| Sidney Moncrief | "Sid the Squid", "Sir Sid", "El Sid" |
| Earl Monroe | "Black Magic", "Earl the Pearl", "Black Jesus" |
| Greg Monroe | "Moose" |
| E'Twaun Moore | "Uncle E" |
| Mario Morales | "Quijote" |
| Ja Morant | G12, "Ja Warrant" |
| Marcus Morris | "Mook" |
| Alonzo Mourning | "Zo" |
| Charles Murphy | "Stretch" |
| Jamal Murray | "The Blue Arrow" |
| Dikembe Mutombo | "Mt. Mutombo" |
| Steve Nash | "Hair Canada" |
| Fred Neal | "Curly" |
| Jameer Nelson | "Mighty Mouse", "Crib Midget" |
| Dirk Nowitzki | "Tall Baller From The G", "Dirty", "The German Racecar", "Bavarian Bomber", "Dirk Diggler", "The Berlin Tall", "German Wunderkind", "Dirk Savage", "The Germinator", "The Big German" |
| Jusuf Nurkić | "The Bosnian Beast" |
| Frank Ntilikina | "The French Prince" |
| Jahlil Okafor | "Jah", "Big J", "Little Sully" |
| Lamar Odom | "The Candy Man", L.O |
| Mehmet Okur | "Memo,” "The Moneyman" |
| Shaquille O'Neal | "Shaq", "Shaq Daddy", "Shaq Fu", "Diesel", "The Big Aristotle", "Superman", "MDE" (Most Dominant Ever), "The Big Maravich", "The Big Fella", "The Big Shaqtus", "The Big Cordially", "Big Shamrock", "O'Nealovic", "Shaqovic", "Shaq Attack", "Saškuille", "Wilt Chamberneezy", |
| Jermaine O'Neal | "J.O" |
| Hakeem Olajuwon | "The Dream" |
| Michael Olowokandi | "Kandi Man" |
| Jose Ortiz - | Piculin |
| Kelly Oubre Jr. | "Wave Papi" |
| Smush Parker | "Scrub" |
| Robert Parish | "The Chief" (after the mute, expressionless character in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) |
| Ruben Patterson | "The Kobe Stopper" |
| Chris Paul | "CP3", "The Point God" |
| Billy Paultz | "The Whopper" |
| Gary Payton | "GP", "The Glove" |
| Gary Payton II | "The Mitten" |
| Sam Perkins | "Big Smooth", "Sleepy Sam" |
| Elliot Perry | "Socks" (because he always wore his socks to his knees) |
| Chuck Person | "The Rifleman" (whose full name is Chuck Connors Person, because his mom was a fan of The Rifleman). |
| Paul Pierce | "The Truth" |
| Ricky Pierce | "Big Paper Daddy" |
| Jim Pollard | "Kangaroo Kid" |
| Kevin Porter | "Little Drummer Boy" |
| Vitaly Potapenko | "Ukraine Train" |
| Joel Przybilla | "Vanilla Gorilla" |
| Julius Randle | "The Black Panther", "Beyblade" |
| Zach Randolph | "Z-Bo" |
| Austin Reaves | "Hillbilly Kobe", "AR-15" |
| Paul Reed | "BBall Paul" |
| Bryant Reeves | "Big Country" |
| Jerome Richardson | "Pooh" |
| Mitch Richmond | "The Rock" |
| Mike Riordan | "Rags" |
| Rajon Rondo | "Johnny", "Swag", "Fedex", "Chris Paul" (coming from a viral video of a fan mistaking Rondo for Paul) |
| Glenn Rivers | "Doc" |
| David Robinson | "The Admiral" (for his stint in the U.S. Navy) |
| Glenn Robinson | "Big Dog" |
| Len Robinson | "Truck" |
| Nate Robinson | "KryptoNate" |
| Oscar Robertson | "The Big O" (coming from the James Thurber story, "The Disappearing O") |
| Dennis Rodman | "The Worm" (for his wriggling when he played pinball) |
| Sergio Rodríguez | El Chacho |
| Wayne Rollins | "Tree" |
| Derrick Rose | "D-Rose", "Windy City Assassin" |
| Brandon Roy | "The Natural" |
| D'Angelo Russell | "DLo" |
| Bill Russell | "Russ" |
| Arvydas Sabonis | "Sabas" |
| Domantas Sabonis | "Sabas Jr." |
| John Salley | "Spider" |
| Tom Sanders | "Satch" or "Satch Sanders" |
| Brian Scalabrine | "The White Mamba", |
| Oscar Schmidt | "Mão Santa" (Portuguese for "Holy Hand") |
| Sofoklis Schortsianitis | "Baby Shaq", "Big Sofo" |
| Luis Scola | "Ice Cream Man" |
| Jon Scheyer | "The Jewish Jordan" |
| Detlef Schrempf | Det The Threat" |
| Iman Shumpert | "Shump" |
| Pascal Siakam | "Spicy P" |
| Ralph Siewert | "Sky", and later "Timber" |
| Dennis Scott | "3D" |
| James Silas | "Captain Late" (because he was at his best near the end of games), "The Snake", "The Late Mr. Silas" |
| Jonathon Simmons | "Juice" |
| Henry Sims | "Lickface" |
| Ben Simmons | "Fresh Prince", "Big Ben", "Ben |
| Marcus Smart | "The Cobra" |
| Bobby Smith | "Bingo" |
| Craig Smith | "Rhino" |
| Josh Smith | "J-Smoove" |
| Kenny Smith | "The Jet" |
| J. R. Smith | "JR Swish" |
| Larry Smith | "Mr. Mean" |
| Rik Smits | "The Flying Dutchman" or "The Dunkin' Dutchman" |
| Vassilis Spanoulis | "Kill Bill", "V-Span" |
| Marreese Speights | "Mo' Buckets" |
| Latrell Sprewell | "Spree" |
| Dave Stallworth | "The Rave" |
| Nik Stauskas | "Sauce Castillo" |
| Lance Stephenson | "Born Ready" |
| Maurice Stokes | "Big Mo" |
| Amar'e Stoudemire | "STAT" (Standing Tall and Talented) |
| Predrag Stojakovic | "Peja" |
| Jerry Stackhouse | "Stack", "House" |
| Reece Tatum | "Goose" |
| Jason Terry | "JET" (his initials) |
| Isiah Thomas (born in 1961) | "Zeke", "Cuts" (for the cuts he would suffer while driving the lane), "The Baby-Faced Assassin" (for his young appearance contrasted with his shooting skill) |
| Kurt Thomas | "Mid Life", "Dirty Kurt", "Big Sexy" |
| David Thompson | "The Skywalker" |
| Klay Thompson | "Splash Brothers" (Thompson and Stephen Curry), "Game 6 Klay" |
| Sedale Threatt | "The Thief" |
| Andrew Toney | "The Boston Strangler" (because he kept "killing" the Boston Celtics in big games) |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | "KAT", "Special-K", "The Big Meow" |
| Robert Traylor | "Tractor Traylor" |
| Melvin Turpin | "Golden Arches" |
| Jonas Valančiūnas | "JV", "Lithuanian Lightning" |
| Denzel Valentine | "Zel" |
| Nick Van Exel | "Nasty Nick", "Nick Van Excellent", "Nick the Quick" |
| Anderson Varejão | "Wild Thing'' |
| Stojko Vranković | "Human Victory Cigar", because he played at the end of blowout games where Red Auerbach would light his cigar. |
| Dick Van Arsdale | "The Original Sun" |
| Dwyane Wade | "D-Wade", "Flash" |
| Kemba Walker | "Cardiac Kemba" |
| Ben Wallace | "Big Ben" |
| Gerald Wallace | "Crash," "G-Force" |
| Rasheed Wallace | "Sheed” |
| Anthony Jerome Webb | "Spud" |
| Chris Webber | "C-Webb" |
| Jerry West | "Mr. Clutch", "The Logo" (because he was incorporated into the NBA Logo) |
| Russell Westbrook | "Brodie", "Beastbrook" |
| Andrew Wiggins | "Maple Jordan" |
| Dominique Wilkins | "The Human Highlight Film" |
| Jamaal Wilkes | "Silk" |
| Deron Williams | "D-Will" |
| Jalen Williams | "J-Dub" |
| Jason Williams | "White Chocolate" |
| Jaylin Williams | "Jay Will", "Boom" |
| John Williams | "Hot Rod" |
| Jerome Williams | "Junkyard Dog" |
| John Sam Williams | "Hot Plate" |
| Kenrich Williams | "Kenny Hustle" |
| Lou Williams | "Sweet Lou" |
| Robert Williams | "Time Lord" |
| Corliss Williamson | "Big Nasty" |
| James Worthy | "Big Game James," "Clever" |
| Guerschon Yabusele | "The Dancing Bear" |
| Yao Ming | "Ming Dynasty", "Chairman Yao", "Shaquie Chan", "The Great Wall of China" |
| Nick Young | "Swaggy P" , "Uncle P", "Bean Burrito" |
| Trae Young | "Ice Trae" |
| Max Zaslofsky | "Slats" |
FAQs
A. Shaquille O’Neal has more than 30 nicknames, which is the most by any other NBA player.
A. Los Angeles Lakers have the most NBA fans.
A. Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon is known as The Dream.
A. Kobe Bryant was known as the Black Mamba.
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